The NYTVF Artist Experience and NYTVF Connect

Artists that are named as either Official Selections in the annual Independent Pilot Competition or as finalists or semi-finalists in any stand-alone partnered development initiative, including the Comedy Central Short Pilot Competition, the A&E Unscripted Development Pipeline or the FOX Comedy Script Contest, will be invited to the 2012 New York Television Festival as Official Artists and will have the exclusive opportunity to participate in NYTVF Connect.

 

NYTVF Connect is the Festival's comprehensive industry track serving artists and top-tier entertainment executives across the creative development spectrum. The program encompasses three unique opportunities that are each designed to maximize Festival participation for artists and executives, providing them with the tools to network, build relationships and collaborate on projects. Artists cannot purchase access to NYTVF Connect and are only eligible to participate if their work is selected to be featured at the Festival.

NYTVF CONNECT includes:

  • Executive Access provides Festival partners with early access to the independent content showcased at the Festival as well as concierge service to arrange meetings and pitches with projects and artists of interest. Executive Access culminates with hundreds of NYTVF-facilitated meetings during the annual Festival in October, yielding a streamlined interaction model.
  • NYTVF Pitch is an exclusive development initiative hosted during the Festival allowing Pitch Partners to solicit pitches from the class of Official Artists. Each Pitch Partner guarantees a development deal to be distributed out of the initiative.
  • Industry Development Chats provide industry partners with informal platform to present their development and/or acquisition strategy to the Festival's Official Artists.



2011 Festival Stats

  • The NYTVF welcomed over 200 Official Artists to the Festival, where they attended a private 4-day track of Artist-only events. This track included executive meetings, pitch sessions, development chats, networking events, and happy hours.
  • Fifteen guaranteed development deals were awarded in the 2010-2011 development season to artists that were selected by the NYTVF through its year-round initiatives.
  • Over forty networks, studios, agencies and production companies met with artists in 269 Festival-facilitated meetings to begin relationships that could yield many more deals in years to come.
  • The seventh annual Festival marked the culmination of NYTVF's 2010-2011 Development Season, including these NYTVF initiatives:
    • The 7th annual Independent Pilot Competition, including guaranteed deals from FX, IFC, MTV and Syfy Digital Studio.
    • Sponsored initiatives such as The 4th annual Fox Comedy Script Competition, The Sony Format Competition, The Bing Decisions Project, and the A&E Unscripted Development Pipeline.

Unprecedented Access

Representatives from pilots in the Independent Pilot Competition and Finalists in all of NYTVF's year-round development initiatives are invited to participate as Official Artists at the 2012 Festival. Official Artists receive exclusive opportunities to:

  • Pitch, learn from and meet one-on-one with top development and talent executives and television decision makers.
  • Explore opportunities to showcase their ideas and win guaranteed development deals from NYTVF's network partners.
  • Engage and form relationships with other artists and industry members.
  • Attend free screenings, industry-only networking events and happy hours.

Exclusive Artist-Only Programs

NYTVF Pitch

Launched in 2011 and open exclusively to Official Festival Artists, NYTVF Pitch offers even more guaranteed deals. Based on creative briefs provided by participating networks and studios, Officals Artists of the 2012 NYTVF will have the chance to pitch new show concepts directly to development executives at the Fall Festival in NYC.

 

2012 NYTVF Pitch Partners


BIO Channel 4 Hasbro Studios Logo SevenOne RedArrow Sundance Channel

For more information about NYTVF Pitch, click here.


 

NYTVF Development Chats

Artist-only Development Chats are informal discussions designed to provide an open information exchange between our industry partners and participating Festival artists. Open exclusively to Official Artists, these half-hour discussions allow creators to hear more about the development process directly from Executives, Agents, and important decision-makers in the television community who are actively involved with the NYTVF.

