MUMBAI: The New York Television Festival (NYTVF) has announced that MSN will provide online support and awareness as an official signature sponsor for the 2006 NYTVF scheduled to be held from 12-17 September 2006, in Manhattan.

Currently in its second year, the festival provides an opportunity to artists to showcase original, independently produced TV pilots directly to network executives and industry officials.

Commenting on the same, NYTVF founder and executive director Terence Gray said, "The goal of the NYTVF is to provide independent artists with a platform for getting their work seen by the decision-makers in the TV industry."

According to an official release, the Festival‘s alliance with MSN is one component of a larger initiative the NYTVF is launching to unite independent artists from TV, music and film in the NYTVF Online Community. NYTVF will collaborate with MSN integrated services, MSN TV and MSN Spaces to create a resource to pilot-makers looking to interact or collaborate with other creative people locally and globally, where anyone with an original script can receive the guidance and support necessary to get an independent pilot off the ground.

As the official online sponsor, MSN will provide the following services:

MSN Video will have exclusive online rights to stream all NYTVF
pilots submitted to the Festival‘s Independent Pilot Competition at http://tv.msn.com/NYTVF, beginning in July.

MSN Video will deliver an Internet webcast of the Festival and
on-demand video content of panel discussions and special events featured at the 2006 Festival.

MSN Spaces will be the official blogging platform for NYTVF
participants for the organization‘s Online Community.

In an attempt to present independent pilots to a worldwide audience, MSN GM Entertainment and Video Services Rob Bennett said, "Through the MSN relationship with NYTVF, consumers have the unique opportunity to see new television concepts and pilots in their purest form."

The release states that officially selected pilots featured at the 2006 NYTVF will be placed in one of the following five categories: comedy, drama, reality, educational or animation. To be considered for competition, pilots in all categories except animation must have a running time of between 15 and 22 minutes. Animation pilots must have a running time of between two and 20 minutes.

The date of submission for the 2006 Independent Pilot Competition is 7 July. There is no fee for students with a valid ID.

In its inaugural year, the 2005 NYTVF received more than 230 original independent pilots produced by artists from 24 states and seven foreign countries. The 2005 NYTVF was presented in association with TV Guide. The Festival worked in partnership with the William Morris Agency and in conjunction with the mayor‘s office of New York City. Official network sponsors included NBC Universal, FOX, Comedy Central, VH1, VH1 Classic, Spike TV, A&E Networks, Rainbow Media, TV Land and Court TV, adds the release