Independent Television Festival Opens Network Television
Doors for Talented Entrants
NBC Development Executives Pen Deal with the Inaugural Festival’s Audience Winner
Just four months after the first-ever Independent Television Festival (ITVF) debuted in Los Angeles, NBC and other television networks have come calling. Now, participants attached to the festival are already making their mark on Hollywood. After rave reviews from insiders, judges and critics at July’s inaugural Independent Television Festival Presented by Comcast, festival award recipients are meeting with network executives to pen deals.
ITVF organizers just received word that last year’s Audience Favorite Award Winner, This Is My Friend, has been commissioned by NBC. Development heads have bought a script from the sitcom’s fledgling writers/creators, Eric Edelstein, Jake Johnson and Jeremy Konner. That script will be based on the This Is My Friend original pilot screened at the inaugural Independent Television Festival. If executives give the script the green light, Edelstein, Johnson and Konner could find themselves in the position of writer/producer for NBC’s next big sitcom.
Helming the project for the peacock will be esteemed executive producers Howard Klein and David Semel. Klein, co-founder of 3 Arts Entertainment, produces such shows as The Office (for which Klein received an Emmy Award) and King of the Hill. 3 Arts Entertainment also produces NBC’s 30 Rock, and FX Network’sIt’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Semel served as executive producer and director on several top-rated NBC dramas, including the pilots for both this season’s break-out hit Heroes and the critically acclaimed period drama American Dreams (the latter for which he also served as director and executive producer for it’s entire three-year run.) Semel is also responsible for the pilot to NBC’s epic mini-series Revelations and was co-executive producer and director of FOX’s House.
In addition to the amazing success This Is My Friend has achieved with NBC, other award recipients at the Independent Television Festival have made strides toward success in the network world:
- Mike Rotman (Politcally Incorrect, The Simple Life) and John Axelson (The Man Show and Mind of Mencia) have optioned Favorite Reality winner,Meet Tom Kramer as well as Favorite Variety Winner Loading Zone.
- ITVF pilots in several other categories were requested by development executives at Oxygen, Playboy Channel, CBS, Brillstein-Grey, and Paradigm, Happy Madison, Generate, and Tapestry, Fox, Sony, HBO, Gersch, 3 Arts Entertainment, Fox 21, MTV, Bender Spink, Comedy Central and more.
The long-overdue festival provides a platform for aspiring television producers, directors and talent to debut their work and skills to television insiders and network executives. The creators of the above shows have the innovative minds of Tesler and his ITVF associates to thank for what could be a successful career in network television development. “ITVF was the single best experience we have had in Hollywood. It allowed our show to be seen by people who would have never seen it otherwise. Any success that This Is My Friend has, is completely due to ITVF. It is one thing to have a festival, but everybody at ITVF worked unbelievably hard to make sure we were seen by people who could really help us. We are excited about our NBC opportunity and it is a direct result of the tireless work and passion of everyone at ITVF.” “This Is My Friend’s success is a testament to the television industry’s recognition of the importance of a venue like ITVF,” said AJ Tesler after learning about This Is My Friend’s success.
For more information on the next Independent Television Festival, visit www.itvfest.org and don’t forget to join us at the 2007 festival. Organizers began accepting submissions January 10th!
