News / TV

Today is the deadline for Independent Pilot submissions to 2017 NY TV Festival

Attention all aspiring TV show creators, screenwriters, directors and actors: Today is the deadline to submit for the 2017 New York TV Festival’s annual Independent Pilot Competition!

You can submit online until midnight via Withoutabox.

The NYTVF office at 121 W. 27th St., in Manhattan, also will be open until midnight. If the building’s front door is locked, you can call the office at 212-675-5428 (ahead of time to let them know when you’re arriving).

For full details on all of the rules and fees for the NYTFV pilot competition, click here.

The festival, held each year in October with panels and screenings galore, also has produced a top 10 reasons for you to consider the Independent Pilot Competition…reprinted in full below:

TOP 10 REASONS TO SUBMIT TO THE NYTVF

Getting your work into the NYTVF and being an NYTVF Official Artist opens doors to numerous benefits and rewards:

  • ARTIST: Jorge Rivera (multi-year NYTVF alum)
  • POST FEST: Since the NYTVF, Rivera was selected as a FOX-Writers Intensive Fellow and has written for Fox’s A.P.B.

 

“I remember being surrounded by all this positive energy and excitement from other independent TV creators and thinking to myself, ‘I love this. I can do this. This is possible.’ It took me awhile to get to a place where I could actually earn a living doing it, but that moment is still crystal clear in my mind, and I have the NYTVF to thank for it.”

Check out the NYTVF Blog for more on Rivera’s journey post-NYTVF and his experience writing for A.P.B.

 

  • ARTIST: Carrie Preston (Emmy Award-Winning Actress, Multi-Year NYTVF Alum)
  • Preston and her production company, Daisy 3 Pictures, were awarded a Pitch deal with LOGO for their project Burly Q’s. During Preston’s return to the Festival a few years later, she and fellow producer Kate Rigg won the History Channel Pitch deal.

 

“I was amazed that we artists had such access to top level development executives. As a result, I now have a professional rapport with top decision makers from major cable companies. And on top of it all, I got to meet other indie TV artists and see the exciting work that is being created out there. The NYTVF is the place for indie TV creators.”

 

  • ARTIST: Julia Mattison and Noel Carey (2016 Official Artists, Comedy Central Development Deal Winners)
  • Mattison is a multi-year NYTVF alum and previous winner of the MTV Development Deal.

 

“The two years I have been lucky enough to be a part of the NYTVF have been invaluable for my career and as a creative artist. The Festival feels like being at summer camp, but, instead of walking away with a new lanyard or a pasta necklace to give to your mom, you might walk away with a Development Deal with a major network, representation with a top agent or manager, and/or dozens of new industry relationships with executives and fellow artists. Who knows, maybe you’ll even walk away with a pasta necklace too. The NYTVF team is that good.” – Julia Mattison

 

 

“The NYTVF is one of the rare festivals which actually gives filmmakers opportunity to excel in their field by putting them side-by-side with the finest professionals in the country. They provide the opportunity to learn from and even pitch to, the finest network executives in television today…And they give you free beer. What’s not to love?”

 

 

“The event was a whirlwind. We met some great friends and contacts who we still keep in touch with and hope to collaborate with in the near future. The experience was incredibly exciting – to screen in New York City for such a prestigious group was definitely a highlight. It also gave us some valuable face to face pitch time that allowed us to hone the best elements of our show and take stock of what was compelling for buyers and distributors and what we could improve upon.”

Check out the original web series!

 

  • PROJECT: Textbook Adulthood (2016 NYTVF Official Selection, Pop Pitch Deal Winner)
  • CREATORS: Madeline Walter and Paul Welsh

 

“The New York Television Festival totally exceeded our expectations. We walked in with a web series that nobody had seen before, and the Festival gave us a great audience, valuable knowledge about the current TV marketplace, and the opportunity to make contacts that have already made a meaningful difference in our careers.”

 

  • ARTIST: Chas Jackson (2016 Official Artist, OneX Pitch Deal Winner)
  • POST-FEST: Jackson is currently in development with OneX and NYTVF Productions on his project, Resourceful.

 

“As a first-time attendee, I was blown away by the level of talent, access, and exposure I was met with. Attend The New York Television Festival and thank me later.”

 

  • ARTISTS: Erin Cardillo and Richard Keith (NYTVF Official Artists)
  • POST-FEST: After winning the NYTVF-FOX Script Competition (and signing with agents at the Festival), Cardillo and Keith met with long-time Festival partner, The CW.
  • Cardillo and Keith have since gone on to create Significant Mother with the CW, serve as Co-Executive Producers of Netflix’s Fuller House, and create the CW’s upcoming Life Sentence, starring Lucy Hale.

 

“We came out of the NYTVF with more opportunities than we could ever have hoped for. In today’s market, there is so much content being pitched around that it had been difficult to get in the door as new writers, even with a production company attached, so our Festival win meant a lot in terms of getting a meeting on the books.”

Check out the trailer for Life Sentence here.

 

  • PROJECT: Animals (IPC Official Selection and Best Comedy Pilot, 2013)
  • CREATORS: Phil Matarese and Mike Luciano
  • POST-FEST: During the 2013 NYTVF, Matarese and Luciano were signed by agents at ICM, and Animals premiered its first season on HBO in 2015. Prior to its second season finale, Animals was renewed for a third season in May 2017.
  • At the 12th Annual Festival in October 2016, Matarese and Luciano gave the first ever NYTVF Alumni Keynote.

 

“The NYTVF was the most important thing to happen to Animals. I cannot oversell the importance of being involved in this Festival. It was one of the greatest weeks of my life.” – Phil Matarese

“The New York Television Festival was the first time, for us, that the seemingly impenetrable wall between us, independent creators, and the enigmatic, all powerful machine known as ‘the industry’ felt like it dropped. We met our agents, our managers, and executives at a number of studios, networks, and distribution platforms that we still are in contact with today.” – Mike Luciano

Check out this piece from Vulture on why Animals is the best TV comedy you’re not watching.

 

  • PROJECT: Shrink (2012 Independent Pilot Competition Official Selection, Best Comedy and Critic’s Award Winner)
  • CREATORS: Ted Tremper and Tim Baltz
  • POST-FEST: After the NYTVF, Tremper and Baltz spent time developing the project and eventually pitched to networks and studios. After four years of development, the first season of Shrinkpremiered on Seeso in 2017.

 

“I love projects. I like getting obsessed with them and trying to get everything right. But making a TV show is a lot of work, and it takes so much collaboration with every department to pull it off. We were really lucky that every department we worked with was A+, understood what we were setting out to do, and helped elevate all of us. It was really, really special watching that in action.” – Tim Baltz

Shrink co-creators Ted Tremper and Tim Baltz elaborated on the show’s development process and working with Seeso for the NYTVF Blog.

Also, check out this piece from Fast Company for even more on the years-long development process of Shrink.

Season One of Shrink is currently streaming on Seeso.

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

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