NATPE Laces Up New Look Boot Camp

The format of the US National Association of Television Program Executives' (Natpe) annual TV Producers' Boot Camp will be expanded this year to include The NextGen TV Festival and Competition.

The Boot Camp, now in its fourth year, will be on July 26-28 at the Bel Age Hotel and other locations in West Hollywood.

"User-generated content across all platforms will play a significant role in the future of our business and it makes perfect sense for Natpe to honour those who are creating this imaginative material as part of the popular Boot Camp series," said Rick Feldman, Natpe president and CEO. "It's extremely gratifying to provide the opportunity for the next generation of producers to present their ideas to executives from the top entertainment companies."

The NextGen TV Festival and Competition will kick off the event with winning entries to be screened at an industry cocktail reception on July 26 on the eve of Boot Camp and for the next two days on site. Categories include one to six minutes of original content in animation, comedy, drama, mobile, factual and unscripted. Grand prize winners will receive a cash prize, a six-month mentorship, two pitch meetings, inclusion in the Natpe 2007 Video Wall and a complimentary Natpe 2007 registration.

The Boot Camp event will offer more than 12 hours of workshops, seminars, clinics and networking activities featuring top executives exploring various production models for all types of programming including documentary, children's, scripted and unscripted. Topics will cover pitch structure and development, unique branding strategies, distribution trends and opportunities in emerging technologies.

The event offers attendees access to a variety of panels, keynote speakers and hands-on clinics providing in-depth information on the development and production process, culminating with The Pitch Pit, an opportunity for face-to-face pitch meetings with development executives from leading broadcast and cable networks, talent agencies and production and distribution companies.

This year's Boot Camp State of the Industry Keynote will be delivered by Michael Camacho, packaging agent and head of alternative television at CAA. Speaking at the closing Graduation Luncheon will be Anthony Zuiker, executive producer of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and CSI: Miami, and showrunner and executive producer of CSI: New York.

Other confirmed speakers include Mad TV co-creator and executive producer David Salzman; producer Byron Allen; Gregg Spiridellis, co-founder of Jib Jab; Philip Gurin, president of The Gurin Company; Carolyn Finger, VP of TVtracker.com; Ray Solley, cable programme consultant at The Solley Group; Laurie Scheer, media consultant and pitching coach; Carole Kirschner, development executive and teacher at Next Door Entertainment; and Jeff Greenfield, executive VP and co-founder of Green Tentacle.

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