Introducing the 2008 NTV Pier Screenings!

A silly little idea about the homonyms “pier” (where our San Francisco office is) and “peer” (the growing community of online video producers) turned into a series of events last summer that gave us some of the most special moments in NewTeeVee’s short history. Hearing the secrets of Diggnation‘s, lonelygirl15‘s, and JibJab‘s success; seeing our winners get in-person recognition for their work; cracking up at our judges’ commentary; meeting so many of the people we write about and hope to write about; and just generally soaking up the good times.

Well, the NewTeeVee Pier Screenings are back, and this year we’re going on tour! First up is our hometown of San Francisco on July 31. The theme is PILOTS — we’re looking for the best first episodes of online series. We don’t mind if your show has been picked up or not, we just want to judge things by first impressions. If you get chosen, we’ll project your video onto a gigantic screen in front of an audience of web video aficionados on the night of the 31st.

We prefer that you submit something you created in the last year, and our editorial team will be picking six finalists to show on the night of the event. There, our American Idol-style judges will be a combination of new media and old media decision makers, but it’s the audience’s opinion that really matters. Like last year, we’ll be voting by text message, and people watching the live stream are welcome to participate. We’re putting up a 1 terabyte hard drive for our first winner, and expect to add more fabulous prizes in the weeks before the event.

Look to our new dedicated site for a simplified submission process. The deadline to enter your video for July’s event is July 24. In August we’ll be in Los Angeles, September in New York, and October back in San Francisco (see the site for more details on their themes, dates and locations).

As always, these events are free. We provide beer, popcorn and movie theater snacks (and in San Francisco, plenty of heat lamps). You can sign up here to reserve your spot at the July 31 event. If you want to sponsor, let us know. We look forward to seeing you soon!

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