Microsoft is offering the chance for users to create content for Xbox Live. Together with the New York Television Festival (NYTVF), Microsoft today announced the Xbox Live Originals contest, granting aspiring television producers the opportunity to create a pilot that could be chosen for the first original series developed specifically for the Xbox Live, Microsoft's online gaming and entertainment network.

Microsoft will award the winning entrant a $100,000 budget and an opportunity for a six-episode commitment to air the television series on Xbox Live, a game hub and social network access through Xbox and Xbox 360, home to a community of some 6 million people worldwide.

The pilot episode of the winning series will debut this fall at the third annual NYTVF, the industry's first showcase for independent television, before being featured on Xbox Live, where it will mark the first time that user-created entertainment content will be available there for worldwide download.