“8 degrees/portraits of exceptional people with impact”
HOSTED AND DIRECTED BY MARC RITA
WITH CO-HOST CHRISTINE LIN
RUNNING VIDEO ON DEMAND MAY – SUMMER 2008
(BULLETIN # 1: “THE MAKING OF “8IGHT” “)
________________________________________________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: ENERI Communications
May 29, 2008 (312) 635-0888 or info@enericom.net
www.enericom.net/blog and www.enericom.net/8ight
www.suncasTV.com and www.suncasTV.com/channels/8degrees.html
CHICAGO, IL - - SUNCASTV proudly presents the groundbreaking IPTV world premiere of the SUNCASTV/ENERI Communications Production, “8ight degrees: portraits of exceptional people with impact.” Created and shot in beautiful cinematic style, this unique and historic half-hour special, takes a powerful and sometimes emotional, intimate look at the lives and passions of five outstanding subjects. Four are Asian Pacific Americans now residing in the Chicago area, and one is living now on the West Coast. “8ight degrees” launched this month in May, in honor of 2008 Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. It airs Video on Demand on the SuncasTV Internet Protocol TV channel, www.suncasTV.com, throughout Summer 2008.
The Director and Host of “8ight degrees” is Marc Rita, a Chicago-area director, actor and producer known for his extensive theatre work, including work with companies such as Steppenwolf, Wisdom Bridge and the Organic. He spent five years working in Los Angeles, and was also co-founder of Chicago's first Asian American theater, MinaSama-No (1983). Director of Photography is Eric R. Lim, who at the age of 22 has already had a short he produced on a "Quentin Tarantino Presents" label. The show’s Co-Host is up and coming Chicago actress Christine Lin. (Full profiles and talent photos available upon request or downloadable at www.enericom.net/8ight).
Director/Host Marc Rita profiles the five subjects, utilizing an inductive radiating out process. “8ight degrees: portraits of exceptional people with impact,” showcases the following people: Arun Sampanthavivat, chef/owner of the renown Arun’s restaurant; he is also an artist, poet and composer; international fashion designer, artist and entrepreneur Tiffani Kim Griffith, founder of the Tiffani Kim Institute; social service worker, co-founder and president of the 30-year-old Chinese American Service League, Inc., Bernarda Wong; feng shui and psychic consultant Karen Uchima; and mixed martial artist (2008 Strikeforce Middleweight MMA title holder), 3-time San Shou world champion fighter and actor Cung Le.
From concept to post-production, start to finish, the show was amazingly created in only 15 weeks. Show creator Rieny G. Cualoping came up with the idea for an IPTV Asian Pacific American Heritage Month series in early February of this year. (Show Log, February 5, 2008.) She knew that there had been other Asian Pacific American Heritage Month shows, mostly TV news series, but so far, not a show in the exciting new IPTV format.
Nine days later, she met with Sunny Leon, President/CEO of SuncasTV, for a lunch meeting at Phoenix in Chicago’s Chinatown. It was Valentine’s Day, and she had on power red. After presenting a budget, Cualoping told Leon that she was aware that most projects of this scope usually took from ten months to a year to execute. They went over the pros and cons of moving forward. She then asked him if he wanted to wait a year to air the show, until 2009 Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.
Leon, who has diverse interests, ending up telling Cualoping that he didn’t know what he would want to do a year from now. “I might want to do something else,” he said. By the end of lunch, the two ended up green lighting the project. Cualoping texted the exciting news to veteran theatre director, actor and producer Marc Rita, co-founder of Chicago’s first Asian American theater company, MinaSama-No (1983).
(The two had met in 1987 during Opening Night of Keith Uchima’s play, “Autumn and Spring,” at the Organic Theater Company, which Rita directed. They had worked on various shows and projects off and on throughout the years, excluding the five years Rita spent living and working in Los Angeles.) Cualoping asked him to both host the show, and to consider making his directorial debut in this broadcast medium.
After considering the technical learning curve, he accepted. (Rita would end up choosing to learn to edit during the show; and became also responsible for production design concept and the writing, the latter of which was a collaborative process between he and Cualoping.)
The show, set on fast-track from Day 1, would end up challenging everyone involved – it was a new idea, set in a new way, shot with a new technology, involved some well-known honorees with extremely busy schedules, involved a remote shoot from Los Angeles, and except for the Show Creator and Director, no one on the team knew each other more than a few months, nor had they ever worked together professionally before. (Technically, Co-Host Christine Lin appeared in the Children’s Ensemble and Chorus as a child in the Asian American Coalition of Chicago’s 8th Annual Asian American Coalition of Chicago Lunar New Year Celebration opening musical drama, “Start With the Children” in 1991, with Director Marc Rita playing one of the lead roles in the featured play, “Wu Hsing: A Tale Out of Time”, written by Keith Uchima. There is a 25-year-age difference between the two. He played the role of the “Old Man.”)
As ”8ight’s degrees’ ” Director, Marc Rita expressed at the start of this project that he “did not want the pieces to be a document of people's accomplishments and successes, their wealth and power, their products and services - unless it provided a powerful perspective of their humanity.” (Show Log Notes, February 23, 2008). He wanted the show to portray their humanness. “These pieces should be about their spirit/humanness expressed in their lives and work,” said Rita. “So finding an artist expressing themselves in a unique or powerful way is ideal,” he said. (This on the difficult process of narrowing down the potential subject list to a final five.)
