Got an idea for a TV show? Here’s your chance to pitch it

Aspiring television creators who can’t land a development meeting now have a new avenue.

Starting today, the New York Television Festival is accepting online submissions (nytvf.com) of minute-long video pitches for original television series.

Next month, the top 50 will be available for viewing on MSN, a sponsor of the festival, and will be voted on by viewers.

“Most TV fans have believed at one point that they were sitting on a million-dollar idea for a show, if only someone would listen,” said Terence Gray, the festival’s executive director.

The top 10 finalists will get to participate in a live pitch to a panel of television executives at the festival, which is being held in Manhattan from Sept. 12 to 17. The winner’s prize: an $8,000-development deal from the Independent Film Channel and Rainbow Media.

The contest is the newest interactive component of the year-old festival, which organizers envisioned as a showcase for television, much as Sundance and other such film festivals have been showcases for independent movies.

This year, a second television festival has launched in Los Angeles. The Independent Television Festival (www.itvfest.org), sponsored by Comcast, will be held at Raleigh Studios from July 28 through 31.

The festivals, which are independent of each other, will screen original comedy, drama and reality pilots and feature panels with industry executives on topics such as writing and casting.

-- Matea Gold