Microsoft Invites Contestants to Create TV Show for Xbox LIVE

Xbox 360 and the New York Television Festival team up to host Xbox LIVE Originals contest, offering a chance to produce original TV programming for Xbox LIVE.

People can not only play games and watch premium entertainment content on their Xbox 360, they can now create content for it, too.

Microsoft Corp. and the New York Television Festival (NYTVF) today announced the Xbox LIVE Originals contest, granting aspiring television producers the opportunity to create a pilot that could be chosen for the first original series developed specifically for the Xbox LIVE online gaming and entertainment network.

Microsoft will award the winning entrant a $100,000 budget and an opportunity for a six-episode commitment to air the television series on Xbox LIVE, the largest social network in the living room. The pilot episode of the winning series is scheduled to debut this fall at the third annual NYTVF, the industry’s first showcase for independent television, before being featured exclusively on Xbox LIVE, home to a community of more than 6 million people worldwide. This marks the first time that user-created entertainment content will be available worldwide for download exclusively on Xbox LIVE.

“Not only can aspiring TV producers from across the globe try their hands at creating new TV shows, but because of Xbox LIVE Marketplace, they can now win a chance to have more than 6 million people worldwide see their work,” said Bill Nielsen, senior director of Xbox LIVE at Microsoft. “This is an incredible opportunity for us to participate in the festival, and we are thrilled to be able to bring community-created TV content to the Xbox community for the first time.”

Xbox LIVE is already home to more than 1,500 hours of full-length films and TV series in the United States. This contest will showcase the user-created content alongside films and TV shows from many of the top networks and studios in the entertainment industry.

“The New York Television Festival has always strived to give artists opportunities to get their voices heard in the industry, and we think that showcasing their work on the Xbox 360 will give our artists unprecedented exposure,” said Terence Gray, founder of NYTVF. “The Xbox LIVE Originals contest acknowledges that new technologies are enabling artists to tell their stories in innovative ways, and Xbox LIVE Marketplace, one of the top digital distributors of online entertainment content, is a great place to showcase the talent that takes part in the NYTVF. The NYTVF is proud to join with Xbox 360 on its groundbreaking initiative to create and provide original programming.”

To participate in the Xbox LIVE Originals contest, entrants must produce and submit a short comedy pilot running between five and 15 minutes long. Submissions will be accepted from April 16 through June 29, 2007, from contestants in any of the 25 countries currently supporting Xbox LIVE. A group of selected finalists will be shown on Xbox LIVE Marketplace’s video-on-demand service in July, and a winner will be announced at the end of the month. The creators of the winning pilot will receive a budget of $100,000 and an opportunity to produce six additional episodes of the comedy series for Xbox LIVE, and the first episode will premiere at an exclusive event at the 2007 NYTVF in September. Official rules to the Xbox LIVE Originals contest are available here.