New York Television Festival Announces Winners

Festival has record 15 guaranteed deals

The seventh annual New York Television Festival, which aims to bring together independent writers and producers with development executives, announced the winners of winners of its Independent Pilot Competition in 20 categories and the winners of four sponsored awards tied to development deals from FX, IFC, MTV and Syfy.

The festival closed Saturday night with the organization celebrating a record 15 guaranteed deals offered to independent creators during its 2011 development season. The festival included a pilot screening by comedian Marc Maron, a diversity panel with J.B. Smoove, a panel on writing for late night comedy with Jason Sudeikis, and a keynote by Damon Lindelof.

Also read: Damon Lindelof's History of 'Lost' (A Show He Longed to Quit)

“This was a watershed year for the NYTVF and one that showed the independent television movement to not only be alive and well, but thriving,” said NYTVF Founder and Executive Director Terence Gray. “Thanks to the support of our many industry partners and the talents of our creative community, we had a very successful Festival and we look forward to building upon it for years to come.”

The winners of the Pitch Partners initiative, launched with Sundance Channel, MSN and SevenOne International, were guaranteed development deals. They were:

–    Sundance Channel: “Party Doctor” from Jake Greene (Nashville, TN)
–    MSN and Eyeboogie: “Carlos and the Games of Seduction” from Greg Burke and Lou Perez
(New York, NY)
–    SevenOne International and Red Arrow Entertainment Group: “A Week With My Father” from Giacomo Knox (Los Angeles, CA)

Also read: Marc Maron Kicks Off New York Television Festival With Discourse on Cat Wrangling

The winner of the FOX-NYTVF Comedy Script Contest, which includes $25,000 and a development deal with the network, was “Adulthood for Beginners,” written by Robby O'Connor (New York, NY).

Finalists in the A&E Unscripted Development Pipeline receive notes on their projects from A&E executives, a cash prize of $2,500, and $1,500 to shoot additional tape. The winner will receive $10,000 and the chance to create a pilot. The finalists were:

–    “Tough Girl” from Tim Smyth (New York, NY)
–    “American Genius” from Phillip Hullquist (Nashville, TN)
–    “Pushing the Limits” from Javier Bermudez (Los Angeles, CA)
–    “Surviving the Burn” from Paul Lima (Burbank, CA)
–    “Racetrack Dads” from Donald Mann (Van Nuys, CA)

Winner of the 2011 Independent Pilot Competition Sponsored Awards were:
–    FX “There Is No Box” Comedy Award: “Josh Jennings for Congress” from Nathan Gotsch (Los Angeles, CA)
–    IFC “Out of the Box” Award: “St. James St. James Presents: Delirium Cinema” from Ross Patterson (Los Angeles, CA)
–    MTV “Voice and Vision” Animation Awards for Writing and Animation: “Pound Dogs” from Mike Salva (Nashville, TN)
–    Syfy Digital Studio “Imagine Greater” Award: “Odessa” from Al Thompson (New York, NY)

Additional IPC award winners:

–    NYTVF Critics Award: “Redesigning Your Life with Lainey Chase” from Eric Cyphers (Los Angeles, CA)
–    Bing Audience Award: “I Hate Being Single” from Rob Michael Hugel (Brooklyn, NY)
–    Best Comedy Pilot: “Duder” from Matt Kirsch (Brooklyn, NY)
–    Best Drama Pilot: “Finding Hope” from Diane Namm (Malibu, CA)
–    Best Animation Pilot: “Cafe Bloodbath” from Matt Cook and Carlo Johnson (Brooklyn, NY)
–    Best Dramedy Pilot: “15 Minutes” from Bobby Salomon (Los Angeles, CA)
–    Best Family Programming Pilot: “Ruby Skye P.I.” from Jill Golick (Toronto, Ontario)
–    Best Web Series Pilot: “Vice, Inc.” from Sean Skelton (Brooklyn, NY)
–    Best Nonscripted Pilot: “Dinner Party Crashers” from Bo Vongsakoun (Denver, CO)
–    Actress in a Comedy: Jackie Debatin in “Redesigning Your Life with Lainey Chase”
–    Actress in a Drama or Dramedy: Rene Ashton in “MILF Money”
–    Actor in a Comedy: (tie) Chris O'Neill and Paul Valenti in “The Chris and Paul Show”
–    Actor in a Drama or Dramedy: Al Thompson in “Odessa”
–    Nonscripted Character or Host: Christophe for “Heavy Metal Nanny” (Los Angeles, CA)
–    Best Directing: Mark Gray and Scotty Weil for “Meter Men” (Los Angeles, CA)
–    Best Writing: Joseph Saroufim and Debbie Singer for “OB/GY Anne” (Santa Monica, CA)

Descriptions of the IPC selections can be found at http://nytvf.com/2011_ipc_selections.htm, and video trailers are available at the NYTVF’s YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/nytvf).
 

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