Comedians win honors, cash, deals at sixth annual New York Television Festival

The sixth annual New York Television Festival ended over the weekend with the announcement of several prizes for people who produced pilots and short films in competition. You may recognize a name or two among the comedians who participated.

From the festival, here were your winners this year…

NYTVF Special Competition Winners 
Voted by popular choice at Festival screenings to honor the audience’s favorite submission in the Independent Pilot Competition, the 2010 NYTVF People’s Choice Award for Best Pilot was presented to Matt Fisher, Alden Ford, and Justin Tyler for “Illuminati Brothers.” The pilot follows two fun-loving brothers who inherit the leadership of a secret society that has been running the world for centuries.

The comedy pilot "Red Delicious" was named the winner of the FOX-NYTVF Comedy Script Contest. As part of this distinction, Austen Earl and Luke Cunningham will receive $25,000 and a development deal with Fox Broadcasting Company. The script follows an overweight Philadelphia kid's attempt to escape the neighborhood that torments him.

NYTVF Independent Pilot Competition Winners 
The 2010 Independent Pilot Competition featured 42 pilots in a wide variety of television genres. 
This year’s “NYTVF Awards” were presented to pilots and pilot-makers in the following categories:

Best Comedy Pilot: ‚ÄúIlluminati Brothers‚Äù 
Created by: Matt Fisher, Alden Ford, and Justin Tyler (Brooklyn, NY) 
Two fun-loving brothers inherit the leadership of a secret society that has been running the world for centuries.

Best Drama Pilot: ‚ÄúPioneer One‚Äù 
Created by: Josh Bernhard (New York, NY) 
An object from space spreads radiation over North America. Fearing terrorism, U.S. Homeland Security agents are dispatched to investigate and contain the damage.

AETN‚Äôs Best Nonscripted or Alternative Pilot: ‚ÄúTil Death Do Us Parts‚Äù 
Created by: Frank Mosca, Joe Ferrer, John Morena, Stephen Franciosa (Brooklyn, NY) 
Joe, the hard working owner of BS&F Auto Parts in the South Bronx must choose between his high-stress business life or his health and well-being.

MTV Animation Award: ‚Äú9 AM Meeting‚Äù 
Created by: Dan McCoy (Brooklyn, NY) 
Two unassuming office drones are stuck in an early morning meeting that their boss may or may not have entirely forgotten.

Best Web Series Pilot: ‚ÄúJack In A Box‚Äù 
Created by: Michael Cyril Creighton with Marcie Hume (New York, NY) 
A mild-mannered young man with a BFA in acting and no life skills, Jack takes a job at a box office because it doesn’t involve lifting, blazers or Excel. Thousands of customers later, Jack finds himself less mild-mannered than ever before.

Best Actor: Ryan Judd for ‚ÄúSugar Babies‚Äù (New York, NY) 
Joe Billings is a path-of-least-resistance slacker and heir to a fortune built on sanitary supplies who learns from his dying father that his entire inheritance is being willed to Joe's future children.

Best Actress: Kate Manning for ‚ÄúGelber and Manning in Pictures‚Äù (Brooklyn, NY) 
Gelber and Manning are everyone’s favorite romantic vaudeville duo both on and off the stage, and are on the verge of making it big, however a “peculiar condition” threatens the very foundation of their love.

Best Nonscripted Host: Kurt Braunohler for ‚ÄúPointless‚Äù (New York, NY) 
Three comedians compete in a game show with challenges such as insulting injured people, making suggestions for how to improve the evolution of animals, and drawing penises based on a theme suggested by the studio audience.

Best Writing: Nipper Knapp, Matthew Letscher, Andrew Newberg for ‚ÄúGentrification‚Äù (Los Angeles, CA) 
Offers up a plate of honest, unflinching perspectives as two young families navigate their way through the ever-shifting landscape in which they are the minority – blending in like a kazoo in a Mariachi band.

Best Directing: Justin Dec for ‚ÄúRolling‚Äù (Miami, FL) 
Two friends Danny and Harry chase their dream of making television by starting at the bottom, landing jobs working on the hit crime show Citizen’s Arrest: Miami.

USA‚Äôs Characters Welcome Award: ‚ÄúDavid Atkins‚Äù as played by French Stewart for ‚ÄúThe Horrible, Terrible Misadventures of David Atkins‚Äù (Los Angeles, CA) 
David Atkins is a once high-flying writer-director who has moved to L.A. in hopes of reinvigorating his career.

IFC‚Äôs Out of the Box Award: ‚ÄúGreg and Donny‚Äù 
Created by: Matt Yeager and Jeff Skowron (Los
Angeles, CA) 
The Out of the Box Award is given to the most innovative or genre-expanding pilot in competition. This year’s winner “Greg and Donny” features the adventures of two friends, Greg and Donny, from a small town in western Pennsylvania. The 2008 Out of the Box Award winner, “Food Party,” has aired as a series on IFC for two seasons.

Full descriptions of all pilots are available online at www.nytvf.com.

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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