Judging of the Entries

To be considered for the Chicago Comedy TV Pilot Competition, an entry must be a Chicago product -- that is, the filmmaker who owns the copyright must have been a Chicago area resident at the time the pilot was made, or alternatively, the pilot must have been created by a Chicago-area-based production company that owns the copyright. Pilots are required to be comedy, scripted, and based on original ideas. Also, it must feature a situation and characters that could continue beyond the pilot – i.e., it must be a sitcom, rather than sketch comedy format.

The jury consists of people who work in the TV industry in Hollywood (see below). This is not a live jury, but rather, the pilots are sent to them on DVD for their judging.

The winning pilot for 2015, based on their ratings, is Young Couple, by Brianna Baker, Brandon Ogborn and Mike Malarkey (see First Place Award Winner page).

2015 Jury Members:

Amanda Burnett, Television Literary Coordinator, United Talent Agency
Jim Donnelly, Sr. VP Comedy Development, Universal Television
Tim Sarkes, Talent Manager, Brillstein Entertainment Partners
Kristen Schwartz, Coordinator Comedy Development and Programming, Fox Broadcasting Company
Jim Sharp, Senior Vice President–Original Programming and Development–West Coast, Comedy Central
Tom Whedon, Former TV Show Writer and Producer

Past Award Winners:

TV Pilot Prize Winner 2014:
Delivery Dudes, by Joe Avella
TV Pilot Prize Winner 2013:
Merkin Penal, by Mitch Rouse and David Pasquesi
TV Pilot Prize Winner 2012:
Funemployed, by Michael Lippert
TV Pilot Prize Winner 2011:
Single Long, by Jack Mayer and Sarra Jahedi
TV Pilot Prize Winner 2010:
Vista Del Monte, by Adrian DiGiovanni
TV Pilot Prize Winner 2009:
Lowering the Bar, by Kenneth Yoder
TV Pilot Prize Winner 2008:
4 and a Half Terrorists, by Olive Films
TV Pilot Prize Winner 2007:
Cop Show, by David Pasquesi and Tracy Letts

home