''Giants'' is an American

web series A web series (also known as webseries, short-form series, and web show) is a series of short scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet (i.e. World Wide Web), which first emerged in the late 1 ...

created by James Bland and starring Bland, Sean Samuels, and Vanessa Baiden as the lead characters. The series premiered on

Issa Rae Jo-Issa Rae Diop (born January 12, 1985), known professionally as Issa Rae, is an American actress, writer, and producer. She achieved recognition as the co-creator, co-writer, and star of the HBO comedy series '' Insecure'' (2016–2021), for ...

YouTube channel YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in San B ...

on January 25, 2017. A second season premiered on the same channel in 2018. Both seasons were financed by crowdfunding campaigns on

Indiegogo Indiegogo is an American crowdfunding website founded in 2008 by Danae Ringelmann, Slava Rubin, and Eric Schell. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, California. The site is one of the first sites to offer crowd funding. Indiegogo allows peo ...

. It has since been acquired and released for streaming on

BET+ BET+ is a Video on demand#Subscription models, streaming service operated by Tyler Perry Studios and the BET Networks, BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. The service was first announced on June 24, 2019, ...

. The series has won numerous accolades, including two

Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NA ...

s, a

Streamy Award The YouTube Streamy Awards, also known as the Streamy Awards or Streamys, are an awards show presented annually by Dick Clark Productions and Tubefilter to recognize excellence in online video, including directing, acting, producing, and wri ...

, and multiple

Indie Series Awards The Indie Series Awards (formerly the Indie Soap Awards) is an annual event hosted by '' We Love Soaps'', based in Los Angeles, California, honoring the best in independently produced, scripted entertainment created for the Internet. The ceremon ...

. The series received praise from the media for its depiction of

mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

in the African American community.

Plot

''Giants'' chronicles the trials and tribulations of three

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

friends as they approach their thirties, each battling their own inner "giants" as they navigate adulthood.

Background

Bland worked on several other series before writing ''Giants'', and following the success of

's '' Awkward Black Girl'', he felt inspired to make his own series. After writing the first season, Bland created an

campaign to crowdfund the series. Rae and actor

Jussie Smollett Jussie Smollett (, born June 21, 1982) is an American actor and singer. He began his career as a child actor in 1991 debuting in '' The Mighty Ducks'' (1992). From 2015 to 2019, Smollett portrayed musician Jamal Lyon in the Fox drama series '' ...

subsequently came on board as executive producers.

Release

The first season was released through Issa Rae's YouTube channel in 2017, followed by the second season in 2018. The series was then picked up and re-released by

Episodes

The first season, released on January 25, 2017, consists of six episodes, while the second, which consists of seven episodes, was released on February 21, 2018. Episodes were released once a week on a weekly basis.

Accolades

''Giants'' has won numerous accolades. In 2018, the series won the award for Best Drama Series at the 8th annual Streamy Awards. In 2019, the series received 11

nominations, winning two. At the 10th annual Indie Series Awards, ''Giants'' won a record-breaking seven awards, in addition to receiving the most nominations that year (19).

References

Notes

External links

{{IMDb title, 5571280 2017 web series debuts American LGBTQ-related web series YouTube original programming 2010s American LGBTQ-related comedy television series 2010s American LGBTQ-related drama television series