This thing gets bigger/better/more important each year. Talk about a way to jump start your TV career!
The 2012 New York Television Festival Announces Its Winners, Including ‘Galaxy Comics,’ ‘Shrink’ and More – by Alison Willmore
The eighth annual New York Television Festival wrapped last night ( Saturday) by announcing the winners of its main Independent Pilot Competition, as well as the final selections for various scripted and unscripted contests that come with development deals at networks like Fox, A&E, Lifetime and others.
The festival, which ran from October 22 to 27 in New York, included panels, workshops, industry pitch sessions and screenings of all 51 selections in the IPC, broken up into the categories of animation, comedy, drama and unscripted.
2012 Independent Pilot Competition Sponsored Awards
- IFC “Out of the Box” Award: “Hamsters,” from Damian Lanigan (Brooklyn, NY
- )MTV Comedy Development Deal: “Galaxy Comics,” from Kevin McMullin and Jacey Heldrich (New York, NY)
- Syfy “Imagine Greater” Award: “Time Trials,” from Lee Jordan and Clay Lapari (Los Angeles, CA)
- VH1 “Theory of Creativity” Award: “Actors Anonymous,” from René Ashton (Studio City, CA)
- Amazon Studios Audience Award: “Captain Cornelius Cartoon’s Cartoon Lagoon,” from Manny Galán (New York, NY)
Additional IPC Award Winners
- NYTVF Critics Award: “Shrink,” from Ted Tremper (Chicago, IL)
- Best Comedy Pilot: “Shrink,” from Ted Tremper (Chicago, IL)
- Best Drama or Dramedy Pilot: “Books,” from Joe Webb (Los Angeles, CA)
- Best Animation Pilot: “Pockets Universe,” from John Cantlie and Edmond Melnychuk (Richmond, BC)
- Best Web Series Pilot: “Lovin’ Lakin,” from Dave Mahanes and Christine Lakin (Los Angeles, CA)
- Best Nonscripted Pilot: “Newton’s Law,” from Sean O’Riordan (London, UK)
- Best Actress: Zandy Hartig in “American Viral” (New York, NY)
- Best Actor: Jonathan Pessin in “In Session with Jonathan Pessin” (Los Angeles, CA)
- Nonscripted Character or Host: Alec Pinkston in “How to Get Lost” (Chicago, IL)
- Best Directing: (tie) Kevin McMullin for “Galaxy Comics” (New York, NY) and John Lyde for “The Shadow Cabal” (Provo, UT)
- Best Writing: Scott Eckert, Chris Grace, Rich Hollman, Chris O’Brien, and Nate Williams for “Actualized” (New York, NY)
NYTVF Pitch
Select artists submitted pitches aimed at specific networks or agencies based on their creative briefs, with the winners below each getting a development deal.
- Sundance Channel: “I Want A New Life,” created by Stephen Soroka and Will Bozarth (New York, NY)
- Red Arrow International: “Barely Legal,” created by Kynan Griffin and Jason Faller (Provo, UT)
- BIO Channel: “Para-Not-So-Normal,” created by Nick Armstrong and Trevor Tevel (Los Angeles, CA)
- Channel 4: “Celebrities Solving Crimes,” created by Melge Media (Brooklyn, NY)
- Hasbro Studios: “Buckle and Swash,” created by Sarah Courtauld (London, UK)
- Logo: “Burly Q’s,” created by Carrie Preston and Daisy 3 Pictures (New York, NY)
- truTV: “Lords of the Land: NYC,” created by Frank Mosca (City Island, NY)
FOX-NYTVF Comedy Script Contest
Aspiring TV writers entered original half-hour comedy TV pilot scripts, with 25 finalists evaluated by Fox and the winner below receiving $25,000 and a development deal at the network.
- “Here to Stay” from Andrew Shafer (New York, NY)