New York Television Festival Announces Over 30 Deals, 2014 Winners!

Independent artists, industry executives and TV fans celebrated closing night of the 10th annual New York Television Festival this evening at the SVA Theatre in Manhattan, with a series of special events. House of Cards showrunner Beau Willimon kicked things off with the third and final creative keynote of the week, followed by a screening and talk-back of FOX comedy series MULANEY and the Festival's annual awards ceremony. There, NYTVF (www.nytvf.com) announced the winners of its Independent Pilot Competition (IPC) in 12 categories, including "Best of the Fest" and NYTVF Critics Award honors to "Dispatch" and "Witnesses" respectively, as well as recipients of 20 development deals from its network, studio and digital partners.

In 2014, NYTVF and its partners are bringing a record 32 development deals to independent television creators (some were announced earlier this year). Among the deals are direct-to-series green lights from The Orchard and Travel Channel/ULIVE, and the development of an unscripted pilot presentation with A&E Network.

Also announced were the winner of the HISTORY Unscripted Development Pipeline; five finalists in the Lifetime Unscripted Development Pipeline; winner of the Lionsgate/Sea to Sky - Channel 4 Drama Co- Development Award; and additional development deals from NYTVF partners Channel 4, Comedy Central, Conde Nast Entertainment, Tiny Riot! - a FremantleMedia company, fyi, H2, Investigation Discovery, National Geographic Channels, Red ARROW Entertainment, SundanceTV, truTV, and WE tv.

"We had a fantastic week with more events, projects, deals, and overall artist and industry participation than ever before. It was a terrific way to celebrate our tenth Festival," said NYTVF Founder and Executive Director Terence Gray. "In the last decade the Festival has grown from a screening and panel series to an international talent and content marketplace that has solidified its place on the TV industry calendar. By drawing thousands of submissions annually, we continue to attract the best talent, and connect them with our development partners who over the years have guaranteed indie TV artists more than 100 development deals and counting."

In 2014, 32 total development deals were offered through NYTVF via year-round initiatives, up from 30 in 2013, 26 in 2012, 15 in 2011 and one or two in earlier years. Of the nearly 2,000 submissions received this year, 121 projects were selected for the Independent Pilot Competition or as finalists/semi-finalists in other development initiatives, with more than 300 Official Artists invited to attend the Festival. These artists participated in hundreds of networking and pitch meetings with industry executives, while more than 15,000 artists, fans and industry attendees took advantage of the 60-plus free events, including screenings, premieres, panels and parties that took place at Tribeca Cinemas, Tribeca Three Sixty, and the SVA Theatre from October 20 - 25.

2014 NYTVF DEVELOPMENT DEALS:

A&E, HISTORY, and Lifetime Unscripted Development Pipelines

Launched in 2011 with A&E, adding Lifetime in 2012 and HISTORY in 2013, these programs sought original unscripted television concepts (including a short video and treatment) focused on individuals or small groups that represent unique points of view for each network. In each initiative, a selection of semi-finalists advanced to the corresponding network for consideration with five finalists receiving development deals. Winning producers received $10,000 and the opportunity for future development with the partnering network, and in the case of the A&E initiative, the project will be produced as a pilot presentation in partnership with NYTVF Productions and A&E.

The winner of the HISTORY Unscripted Development Pipeline, which was selected from the five finalists announced earlier this year:

- Gary Simson and Andrew Giacometti for their project "Wreck Hunters" (Los Angeles, CA)

The winner of the A&E Unscripted Development Pipeline, which was selected from the five finalists announced earlier this year:

- Eric Kutner for his project "Risk" (New York, NY)

Finalists in the Lifetime Unscripted Development Pipeline (winner to be announced at a later date):

- Nathan Stoll for his project "Can't Knock The Hustle" (New York, NY)
- Ryan Basham for his project "Doctor Diva" (Los Angeles, CA)
- Kate Hendricks for her project "Kate the Wasp" (New York, NY)
- Mark Haapala and Stewart Gold for their project "Pinky & The Fan Girls" (Los Angeles, CA)
- Terri Lee Ryan for her project "Rori's Party" (Chicago, IL)

Festival Development Awards and NYTVF Pitch

In addition to the above, 16 networks, studios, and distributors offered guaranteed development opportunities in 2014, to Official Artists of the 10th Annual New York Television Festival. Artists representing projects and pilots featured in this year's Festival were eligible.

Each partner (or group of partners) guaranteed one development deal or production deal for an artist participating in the Festival, with the below coming out on top. The Orchard and Travel Channel/ULIVE deals included direct-to-series orders.

