Fox and the New York Television Festival are launching the Fox-NYTVF Comedy Script Contest. Aspiring comedy writers can submit a script for a half-hour comedy pilot, with the winner receiving $25,000 and a development deal with Fox.
Sponsoring such a contest is a first for Fox -- and, a company spokeswoman said, as far as they know, a first for a TV network -- and it comes after a writers' strike and changing financial dynamics that have networks looking for new, innovative and more cost-efficient ways to develop new programming for a host of programming streams.
“Fox is proud to continue to support the NYTVF,” said Kevin Reilly, president of entertainment for the network. “And this contest will not only expand that mission, but will also give us an opportunity to discover fresh new writing talent and invigorate the network’s comedy-development process by reaching out to a wider artistic community.”
Scripts for half-hour comedies can be submitted online starting June 2, but the submission window is small, closing June 13. The submissions will be winnowed to 25 finalists, with Fox development executives picking the winner. Fox also reserves the right to strike deals with any of the other 24 finalists.
This year's festival will be held Sept. 12-17 in Manhattan. The festival was launched in 2005 with the goal of showcasing independent producers. Sponsors have included
MSN
,
Procter & Gamble Productions
, Fox,
NBC Universal
,
ABC
,
A&E Television Networks
,
Bravo
and
E! Entertainment Television
.
