ATX Television Festival & Final Draft Present “The Pitch Competition”
****FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE****
DATE: November 1, 2012
CONTACT: Brandy Fons & Dacyl Armendariz, Publicists
PHONE: (310) 809-8882 (512) 944-0944
E-MAIL: brandy@fonspr.com dacyl@fonspr.com
ATX TELEVISION FESTIVAL AND FINAL DRAFT PRESENT “THE PITCH COMPETION”
Initial Programming and Confirmed Guests Announced
For The Second Annual Festival June 6 – 9 in Austin, TX
Austin, TX— Thursday, November 1, 2012 — ATX Television Festival is pleased to announce its collaboration with Final Draft, the creators of the number one selling screenwriting application in the world, to host their first-ever Pitch Competition. This competition will allow aspiring writers and show creators to pitch their original idea for a scripted series to some of the biggest decision makers in the television industry.
Participants will have ninety seconds to convince industry judges on their original idea for a scripted series through a self-filmed video. The competition is open to any and all pitches for scripted shows: a 30-minute for a traditional network, an hour drama for cable, a hybrid for original online content. The only guideline is that it must be for a scripted (non-reality) series and pitched in under a minute and half.
ATX Television Festival will screen all submissions and choose twenty-five semi-finalists to be judged by a panel of industry professionals including: Bill Lawrence (Creator/Producer of Scrubs and Cougar Town), Bryan Seabury (VP of Drama Development at CBS Network), Liz Tigelaar (Creator of Life Unexpected & writer on American Dreams, Nashville, and Revenge), Kyle Killen (Creator of Lone Star & Awake), Peter Billingsley (Executive Producer of Sullivan & Son, Dinner for Five, and Executive at Wild West Picture Productions), David Hudgins (Executive Producer of Friday Night Lights & Parenthood), and special guest judges, who will narrow the twenty-five semi-finalists down to ten finalists.
The ten finalists will compete at ATX Television Festival (June 6-9, 2013) in Austin, TX to pitch live before the panel of judges. After hearing all ten of the live pitches, the judges will choose one winner. This winner will receive a meeting with one of the judges (based on the show’s genre/judges’ availability) to explore the idea of their series and gain notes to better develop the series. After the pitch is honed, the winner will then get a pitch meeting in front of one of the festival’s studio/network partners to try and sell their pilot for production!
All participants will receive a discount code for 25% off the latest version of Final Draft (retailing at $249) as well as $25 off of any level ATX Television Festival badge. The semi-finalists will receive Panel badges to the Festival, allowing them to see any panels, including the Final Pitch Competition. The ten finalists will each receive a Weekend badge to the Festival, plus two tickers to the opening night screening and after-party to start the festival off right! The finalists will also receive a free copy of the most recent version Final Draft, courtesy of Final Draft.
“The pitch competition is a perfect addition to the festival. A truth in TV is that you don’t get paid to write your show unless you can sell it as a pitch. Like writing, pitching is an art form that needs to be practiced, honed and perfected,” said Bryan Seabury, VP of Drama Development at CBS Network. “The importance of pitching is often overlooked so this contest is yet another example of ATX understanding the TV industry and providing a great service to its attendees.”
“I’m a life-long TV nerd and I’m all for ATX Television Festival because it’s such a fun way to bring television fans together. The Pitch Competition offers fans an opportunity to get into the industry which is another reason anyone attending ATX Television Festival should consider themselves lucky,“ said Bill Lawrence, creator of Scrubs and Cougar Town.
Submissions will be accepted November 1, 2012 to January 18, 2012 through the website. The twenty- five semi-finalists will be announced on February 18, 2013 and the top ten finalists will be announced on March 28, 2012.
Visit the link below to see a contest promo video starring Matt Lauria (Friday Night Lights, Parenthood) and Arielle Kebbel (The Vampire Diaries, 90210).
ATX Television Festival is also pleased to unveil the initial list of confirmed special guests who will be at the second annual festival in Austin, TX June 6 – 9, 2013, as well as the first round of confirmed programming partners. Please see below for the current list and stay tuned for additional programming announcements.
Confirmed Guests:
Julie Plec, Creator of The Vampire Diaries
Liz Tigelaar, Creator of Life Unexpected, and writer of Nashville, Revenge, and American Dreams.
Peter Billingsley, Executive Producer of Sullivan & Son and Dinner for Five
Bill Lawrence, Creator of Scrubs and Cougar Town
David Hudgins, Executive Producer of Parenthood and Friday Night Lights
Ben Blacker, Nerdist Writers Panel
Kyle Killen, Creator of Lone Star & Awake
Lauren Iungerich, Creator of AWKWARD
Jonathan Prince, Creator of American Dreams
Winnie Holzman, Creator of My So-Called Life
Chris Keyser, Co-Creator of Party of Five
Arielle Kebbel, Actor on 90210, The Vampire Diaries, Gilmore Girls
Matt Lauria, Actor on Friday Night Lights and Parenthood
Cast and crew members of Boy Meets World
Cast and crew members of Friday Night Lights
Cast and crew members of American Dreams
Confirmed Programming From:
My So-Called Life
Party Of Five
Boy Meets World
NBC
CBS
CW
USA
FOX
For the latest developments, tickets and badges visit the ATX Television Festival official site atxfestival.com and follow us on Facebook & Twitter.
About ATX Television Festival
Our focus is on the celebration of the television medium: looking back at its history, where it is now, and where it is headed. Our weekend will consist of events where attendees can interact with actors, writers, directors, creators, showrunners, music supervisors, casting directors and studio executives involved in all stages of bringing their favorite series to the small screen.
We have all the functionality of a traditional film festival — spotlighting classic shows, never aired pilots, cancelled too soon series, cult favorites, current hits, and premieres of new series. In addition, we will focus on episode screenings with Q&A’s from the cast and creators; panels focused on industry related topics like streaming and innovative outlets to continue production outside of the network/studio system; and will include parties, live music, meet-ups, social media events, and “super secret happy hours.” Ultimately, ATX has the goal of serving both the community and industry professionals equally by giving them the opportunity to discuss and celebrate all aspects of TV.