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[10/11/07 - 03:10 PM]
NBC Universal Leads the Pack in Diversity Efforts with the Second Annual Comedy Short Cuts Film Festival
A blind script commitment with Universal Media Studios was presented to the "Yoga" filmmakers Tajamika Paxton, former film executive at MTV Films, and Gregory M.T. Colleton.
[via press release from NBC]

NBC UNIVERSAL LEADS THE PACK IN DIVERSITY EFFORTS WITH THE SECOND ANNUAL COMEDY SHORT CUTS FILM FESTIVAL

NBC UNIVERSAL LEADS THE PACK IN DIVERSITY EFFORTS WITH THE SECOND ANNUAL COMEDY SHORT CUTS FILM FESTIVAL

INDEPENDENT FILMMAKERS CAPTURE PILOT SCRIPT DEAL

BURBANK, Calif. � October 8, 2007 � "A Fat Girl's Guide To Yoga" captured top honors at NBC Universal's Second Annual "Comedy Short Cuts" Diverse City Festival held on Thursday, October 3rd at Universal Studios' Globe Theatre. The evening kicked off with an address by NBC Universal's Paula Madison (EVP, Diversity & Chief Diversity Officer) and was hosted by CSC creator Wil Sylvince and NBC Universal's Damona Resnick. The Los Angeles Finalist Showcase featured the top five comedic short films, which were produced, directed or starred diverse talent.

A blind script commitment with Universal Media Studios was presented to the "Yoga" filmmakers Tajamika Paxton, former film executive at MTV Films, and Gregory M.T. Colleton. "Yoga" a laugh-out-loud short about an oversized African-American woman's yoga journey to lose weight found a great response from the 300 plus in attendance, including "The Office's" Leslie David Baker and Melora Hardin who presented the Best Performance Award to Wendy McKinney, the star of "Yoga."

We are thrilled to be working with Taj and Greg, who have an exciting and innovative comedic voice to bring to our studio," said Katherine Pope, President, Universal Media Studios.

In addition to screening the five CSC finalists, the winner of the NBC YOU Promo Festival was announced. Newly added to this year's event, NBC YOU allowed for fans to collaborate with the network in finding new ways of reaching and expanding its diverse audience. Jennifer Goyette's "NBC Heroes It's Your Future" took the top prize. The winning promo as well as the other finalists can all be viewed at www.youtube.com/DiverseCity .

Last year's winner "Equal Opportunity" evolved into a web series, "The Good Ol' Boys," which airs on NBC's DotComedy.com next month but the Comedy Short Cuts audience got a live sneak peak of the first episode. Select finalist films from the 2006 film festival are currently airing on sundancechannel.com.

All five CSC finalists from this year's film festival including "Bitch" by Lilah Vandenburgh (Writer/Director), "El Chisme" by Miguel Becerra (Writer/Director), "Aquarium" by Rob Meyer (Writer/Director) and "The Sunday Man" by Danielle Shamash (Writer/Director) are still vying for The Online Audience Award. Online voting will be open to the public until October 31st with the winner announced on November 2nd. More information on festival judges, prize packages, and online voting can be found at www.CSCnbcuni.com .

The Diverse City Festival was once again co-produced by Kevin Seldon of Keldof (www.keldof.com ), a specialty branding firm that created the marketing campaign for this year's initiative including the creation of promos with talent from "Heroes," "The Office," and "Chuck."

NBC Universal companies involved with this year's initiative include: NBC, Universal Media Studios, Bravo, SciFi, USA Network, Telemundo, Mun2, Focus Features, Rogue Pictures, and Universal Pictures, and the Sundance Channel.

Corporate partners for this year include American Airlines, Entertainment Partners, Final Draft, Baseline StudioSystems, Keldof, Runtriz, WithoutaBox, Vibe Magazine, BlackBerry, and Starwood Hotels.

The 2nd annual Comedy Short Cuts Diverse City Festival is one of the main components of the NBC Universal Diversity Initiative � a company-wide initiative to discover diverse voices both in front of and behind the camera. For more information, visit: www.DiverseCityNBCuni.com





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· CHUCK (NBC)
· HEROES (NBC)
· OFFICE, THE (NBC)




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