New York Television Festival Announces Full Slate of Pilots In Competition and Special Screenings for Inaugural Independent TV Festival

New York Television Festival Announces Full Slate of Pilots In Competition and Special Screenings for Inaugural Independent TV Festival

26 Pilots will compete in Comedy, Drama, Reality, Documentary and Animation Categories

NEW YORK, Sept. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, New York Television Festival (NYTVF) founder and executive director, Terence Gray, joins programming director Brent Burnette in announcing the official full slate of pilots in competition and special screenings at the premiere New York Television Festival presented in association with TV Guide. The jurors for the competition will be announced at a later date.

The New York Television Festival will present 26 pilots in competition in the following categories: comedy, drama, reality, documentary, and animation. The pilots featured in the first-ever Independent Pilot Competition will reflect the variety of the current television landscape, presenting inventive takes on familiar formats such as teen dramas, dating shows, workplace sitcoms and sketch comedies. A talented crop of aspiring actors are joined in the pilots by current stars William Shatner, Burt Young, The Sopranos' John Ventimiglia and The Daily Show's Bob Wiltfong, and entertainment legends Phyllis Diller and Fred Willard.

"I would like to congratulate all of the artists whose pilots were named Official Selections for the 2005 Independent Pilot Competition," said NYTVF Executive Director Terence Gray. "Creating, developing and financing a pilot are considerable tasks, and we were overwhelmed by the quality of submissions entered by this first generation of television makers in our inaugural year. The pilots we received prove that innovation and creativity remain the lifeblood of good television."

COMEDY PILOTS IN COMPETITION:

* Almost Funny, directed by Dan Prussman, written by Steve Basilone & Dan Levy (Los Angeles, CA) * Anything Eni, directed by Neil Padover, written by Neil Padover & Dan Patack, (Tufts University, Medford, MA) * Artistic License, directed by Michael Wohl, written by Nate Cohen & Michael Kohl, (Los Angeles, CA) * Criss-Cross, directed and written by James S. Murray, (Brooklyn, NY) * Gary: Under Crisis, directed by Daniel Klein & Colin Trevorow, written by Derek Connolly, (Venice, CA) * Made Up, directed by David Fishel, written by Fishel, Michael Schaubach & Ben Schmidt, (New York, NY) * Satellite Nation, directed and written by Aaron Hilliard & Luke del Tredici, (Los Angeles, CA) * The Splu Urtaf Show, directed and written by Matt Sloan & Aaron Yonda, (Madison, WI) * The Weatherman Boys, directed and written by Matt Oberg & Bob Wiltfong, (Port Washington, NY)

DRAMA PILOTS IN COMPETITION:

* Bitter Sweet, directed by Del Matthew Bigtree, written by Stephen Anderson & Bigtree (Los Angeles, CA) * Nicky's Game, directed by Peter Alson, written by John-Luke Montias, (New York, NY) * Rule Number One, directed and written by David Presley, (Studio City, CA) * Second Wind, directed by Anna-Maria Vag, written by Daria Finn (Onancock, VA) * University Place, directed by NYU's Department of Film & Television, written by NYU's Department of Dramatic Writing, (New York University, New York, NY)

DOCUMENTARY PILOTS IN COMPETITION:

* Johnny Berlin, directed by Dominic J. DeJoseph, (Brooklyn, NY) * La Joya (The Jewel), directed by Abner Benaim, written by Benaim & Guido Bilboa, (Republic of Panama) * Meet Tom Kramer, directed by Rachael Pihlaja, (Los Angeles, CA)

REALITY PILOTS IN COMPETITION:

* Cooking's a Drag, directed by Randy Murray, written by Leighann Philipps & Bob Smith, (Phoenix, AZ) * Heads or Tails, directed by Sheryl Matthys, written by Kris Arnold, Steve Marshall & Matthys, (New York, NY) * Knock Knock, directed by Robert Jeff Watts, written by Jeremy Pfeiffer, (Los Angeles, CA) * Off the Hook, directed and written by Michael Morrissey (New York, NY) * That One Show, directed by Aron Garrison, (Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ)

ANIMATION PILOTS IN COMPETITION:

* The Back Brace, animated and written by Andy London & Carolyn London, (New York, NY) * Five Infomercials for Dentists, animated and written by Signe Baumane, (New York, NY) * The KnitWits, animated by Vincent Cararelli & Candy Kugel, written by Kugel & cast (New York, NY) * Nelson: Rock & Roll Detectives, animated and written by Jay Barba & Brian Farrelly (Astoria, NY)

SPECIAL SCREENINGS (NOT IN COMPETITION):

* The Fan and the Flower (Animated), animated by Bill Plympton, written by Dan O'Shannon (New York, NY) * The Finkel Files (Animated), animated and written by Adam Mutterperl, (New York, NY) * The House of Tiny Teraways (Reality), directed by Kate Douglas Walker, written by James Dillon (London, UK) * Inside the Bubble, (Documentary), directed by Steven Rosenbaum, (New York, NY) * McLeod's Daughters (Drama), produced by Posie Graeme-Evans, (Australia) * Venus and Apollo (Comedy), produced by Olivier Guignard, (France)

More information can be found on the New York Television website: www.newyorktelevisionfestival.com

Awards in the six competition sections will be presented in the following categories: Best Dramatic Pilot, Best Comedic Pilot, Best Reality Pilot, Best Documentary Pilot, Best Animation Pilot, Audience Award, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Writer.

Industry Passes and Packages are on-sale now by calling 1-866-698-8389 or 212-404-2860. For more information visit us online at www.newyorktelevisionfestival.com or call 1-866-698-8389.

Source: New York Television Festival

CONTACT: Amy Glickman, +1-212-843-8063, aglickman@rubenstein.com, Rachael Vollaro, +1-212-843-8046, rvollaro@rubenstein.com, or Gretchen Wagner, +1-212-843-8076, gwagner@rubenstein.com, all of Rubenstein Communications, for The New York Television Festival

Web site: http://www.newyorktelevisionfestival.com/

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