    Participating 2011 Development Chat executives included:

  • Marcus Wiley, SVP Comedy Development, FOX
  • Damon Lindelof, EP and co-creator of "Lost"
  • VH1 Creative Labs
  • Sundance Channel
  • Lifetime
  • William Morris Endeavor
  • International Creative Management

 

Executive Access

Launched in 2010, Executive Access is a program designed to not only put the independent content showcased at the Festival in the hands of network, agency and studio executives, but also to serve as a mechanism for those decision-makers to interact with the creators in meetings arranged and coordinated by Festival organizers. Sponsors receive copies of all Official Selections in the weeks prior to the Festival and have the opportunity to identify projects and artists with whom they would like to meet. Executive Access is a streamlined interaction model set up by the Festival to provide both artists and executives a concierge service to network, build relationships and collaborate on future projects.

    Over sixty networks, studios, agencies and production companies participated in 2011, including:

  • A&E
  • IFC
  • SevenOne International/Red Arrow Entertainment Group
  • MTV
  • E!
  • Logo
  • SyFy Digital Studio
  • Spike
  • FEARnet
  • MSN
  • Creative Artists Agency
  • United Talent Agency

Support Post-Festival

The NYTVF understands that to foster great talent is to provide support and opportunities to its community of creators, writers and producers year-round. Official Artists are welcomed into the NYTVF community as valued Alumni and are invited to participate in future Festivals, events and initiatives throughout the year.



What our 2011 Artists have to say:

"I felt like I had been playing the development game for a year and the NYTVF finally handed me the rules. There is no event that I know of that is embracing the independent producer to this extent."

- Alec Pinkston, FOX Comedy Script Finalist



"The NYTVF is without a doubt the best festival in the country for Independent content creators. Whether they are working in the digital space, Television, or even shorts and features, all independent content creators need to be submitting to the NYTVF. It is our generation's Sundance."

- Al Thompson, Independent Pilot Competition award winner and 3-time Festival alum



"The New York Television Festival has tapped into some of the best new artists around and has changed how TV deals are made."

- Bo Vongsakoun, Independent Pilot Competition award winner



"The New York Television Festival is one of the best-run and business-minded festivals I’ve attended. The events are all geared to pairing artists with distributors and network executives with the goal of selling content. The programming selections were made with great care, and I was impressed with all of the material that was screened. An enthusiastic thumbs’ up to Terence Gray and his dedicated, efficient and professional staff. This is a festival well worth the time and attention of anyone who’s serious about independently developing content for television."

- Diane Namm, Independent Pilot Competition award winner



"The NYTVF is filling a long-awaited need for those looking to break into television. There is nothing quite like it out there."

- Sean Skelton, Independent Pilot Competition award winner



What the Industry Says:

“Comedy is so vibrant and exciting right now, and our annual collaboration with the NYTVF to discover, cultivate and support new comedy writers is as important as ever. We are so grateful to the NYTVF and the artists who have participated in the contest for the last five years. It's incredibly gratifying to help break down traditional barriers so that original voices can be heard.”

- Suzanna Makkos and Marcus Wiley, Senior Vice Presidents and co-heads of Comedy Development, Fox



“It’s helpful to the next generation of TV makers to get some insight into how it’s done. Because Lord knows I needed all the help I could get.”

- Marc Cherry, Creator and Executive Producer of “Desperate Housewives”



“It’s incredibly important. It’s such a great opportunity”

- Joel Fields, Exec Producer “Ugly Betty” and “Rizzoli & Isles”



“We believe it’s important to support nontraditional forums like the New York Television Festival in their efforts to cultivate the next generation of innovative storytellers”

- Kevin Reilly, President of Entertainment, Fox



“(The Festival)…is a wonderful showcase for our industry. It’s a great forum for new talent as well as a celebration of television”

- Ben Silverman, Founder and CEO, Electus



“This is a forum that celebrates, encourages, and promotes creative television programming.”

- Doug Herzog, President, MTV Networks



“Lots of people say they have ideas for television shows, but few have the passion and drive to execute them. The Festival provides those people an opportunity to expose their work to industry professionals who normally wouldn’t see it”

- Mike Scully, Producer of “The Simpsons” and “Parks & Recreation”