FESTIVAL DEVELOPMENT AWARDS:

- Comedy Central: Caroline FOX and Daniel Obzejta for "This Old Thing" (Los Angeles, CA)
- Lionsgate/Sea to Sky - Channel 4 Drama Co-Development Award: Ben Snyder and Ari Issler for "The Come Up" (Brooklyn, NY)
- The Orchard GO Project: Jim Kozyra for "The Jamz" (Chicago, IL)

NYTVF PITCH AWARDS:

- Channel 4: Nicole Paglia and Daniel Brierley (London, UK)
- Conde Nast Entertainment: Ramiro Castro Jr. and Pedro Castro (Los Angeles, CA)
- FremantleMedia/Tiny Riot!: Sutton Dewey and Mark Millner (Brooklyn, NY)
- FYI: James Spokoini & Massimiliano Bulgheroni (London, UK)
- H2: Carrie Preston and Kate Rigg (New York, NY)
- Investigation Discovery: Nicole Paglia and Daniel Brierley (London, UK)
- National Geographic Channels: Steve Sera, Tim Egan, and Bob Sylvester (Boston, MA) - Red ARROW Entertainment: Jessica Coleman (Sicklerville, NJ)
- SundanceTV: David Harris (Los Angeles, CA)
- Travel Channel and ULIVE: Jim Kozyra and Chris Petlak (Chicago, IL)
- truTV: Greg Ash (London, UK)
- WEtv: Dan Berk and Robert Olsen (Brooklyn, NY)

In addition to the above, the FOX-NYTVF Comedy Alumni Program, Lifetime Unscripted Development Pipeline and MTV development deal winners will be announced later this year.

2014 INDEPENDENT PILOT COMPETITION WINNERS:

Finally, the 10th annual New York Television Festival wrapped up with winners of its flagship Independent Pilot Competition being announced across the following 12 categories:

- Best Animation Pilot: "Future Duck!" created by Henry Dalton and Paul Cope (London, UK)
- Best Comedy Pilot: "Cowards" created by Daniel Clark, Megan Green, Joe Kwaczala, Joe McAdam, and Chris Stephens (Los Angeles, CA)
- Best Drama or Dramedy Pilot: "Dispatch" created by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen (Brooklyn, NY)
- Best Short-Form Web Series: "Annie Undocumented" created by Daniel Hsia, Elaine Low, and Brian Yang (Los Angeles, CA)
- Best Unscripted Pilot: "Love Spitters" created by Rich Seng and Nicholas Charles Peters (Chicago, IL)
- Best Actress: Caroline FOX for "This Old Thing" (Los Angeles, CA)
- Best Actor: Chris Mast for "Go, Bolivia, Go!" (Los Angeles, CA)
- Best Director: David Eisenberg for "Witnesses" (Queens, NY)
- Best Editor: Matt VanDaniker for "The Neighborhood" (Queens, NY)
- Best Writing: "Trouble" written by Sean Skelton (New York, NY)
- NYTVF Critics Award: "Witnesses" created by David Eisenberg and Jon Higgins (Queens, NY)
- NYTVF Audience Award: "The Neighborhood" created by James Manzello and Matt Pavich (Queens, NY)
- NYTVF "Best of the Fest": "Dispatch" created by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen (Brooklyn, NY)

Descriptions and trailers for these and all IPC selections can be found at www.nytvf.com/2014_ipc_selections.html.

In addition to the awards and deals announced tonight, previously announced winners and honorees in the following initiatives were also recognized during Saturday night's awards ceremony:

- BAFTA-Rocliffe New Writers Forum
- NYTVF-Just for Laughs "Set to Screen: TV Comedy Search"
- NYTVF-BravoFACT Passport Program, presented in partnership with Bell Media

NYTVF award winners and deal recipients were awarded a DuArt Pro Package, which provides access to free office space and heavily discounted post-production services in New York City for a full year.

About the NYTVF - Established in 2005, the NYTVF constructs new and innovative paths of development and talent identification, while simultaneously complementing the traditional television development model. By partnering directly with networks, studios, production companies, digital platforms and brands, the NYTVF provides its Industry Partners with a streamlined development model, leveraging its vast creative community of over 14,000 independent producers and production companies, to create content with specific partners in mind. During the annual New York Television Festival - held each fall in New York City - the NYTVF brings together its top artists and industry decision-makers for a series of events designed to foster networking, collaboration and education. The Festival also marks the culmination of the organization's yearly development efforts and features screenings of top independent content, educational panels, fan events, red carpet premieres, and more. For more information on the NYTVF and the annual Festival, visit www.nytvf.com, and to learn about opportunities to submit for its year-round competitions, visit www.nytvf.com/submit.html.