Produce a TV show for Xbox Live, get $100K distribution deal
by Ludwig Kietzmann 
{ Apr 17th 2007 at 2:57PM }
With books, movies and even television itself being regularly mined for new shows, it comes as little surprise to witness the very minds of viewers becoming the next target. The New York Television Festival, in cooperation with Xbox Live, has launched Xbox Live Originals, a contest that has participants creating a pilot episode for a new television show that, if chosen as a winner, will be granted a $100,000 distribution deal with Xbox Live. Six episodes based on the pilot will then be distributed over Microsoft's online console network and be screened at September's New York Film Festival.Your pilot may be animated, live-action or both, and must be between 5 and 15 minutes long. Entries must be on VHS (ask your parents) or DVD and, unless you're a student, must also be accompanied by a $25 "processing fee." You must be over 18 and live in one of the 25 countries where Xbox Live is officially available. Since that rules me out, allow me to share some amazing concepts as you check the competition page. Entries close 29 June 2007!
Imperfect Acquaintances
After losing his job, a newspaper cartoonist is forced to move into a cheaper apartment. Unfortunately, his new roommate is an irate foreign woman in desperate need of a green card. He's cynical! She's Hungarian! Together, they're hilarious!
Pilot
A disgraced fighter pilot, upset about the cancellation of JAG, decides to steal an experimental craft and destroy the television studio responsible. He ends up failing, however, and becomes friends with a TV executive who greenlights a pilot based on the failed mission and its beneficial outcome.
Misplaced
A group of strangers, seemingly destined to be together, find themselves lost in a Hawaiian vacation resort. In a series of completely pointless vignettes, we learn of their mundane lives before the vacation, all whilst dragging to the main plot's nebulous and inevitably nonsensical conclusion at an agonizing rate.
The Outer Twilight Realm
A series of standalone stories investigate bizarre "What if?" scenarios and frightening "WTF?" possibilities. Journey into madness as a veterinarian is transported into a nightmare realm where cats chase dogs, or witness the struggles of a driving instructor who finds himself in a parallel parking world. Gasp in surprise as the twist ending reveals that they were all dead robot ghosts from the future to begin with!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
hvnlysoldr @ Apr 17th 2007 3:03PM
Don't be messing with Hungary! My ancestors came from the Buda side of Budapest. I only get the jokes of the last two shows.
Jack of No Trades @ Apr 17th 2007 3:06PM
I would make a near photorealistic version of Mario World. The camera would switch from the 2D Mario to a clay Mario then to a CG Mario while he was in battle. It would be a mature video.
gwangi @ Apr 17th 2007 3:23PM
Mine would be a remake of the classic Cop Rocks! With an updated soundtrack... err free domain songs only.
haywood jablomey @ Apr 17th 2007 3:39PM
Now we do the Dance of Joy!
sheppy @ Apr 17th 2007 3:45PM
I have something I'm working on in secret but you can be damn sure it won't be done by the deadline. In fact, with only 2 of the 27 planned cast members modeled and rigged, maybe I'll throw something out in 2009....
some person @ Apr 17th 2007 4:30PM
"Entries must be on VHS (ask your parents)"
"You must be over 18 and live in one of the 25 countries where Xbox Live is officially available."
Well if that's the case, then who needs to ask there parents about the VHS?
marksaldana @ Apr 17th 2007 4:43PM
@6
The joke being that kids these days wouldn't know what VHS is.
Jason Tyra @ Apr 17th 2007 4:57PM
$25 processing fee? If 4,000 people enter, there's the prize money! I'm guessing there might be a few more entries than that.
marksaldana @ Apr 17th 2007 7:16PM
it's free if you're a student.
delldude360 @ Apr 17th 2007 7:18PM
i have a soap opera based on post katrina new orleans in the works with some friends. the first script is just about done and we just got a ne w dvx cam.. its a 30 min or so script. we are talking about the possibilities of getting it done in time for this. today . so i dunno yet. we will have to cut ep one down to 10-15 min wont be too hard, its loaded with flash backs to set the series into motion. if we win then we will use the 100,000 for 2 of the new red cams as well as for a jib arm. we have sound and lighting and a bar and other locations secured. were planning on you tube, but would prefer tyo sell it. prob on apple store and if we win this then the first 6 would be on xbox live
baby sea tuna @ Apr 18th 2007 10:35AM
Anyone who is already working on a project might want to read the fine print on this one. As far as I can tell, if you win, they will own your IP and the distribution rights that go along with it. So if you were planning on shopping your pilot around, this might put the kibosh on that plan.
Then again, a hundred grand can cushion a pretty hard blow...