Good news! The first five episodes of Leaving Bliss have been accepted into the New York Television Festival as a comedy pilot!

The festival is September 21-27 at the New World Stages in Midtown Manhattan, and we’ll be there! If you’re in the NY area, come on down for the screening of our pilot. The exact dates and times of our screening will be announced shortly.

Here’s what Backstage.com has to say about this year’s NYTVF selections:

Indy TV Fest Announces Selections for Pilot Competition
By Jessica Glenza

August 11, 2009

The New York Television Festival announced 37 original pilots from independent producers in the United States and Canada to enter its Independent Pilot Competition. Producers of the official selections are eligible for the NYTVF Fellowship Program, a $25,000 development deal with Fox and Proctor & Gamble and exposure to TV execs and fans.

The competition began five years ago, and has since grown to include the Fox development competition (as of 2008) and the Fellowship program (as of 2007), which partners independent producers with familiar names like Tom Fontana, Michael Davies, Mitchell Hurwitz, and Phil Rosenthal. The competition has also had several pilots picked up for development by NBC, A&E, IFC and Sundance, though the competition has not yet said which ones actually made it into production.

This year’s artist sponsor is the ION cable network, and official selections include everything from drama series like “Dog,” by Barry Gribble of Washington D.C., to “Genetisphere,” an animated sci-fi action series by Earthstar Jai Smith from Vancouver, British Columbia.

The full pilots will be available to view online at MSN Video starting the week after the Festival; previews are available now on the NYTVF Media Showcase.

For more info on the festival, visit their website: www.nytvf.com.

The Official Selections for the Independent Pilot Competition are:

“Around the Block”
“Astoria, Queens”
“Ben Again”
“Blog of a Pool Boy”
“Blue Movies”
“The Call Center”
“Calvin and Freddie’s Cosmic Encounters”
“Cost of Living”
“Dog”
“Genetisphere”
“God & Co.”
“Gold”
“Green Room”
“Halfway There”
“Hell Froze Over”
“HomeSchooled”
“Idiots, Dating”
“Johnny B. Homeless”
“Kate So Far”
“Leaving Bliss”
“Lost Cities”
“Man-Man”
“MERRIme.com”
“Monster Brothers”
“My Pal Satan”
“The New 20s”
“NYCMusicShow”
“Odd Jobs”
“Pet Tripperz”
“The Pocket Mayors”
“Streak to Win”
“The Stressful Adventures of Boxhead and Roundhead”
“Team A.P.O.C.A.L.Y.P.S.E.”
“The Tenderloins”
“Titsburg”
“Who’s the Baddest”
“Why Can’t I Sell My House?”
“Call me Bessie”
“Rx”