Channel 101 is a non-profit monthly short film festival in
Los Angeles, which also has a sister festival in
New York City,
Channel 101 NY. Channel 101 is a creation of
Dan Harmon and
Rob Schrab in which participants submit a short film in the format of a
pilot under five minutes in length. The event is structured such that a panel of previously successful submitters choose what pilots are shown, and a live audience at
The Downtown Independent decides which pilots continue as a series for the next screening in much the same way TV programs are rated and managed. According to the Channel 101 website, “Channel 101 is a chance to sit in the worn-out chair of the fat network exec, drunk on the blood of lowly artists whose right to exist is given in exchange for their ability to nourish...You run the network. You pick the programming.”