Sally McLean receives Best Director Award in New York

So this happened also last weekend, this time in New York at the NYC Web Fest where I was named as the recipient of their Best Director Award for my work on Dark Arcadia at their Awards Gala in New York City, in a winners line-up across the various categories alongside such excellent creatives as Geerard Van de Walle, Jon Sosis, Dick Wolf (of Law & Order fame) and Matt Dillion. Totally unexpected and I’m still pinching myself. Winning Best Director awards at two different festivals (the other being NZ Web Fest, as per my last post) on the other side of the world from each other for two different projects within 24 hours is surreal, especially in this kind of company, and I’m still processing it all.

So, so grateful to the NYC Web Fest jury & team for this honour. And to Lauren Atkins, NYC Web Fest Director & Founder for her lovely email and video sharing this news. Thank you also to my fellow actors and crew on Dark Arcadia for making me look good and my Incognita Enterprises‘ team for always having my back – Billy, Chris, Phoebe and Sass – you all rock and I couldn’t do any of this without you.

Read the full article here announcing the NYC Web Fest winners: https://goodstarvibes.com/nyc-web-fest-2025-awards-top-prizes/

Finally, thank you to everyone who made Dark Arcadia possible through grants & donations. Creative Victoria, City of Melbourne, the British Shakespeare Association, Creative Australia, the Australian Cultural Fund and our Patreon and crowdfunding donors. We couldn’t have made the series without your support.

With love to all x

Dark Arcadia is created & directed by Sally McLean, produced by Incognita Enterprises and funded via grants from the City of Melbourne, the British Shakespeare Association, Creative Victoria and Creative Australia through an Australian Cultural Fund BOOST Grant, as well as tax deductible donations from the general public via the Australian Cultural Fund.