Griffith Film School alumni nominated for International Webby Award
14 April 2026
Griffith Film School graduate Lilli Corrias-Smith and her team have achieved major international recognition, with the Queensland-made social media series @OliveTheBugGirl nominated for a 30th Annual Webby Award - one of the most prestigious global honours for digital media. The nomination celebrates not only the project’s appeal to audiences seeking genre-bending original content on social media, but also the ongoing collaboration between Griffith Film School alumni. Their shared educational background and early professional partnerships have continued beyond graduation, culminating in a project now recognised on the international stage.
Lilli Corrias-Smith - writer, director and co-producer of @OliveTheBugGirl - is a Griffith Film School alumnus who graduated in 2021 with a Bachelor of Film & Screen Media Production with Distinction. During her studies, Lilli was awarded the Deans' Sir Samuel Griffith Scholarship and took part in the Griffith Honours College Program, recognising her academic excellence and leadership potential.
"As someone who has always sought to be a key creative, my time at Griffith Film School was an incredible opportunity to flex ideas and work with a crew in a way that wouldn't have been possible otherwise," said Lilli.
"My education also included incredible technical skills, forming the basis for my immediate employment on set as a technician after graduating, helping me to grow my industry network from the get go. Now, with @OliveTheBugGirl, I find myself calling back on the friendships and communities I formed while at Griffith Film School, as together we take the next step towards making our own projects on larger scales within the industry."
Joining Lilli on the project are fellow Griffith graduates Kate Boylan-Ascione, co-producer, and Mary Duong, who executive produced the series through their production company Super Fruity. Both Kate and Mary completed their Bachelor of Film and Screen Media before returning to Griffith Film School to undertake postgraduate study in the Master of Screen Production.
"The mentorship and foundations I received during my Masters at Griffith Film School pushed my producing capabilities in new directions and provided the academic frameworks underpinning our series strategy," said co-producer Kate Boylan-Ascione. "My supervisor, Ruari Elkington, was an invaluable support during my postgraduate research, and seeing all of that learning show up in real, impactful work is something I'm incredibly proud of."
"Most of our crew were Griffith Alumni, and our common history at the film school - even across different graduating years - strengthened the project immensely," said Lilli. "Griffith is a place where you notice the talent of the people around you, and then when opportunities like this arise years later, I knew exactly who to call. This included, but was not limited to: our wonderfully industrious costume & production designer Harriett Williams, gaffer Parker Hilliard, colourist Emily Reid, production manager Ani Parry, VFX supervisor & compositor Dom Vaughey, sound recordist Robert Matthews, camera assistant Daniel Patterson, video split operator and stills photographer Sebastian Byrne, production assistant Samira Mohamed, stills photographer Shay-Lee Smith and assistant editors Maddy Leonard and Annabel Maloney. Notably, our cinematographer was the one-and-only industry veteran Mark Wareham ACS who I had befriended on set while working as a camera assistant for him, using the technical skills I first learnt at Griffith Film School."
@OliveTheBugGirl is a six-part vertical social media series, designed specifically for platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. The series follows Olive, a fictional bug-enthusiast TikToker who discovers she has an intergalactic audience fascinated by her Australian Christmas Beetle content. The series was supported by the Screen Queensland Channel Lab: Short Cuts Initiative, with additional funding through the BlackBird Foundation Protostars Grant, highlighting the team’s success in securing highly competitive development support.
Beyond the Webby nomination, @OliveTheBugGirl has already received significant festival recognition. The series previously won Best Webseries (Audience Choice) at the Brisbane Indie Film Festival and is a finalist for Best Webseries at the 2026 Gold Coast Film Festival, where it will screen at HOTA (Home of the Arts) in April. The series also garnered a significant audience on the social media platforms it was released to, with over 32.4K followers, 1million+ views and 3K+ comments to date.
"For Griffith Film School, this nomination represents a powerful example of alumni translating their education into impactful, career-defining work," said Dr Dean Chircop, Program Director of the Bachelor of Film and Screen Media Production. "From undergraduate study through to postgraduate collaboration, this success is yet another reason to celebrate and support the creative partnerships that our students form while studying - grounded in shared values and a commitment to meaningful storytelling. We congratulate Lilli, Kate, Mary and our broader pool of alumni who are leading the future of Australian screen voices."
As the creative team prepares for the announcement of the Webby Award winners later this month, their success stands as a proud reminder of Griffith Film School’s role in fostering connected, ambitious and internationally competitive screen practitioners.
Fans can also support the project by voting for @OliveTheBugGirl in the Webby People’s Voice Awards, with voting open until 16 April 2026.