Microsoft and the New York Television Festival (NYTVF) today announced the Xbox LIVE Originals contest, granting would-be television producers the opportunity to create a pilot that could be chosen for the first original series developed specifically for Xbox LIVE. 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. This marks the first time that user-created entertainment content will be available worldwide for download exclusively on Xbox LIVE.

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 at www.newyorktelevisionfestival.com .