Animator Wahyu Ichwandardi, popularly knownas Pinot, is competing with Taylor Swift in the ninth annual Shorty Awards in April.
He and Taylor, who neither know each other nor work in the same industry, are both nominated for Instagram of The Year category alongside Beyonce, Jaden Smith, Selena Gomez andothers.
If you haven't heard of the Shorty Awards, it is basically the Grammy Awards for social media. The Shortys honor influencers and content on all kinds of social media, from Youtube to Snapchat, highlighting the best and most popular people, content, influencers and more.
Pinot is nominated for a stop motion video titled "How To Stop Time".
He won #Vineographer Shorty Award in 2014 for his work on the mini-clip social media site Vine.
Though this is not his first nomination for a Shorty, Pinot said his hopes are not that high when I caught up with him.
It's pretty much the same (as last time). Unexpected. I post (animations) on social media because it's refreshing and it can add to my portfolio, thats it. Even in 2014, I didn't expect to win, the artist told Brilio last week.
I'm taking it easy. Its not a competition because theres no specific genre. There is food, Beyonce with her kid, Kim baring it all, and then there I am with stop motion animation.
Something is weird here, he laughed.
The Shorty Awards are a popularity contest: nominations with the most votes get the awards. But, Pinot said he doesn't have any plans to mobilize Indonesian cyber troops to vote for him. He only promised through his Twitter account, @pinot and @pinotski, that if he wins, hell go on stage wearing ablangkonhat and Javanese clothes.
Latihan ngomong di atas panggung kalo menang Shorty Awards ngalahin Beyonce. Mohon votenya berkali2 nggih --> https://t.co/cGF63p3DzH pic.twitter.com/DnUVVKef2K
Pinot (@pinotski) January 29, 2017
I just want people to vote for me because they actually like the video. I also want to bring Indonesia on stage. If I do crazy challenges (to get people to vote), it wouldn't be in line with my purpose, he said.
Even if he doesn't win the award, the nomination is still a blessing for Pinot, who is trying to extend his visa in the United States.
Pinot came to the States in 2014 as a Vine artist, but since Vine is gone, he had to find other way to secure his resident permit.
Im on visa Type O right now, and for the application you have to have a unique job that not many can do. Also, you musthaveachievements in the sector, he said. Now my title is content creator. Its somehow more general but still specializes in social media. And yeah, Im going to put this nomination on my application.
Immigration talk aside, the Shorty Awards are still open for voting until Feb. 17 and the award ceremony will take place in April in New York City. You can vote for Pinot on their website.
(brl/red)
