Southwest Florida Team Wins Sarasota Film Office's TV ME Contest

A Southwest Florida 3-person writing team’s reality television treatment claimed the grand prize in the nationwide 2012 Sarasota County Film & Entertainment Office(SCFEO) “TV ME!” pitch contest.

Contest winners were announced March 28 at a press conference at the Longboat Key Club & Resort, presenting sponsor of the event.

The event’s surprise “reveal” was that three Florida writers teamed up to become the overall Grand Prize Winner (GPW) across all categories by creating the winning pitch:  Best Seller:  America’s Next Great Novelist. Greg Helton from Cape Coral,  Lynn Holley from Naples, and  Jennifer Marquis-Muradaz of Naples, earned the grand prize across all categories for their reality television series.

The basic premise has aspiring writers compete to win a coveted book contract with a New York City mega-publisher, and includes celebrities and best selling authors who offer tips and trips to haunts and hotspots for visual inspiration for their weekly writing assignments. While they wrestle with literary curveballs and out-of-town excursions and vie to stay in the game, TV viewers are able to follow the street action as well as read completed assignments online or with their e-book readers.

“This GPW concept  outscored and out-impressed the judges over the competition, “said Jeanne Corcoran, director of the SCFEO, a division of the Economic Development Corporation of Sarasota County(EDC). “A recurring observation was the surprise at how exciting and ‘visual’ this treatment made the material, and the bottom line is television is all about the ‘visual’ and excitement is essential.” 

As the GPW team, Helton, Holley and Marquis-Muradaz  will travel to Los Angeles hosted by the SCFEO as part of an award package that includes airfare, hotel accommodations, VIP attendance at the InkTip Pitch & Networking Summit  III, and a cash stipend of $500.  Also, the most valuable prize of all, the team will have private one-on-one meetings with reality television executives, agencies and production companies that specialize in leading reality programming, including USA Networks, Pilgrim Studios, Shed Media US and others.   The GPW team has been professionally prepared in advance by an expert “pitch” coach fromSell Your TV Concept Now! to maximize the opportunities these meetings represent.

 “We even had a notable winner who won awards in two categories. LeMar Fooks of Los Angeles, won first place in the scripted category with  Sanctuary a gritty weekly drama about runaways, and third place in that same category for a half-hour family comedy Maggie’s House of Clowns about a multigenerational family ‘in the clown biz’”  added Corcoran.  “To see one writer take several awards is always a testament to that  winner’s talent.”  Each of the nearly 200 entries was judged ‘blind’ to ensure that the judges had no indication  whether the creator was local , from Florida, or out-of-state, man or woman or a writing team, young or old, or any other identifying characteristics that could unfairly influence a judge’s opinion.

The first place winner in the One-Off/Long Format category was Lexington, Kentucky resident Bobby Wombles for his fact-based made for TV movie, The Search for Jesse’s Gold and  the first place winner in the unscripted category went to Venice, Florida resident Ann Favreau for her Animation Star reality TV pitch.

Entries were received from 26 states and dozens of cities, from New York to California,  from Maine to Texas, from  the Carolinas  to Arizona, and many points between.  Florida entrants came from more than two dozen cities and towns.  A complete list of winners accompanies this press release.

In addition to the primary sponsors and organizations named above, other awards and prize sponsors included:

•       A custom-designed TV ME! trophy for the GPW and each of the First Place winners

•       Cash Awards for the three First Place Winners

•       A custom-designed award  for all Second, Third and Honorable Mention winners

•       Gift items from the Sarasota Film Festival

•       Gift items from the Sarasota County Convention & Visitors Bureau

•       Gift items from the Greater Sarasota Area Chamber of Commerce

•       Gift items from PRP Wine Consultants

•       Gift items from Cutting Loose Salon

•       Gift bag and items from the EDC and the SCFEO

•       Event Photography provided by Rod Millington Photography

•       A one-hour consultation with Sarasota County intellectual property/entertainment attorney Douglas Cherry to discuss IP/legal issues for the GPW

 The press conference was open to the public and was followed by a private awards luncheon for the honorees, invited guests and sponsors, hosted by the Longboat Key Club & Resort  as the premier presenting sponsor of the event. 

The Sarasota County Film & Entertainment Office  (SCFEO) is a division of the Economic Development Corporation of Sarasota County. It seeks to attract film, television, commercial, documentary and other media production to create content, produce and shoot on location in Sarasota County, as well as  to serve the region’s resident production community, improve and expand its resources, provide intergovernmental liaison and proactively market and promote Sarasota County’s assets to the entertainment industry as a whole. The SCFEO is a member in good standing of the Association of Film Commissioners International, Film Florida and other industry organizations.