NBC announced Tuesday a new comedy talent search program, NBC Comedy Playground, a national campaign that will end with winners being selected to each win a half-hour show to be broadcast on NBC.
Winners of the contest will be chosen by an advisory board of talent from NBC and Universal Television, including Aziz Ansari, Jason Bateman, Mindy Kaling, Amy Poehler and more.
Entries to the contest will be made via videos submitted at the contest’s website, nbccomedyplayground.com.
“There are hilarious people making videos on their computers all day and night,” NBC Entertainment President Jennifer Salke said when announcing the program Tuesday at NBCUniversal's summer press day in Pasadena, Calif. “It’s time to bring those people into network television.”
Entrants will be asked to submit up to two 5-10 minute videos and up to two video pitches. The selection panel - made up entirely of network and studio talent - will select 10 finalists. Each finalist will be provided funding by the network to shoot a full pilot of his or her proposed show, after which two winners will be chosen.
“Whoever wins the prize, the idea is that those shows would become series,” Salke said, adding that the network is “not defining how many episodes” the network will commit to after the first episode of each show airs on NBC.
Entrants cannot have already had a show air on television.
