NATPE sets up Boot Camp

Program set at Wyndham Bel Age hotel in L.A.

By JOHN DEMPSEY

NEW YORK -- The National Assn. of TV Program Executives has set July 28-29 for its third annual Boot Camp, where wannabe program producers get the chance to pitch projects to development execs from broadcast and cable networks, talent agencies and production/distribution companies.

Taking place at the Wyndham Bel Age hotel in Los Angeles, the Boot Camp kicks off with a day of panel sessions in which showbiz experts provide nuts-and-bolts descriptions of how the industry works. The key speakers on board are John Ferriter, senior VP and head of network alternative packaging for William Morris; Brenda Hampton, executive producer of "Fat Actress" and "7th Heaven"; and Jonathan Prince, creator, writer and exec producer of NBC's "American Dreams."

There'll be workshops and clinics throughout Boot Camp, but the highlight will be July 29's three-hour Pitch Pit, in which people with program ideas will bounce them off an army of execs who promise to listen patiently.

NATPE will charge each attendee $680 for the two-day event ($410 for NATPE members), holding out the prospect of discounts for early signup.