MSN Sponsors $10.000 Award in Indie TV Festival

The New York Television Festival has announced on August 3 that the TV celebration was joined by Signature Sponsor MSN. This collaboration will translate in the offering of a $10.000 MSN Artistic Achievement Award to the sole winner of the Festival's 2006 Independent Pilot Competition. MSN representatives have disclosed that along with the money, the winner will be granted the opportunity to sit with executives from MSN Originals through a development meeting. The money are meant to finance future Indie projects belonging to the producers that will take home the prize for the best pilot. MSN's participation in the New York Television Festival 2006 Independent Pilot Competition aims to fuel talent and content designed for innovative platforms. No less than 22 original pilots will have a face-off for the prize from September 12th through September 17th in categories such as: comedy, drama, education, reality and animation.

"The MSN Artistic Achievement Award establishes a pipeline for a pilot-maker to become a full-fledged TV producer virtually overnight," said NYTVF Founder Terence Gray. "The NYTVF is proud to provide opportunities to artists who would otherwise struggle to get their work seen by the right people."

"At MSN, we're passionate about bringing a new generation of storytelling online through the MSN Originals initiative," said Rob Bennett, general manager of Entertainment and Video Services for MSN. "We're thrilled to work with the New York Television Festival to provide this opportunity for aspiring television creators."

The two organizations have also announced the creation of the Pilot-maker Pages on Windows Live Spaces, an environment dedicated to the community of independent TV producers, writers and directors. All the pilots that have entered the competition will find their way onto MSN Video beginning September 13th.

"We are witnessing an encouraging trend in this year's group of submissions," said NYTVF Director of Programming Brent Burnette. "Last year, we received a large number of cut-down independent films and repurposed shorts. This year, we saw a significant increase in the number of television pilots shot specifically for the NYTVF. Artists have begun to see the potential in producing independent television, and the Festival is a primary force behind that."