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, between 20-30 minutes, 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 2008 entries will be reviewed by a local screening committee consisting of people from the major TV stations, media, and universities, as well as people well-known in the local comedy and film communities (see below). Their top choices then will be sent to the jury.
The 2008 jury will consist of people who work in the TV industry outside of Chicago – mainly in Los Angeles and New York (see below). This is not a live jury, but rather, the pilots will be sent to them on DVD for their judging. The winning pilot, based on their ratings, will receive a $5,000 cash prize provided by the Chicago-based Alberto-Culver Company.
2008 Local Screening Committee:
Bill Bleich, Associate Director, MFA in Writing for Screen and Stage, Northwestern University
Kathy Byrne, Project Coordinator, Chicago Film Office
Dan Dinello, Film Professor, Columbia College; Filmmaker; Media Journalist
Elizabeth Donius, Executive Director, Independent Feature Project (IFP) Chicago
Kevin Fleming, Creative Producer and Star of NBC's Sports Action Team
Ed Griffin, Producer-Image Union, WTTW-11
Norm Holly, Artistic Director/Conservatory Head, Second City Chicago; Actor; Director
Jeff Hoover, Producer, WGN Morning News
Darel Jevens, Entertainment Editor, Chicago Sun-Times
Harvey Moshman, Independent Producer; Former Producer at CBS-2 and PBS Chicago
Nathan Rabin, Head Writer, The A.V. Club
Mike Schmiedeler, VP/Production, Towers Productions
LeeAnn Trotter, Entertainment Reporter, NBC 5 Chicago
Steve Waltien, Actor, Improviser
Steve Zacharias, Screenwriter, Producer, Director
2008 Jury Members:
Mark Gordon, Television Literary Agent, International Creative Management
Christina Lee, Development and Original Programming Coordinator, Comedy Central
Tim Phillips, Television Literary Agent, United Talent Agency
Kevin Plunkett, VP/Head of Current Comedy Programming, ABC Entertainment
Renate Radford, Vice President-Comedy Programming, Universal Media Studios
Tim Sarkes, Talent Manager, Brillstein Entertainment Partners
David Sleven, Coordinator of Comedy Development, Fox Broadcasting Company
Greg Walter, Manager, 3 Arts Entertainment
Tom Whedon, Former TV Show Writer and Producer
TV Pilot Prize Winner 2007: |
|
Cop Show by David Pasquesi and Tracy Letts |
 |