HOUSTON \u2013 Houston\u2019s art scene is always evolving, and one local woman is helping further that footprint after winning big at a New York film festival.<\/p>\n
Houston writer and producer Maya Perrin recently won Best TV Pilot at the NYC TV Festival for her web series \u201cHappy Hour,\u201d a mockumentary-style show inspired by her more than 10 years in the hospitality industry and created to spotlight Black creatives in the genre.<\/p>\n
\u201cI submitted my work, the pilot to my web series \u2018Happy Hour,\u2019 probably back in August of 2025, and then in December I found out that I was one of the few selected to be included in the festival,\u201d Perrin said. \u201cLast month in January was the award ceremony and the screening\u2026 and to my surprise, I won Best TV pilot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perrin said filmmakers from around the world were in the room.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were people there from like Salem, from Germany\u2026 it was a big melting pot of all cultures,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was like a shock for me, because when you submit something, it\u2019s not about winning for me, it\u2019s really just like putting myself out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said \u201cHappy Hour\u201d was born from her love of shows like \u201cThe Office\u201d and \u201cParks and Recreation,\u201d and her desire to see more Black culture reflected in that space.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the mockumentary world, I saw that I didn\u2019t have a lot of representation of Black creatives or Black culture,\u201d Perrin said. \u201cSo I just thought, hey, let me bring my own personal experience to it. It\u2019s really been a dream come true.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since releasing the show, Perrin said support from Houstonians has been overwhelming.<\/p>\n
\u201cStrangers have popped in my DMs, they\u2019ve been so supportive, and they are honestly looking to build community just like I am,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is small here, but I think it can be big if we all just work together and lean on each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perrin is now working on new episodes of \u201cHappy Hour,\u201d expected to drop around April, including one featuring a celebrity guest. Her advice for aspiring creator? Start now.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know it\u2019s cliche, but just do it,\u201d she said. \u201cWork with what you have, everything is not going to be perfect, but there\u2019s always someone watching you. Do whatever creative idea comes to your mind. It will get better once you keep doing it. Believe in yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2013 Houston\u2019s art scene is always evolving, and one local woman is helping further that footprint after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":177070,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[15513,56,58,57,71324,71323],"class_list":{"0":"post-177069","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-award","9":"tag-houston","10":"tag-houston-headlines","11":"tag-houston-news","12":"tag-maya-perrin","13":"tag-nyc-film-festival"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177069\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}