Judging of the Entries
To be considered for the Chicago Comedy TV Pilot Competition, an entry must be a Chicago product -- that is, the filmmaker who owns the copyright must have been a Chicago area resident at the time the pilot was made, or alternatively, the pilot must have been created by a Chicago-area-based production company that owns the copyright. Pilots are required to be comedy, scripted, and based on original ideas. Also, it must feature a situation and characters that could continue beyond the pilot – i.e., it must be a sitcom, rather than sketch comedy format.
The jury consists of people who work in the TV industry in Hollywood (see below). This is not a live jury, but rather, the pilots are sent to them on DVD for their judging.
The winning pilot for 2011, based on their rating, is Single Long (see First Place Award Winner page). It will receive a $500 cash prize provided by the Chicago post-production and production house Optimus.
2011 Jury Members:
Jim Donnelly, Director of Development, CBS Paramount Network Television
Lindsay Framson, Television Literary Department, United Talent Agency
Jeff Meyerson, Manager of Comedy Development, Fox Broadcasting Company
Tim Sarkes, Talent Manager, Brillstein Entertainment Partners
Jim Sharp, Senior Vice President–Original Programming and Development–West Coast, Comedy Central
Howie Tanenbaum, Television Literary Agent, International Creative Management
Tom Whedon, Former TV Show Writer and Producer
Past Award Winners:
TV Pilot Prize Winner 2010: |
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Vista Del Monte, by Adrian DiGiovanni |
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TV Pilot Prize Winner 2009: |
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Lowering the Bar, by Kenneth Yoder |
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TV Pilot Prize Winner 2008: |
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4 and a Half Terrorists, by Olive Films |
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TV Pilot Prize Winner 2007: |
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Cop Show, by David Pasquesi and Tracy Letts |
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