by FilmInk Staff
Aussie Bug-Loving Filmmaking Team Receives International Acclaim: ‘@OliveTheBugGirl’ Nominated For Best Sustainability & Environment – Social in the 30th Annual Webby Awards
Fans Can Vote Online to Help @olivethebuggirl Win Internet’s Top Honor: https://wbby.co/58960N
Queensland Social Media Series @OliveTheBugGirl is nominated in the 30th Annual Webby Awards for Best Sustainability & Environment – Social. Hailed as the “Internet’s highest honour” by The New York Times, The Webby Awards, presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS), is the leading international awards organisation honouring excellence on the Internet. @OliveTheBugGirl is up against the likes of National Geographic and CNN in their category for The Webby Awards.
The nomination marks the international impact of @OliveTheBugGirl as a 6x2minute vertical series which follows fictional character Olive; a bug-enthusiast tiktoker who discovers she has an intergalactic audience for her Australian Christmas Beetle content. Blending nature documentary x mockumentary x sci-fi, the series was tailor-made specifically to harness social media tropes by writer, director & co-producer Lilli Corrias-Smith and co-producer Kate Boylan-Ascione. Mary Duong executive produced with their production company Super Fruity as production services partner. The series stars up-and-coming Yirritja actress Merranda Thatcher, who plays both lead roles of bug enthusiast Olive and her own Alien fan, as the story travels out of this world (through paper-mache universes) to unpick the mystery of disappearing Australian Christmas Beetles; encouraging us all to care about insects and our planet. To boost their community engagement, @OliveTheBugGirl featured a cameo of local legend Spencer Hitchen in the final episode, and cross-posted with the 14yr old conservationist’s Instagram account @savesunriseglossies.
With a passion for impactful edutainment and dual-generation appeal stories, @OliveTheBugGirl rapidly garnered over 32.4K followers, 1million+ views and 3K+ heartfelt comments across Instagram and TikTok where the series was released. Proudly supported by the Screen Queensland Channel Lab: Short Cuts Initiative, with additional support from the BlackBird Foundation Protostars Grant, this Australian online vertical series is up against the likes of National Geographic and CNN in their category for The Webby Awards.
“Nominees like @OliveTheBugGirl are raising the bar for creativity and innovation on the Internet,” said Nick Borenstein, General Manager of The Webby Awards. “At the 30th Annual Webby Awards, this recognition feels especially meaningful. It’s no small feat to stand out among nearly 13,000 entries, and this year’s work reflects the energy, originality, and ambition shaping the Internet right now.”
Reflecting on acting in the series, Thatcher mused on how she was “immediately drawn to the story and purpose the project had of spreading awareness about Australian Christmas Beetles, and Lilli’s comedic approach within the scenes.”
As a nominee, @OliveTheBugGirl is also eligible to win a Webby People’s Voice Award, which is voted online by fans across the globe. From now until April 16th, @OliveTheBugGirl fans can cast their votes at vote.webbyawards.com
Corrias-Smith kept social media niches and audiences at the forefront of her mind while writing & directing the kitsch series. With a passion for learning and surprising narratives, she said she drew from her own love of nature alongside “the nostalgia of 2000’s Australian edutainment shows” to intimately interact with audiences and represent Olive as “a real bug-tok, hope-core creator.” Corrias-Smith said she aims to “shape societal change through storytelling,” which is why she “combined humour and entertainment with genuinely educational content; creating an internet-core pro-environmental call to action in @OliveTheBugGirl.”
The Webby Award winners will be announced on Tuesday, April 21, 2026, and honored in a star-studded show at Cipriani Wall Street. Winners will have an opportunity to deliver one of The Webby Awards’ famous 5-Word Speeches. Past 5-Word Speeches include: Kim Kardashian’s “Nude Selfies Till I Die”; Prince’s “Everything You Think is True”; Steve Wilhite’s “It’s Pronounced “Jif” not ‘Gif’; NASA’s “Houston We Have A Webby”; and SZA’s “The Internet Scares Me. Thanks.”
Boylan-Ascione said “the internet is saturated with climate doomism, and @OliveTheBugGirl meets young people exactly where they are, giving them something that feels genuinely hopeful they can identify with. This Webby nomination is a reminder that joy, curiosity and humour can be just as powerful a call to action as fear, and that the world is hungry for fresh, Australian voices.”
More About @OlivetheBugGirl
@OlivetheBugGirl is an independently produced vertical impact series and social media profile that launched organically in December 2024 and is still active today. Corrias-Smith, Boylan-Ascione, Duong & Thatcher worked with a small Queensland-based crew to film the series, including respected industry-veteran Mark Wareham ACS as Cinematographer, and Costume & Production Designer Harriett Williams. Through an impact campaign of collaborations and co-posting with entomologists and local environmental activists, @OliveTheBugGirl has engaged diverse international audiences, promoted environmental action and climate optimism, and raised the profile of Australian insects and the advocacy groups working to protect them.
The series and the team behind it continue to amplify its message, develop new collaborations, and create fresh content to expand Olive’s story world. As a finalist also for ‘Best Webseries’ at the 2026 Gold Coast Film Festival, a cinema screening of @OliveTheBugGirl is available at HOTA on the 26th of April; and the series previously screened at and was awarded ‘Best Webseries’ by audience vote at the Brisbane Indie Film Festival. Co-producers Corrias-Smith & Boylan-Ascione will also be attending the Screen Producers Australia Screen Forever Conference in April 2026 to strategise the project’s next steps.
More About The Webby Awards
Hailed as the “Internet’s highest honor” by The New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international awards organization honoring excellence on the Internet, including Websites and Mobile Sites; Video; Advertising, Media & PR; Apps & Software; Social; Games; Podcasts; Creators and AI. Established in 1996, The Webby Awards received over 13,000 entries from all 50 states and over 70 countries worldwide this year. The Webby Awards are presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS). Sponsors and Partners of The Webby Awards include Adobe, WP Engine, Meltwater, Patreon, NAACP, KPMG, Wall Street Journal, Deadline, AdAge, TechCrunch, The Hollywood Reporter, SXSW, Scalable, and The Society of Digital Agencies.
Find The Webby Awards Online
Website: webbyawards.com | Instagram: @thewebbyawards | Linkedin: The Webby Awards
TikTok: @thewebbyawards | X: @TheWebbyAwards
YouTube: youtube.com/thewebbyawards | Facebook: Facebook.com/TheWebbyAward