The Director and Executive Producers (Cualoping and Leon) spent a lot of time meeting, talking with and reading up on potential subjects. In all, the creative and production team looked at about 30 potential subjects, who were narrowed down to the final five.
The Director chose to always do filming from a specific approach or angle. “… And I've had to do that with Arun, Tiffani and Bernie to make them fit together and make the whole show interesting,” he said during production. “For example, I'm minimizing the sit-down interview aspect as much as possible, so we can see the body of their work and what each person offers.” (Show Log Notes, March 11, 2008)
For the Tiffani Kim Griffith story, the Director wanted to create a contrast that would enhance her fashion, institute and design work. He thought that using her sister in the piece (Tiffani Kim Institute President Jacklyn Kim) would enhance other aspects of her, including family and teamwork. (Show Log Notes, February 27, 2008)
(The Director decided on the portals for each piece within the first two weeks of the project’s start date. “I've already decided on the portals for each piece. Each piece is going to be inductive and then radiating out,” he said in February. “I've got to figure out frameworks/structures prior to our visit. This is a range, but a limited range. It will get messy and inefficient if I wait to get to the location for inspiration, especially in this case with only six weeks to get this done.” (Show Log Notes, February 27, 2008)
The show, a commercial project, has artistic, financial and groundbreaking IPTV technological goals. “The key to this show is going to be success in finding appropriate people to profile. I want this show to have potentially powerful emotional content - it should be moving. The content of the profiles has to reach our audience in a powerful way, as well as cover our demographics and costs,” said the Director during the planning process. (Show Log Notes, February 23, 2008)
In casting Christine Lin as Co-Host, the Director and Executive Producers (Cualoping and Leon) also originally set out to capture energy, freshness and what they admittedly knew is popularly termed as, “youthful” attractiveness. (Lin is in her twenties.) The Director, himself over 40, was concerned that several of the portraits would be of middle-aged subjects, in more traditional fields. He expressed a need to balance out the show.
“We need more youthful energy to balance out the show and create impact,” said Rita, who had advocated for a DJ/Clubbing piece that for various reasons was not able to materialize this time around. (Show Log Notes, March 11, 2008)
ABOUT CHRISTINE LIN
Christine Lin is an up and coming Chicago actress and model who has appeared on film, television and on stage. She has been acting professionally for over three years (since January 2005.)
UP NEXT, FILM: Among her film work, Christine Lin was an extra in, “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros., directed by Christopher Nolan, release date July 18, 2008); she played a supporting role in “The Blind and the Dead” (Jezebeth Films, directed by David Paul Schmickel, premiering July 26, 2008 at the historic Portage Theater, Chicago); and she was an extra in “The Lucky Ones” (originally titled “The Return”; presented by Lionsgate and directed by Neil Burger, the director of “The Illusionist, Summer 2008 Release).
Christine Lin has been working on developing a strong theater repertoire. She recently completed a week-long live industrial, "People Experience," appearing as a member of the ensemble for the McDonald's Imagine Worldwide Convention in Orlando, Florida. (April 11-19, 2008 at the Orlando County Convention Center).
UP NEXT, THEATER: Christine Lin appears this summer as “Glandève” in "The Massacre" and as “Friend/God” in "Callimachus" in Halcyon Theatre's "First Annual Alcyone Festival." Halcyon Theatre takes a comprehensive look at nearly one thousand years of early female playwrights and how their "firsts “have shaped women's place as a creative force in the arts today. (June 19 - July 13, 2008 at the Peter Jones Gallery, Chicago).
Lin recently joined and is currently improvising now with Stir-Friday Night!, Chicago’s premier Asian American sketch comedy troupe. (The troupe was founded in 1995 by Quincy Wong and Keith Uchima.) Lin will appear in an upcoming improv run for SFN! (June 5 and June 12, 2008 at The Playground, Chicago).
Christine Lin's TV work includes: a leading role in Dale Chapman's "We're Geniuses in France: Episode: Deadly Assassin Squad X-17" (Chicago Access Network Television, CAN TV); she is an ongoing host for Fishbowl Media Chicago Productions' "Crash TV," and she has been a featured extra in two music videos.
On film, Lin played "Julie," a supporting role in "Treadmill," an independent film directed and written by Cory Hooper (released in 2006 by The 1,000,001st Production Company and shown in 2007 at the Humboldt Park Film Festival). She has also done industrials for Sun Loan Company, Huggies Pull-Ups, and Mid-America Bank.
Lin is currently training in the Conservatory Program for improvisation at The Second City in Chicago. She also takes classes at the Acting Studio and at Act One Studio in Chicago. In California, Lin studied at the Bay Area Acting Studio, and at the Film Arts Foundation.
Also professionally trained as an engineer, Lin is a graduate of Duke University in North Carolina. She holds a BSE in Electrical and Biomedical Engineering with a minor in religion. Lin is currently a Validation Engineer with Meanor Consulting Corporation in the pharmaceutical industry. Previously, she served as a Validation Specialist for Abbott Laboratories and graduated from Abbott’s Engineering Professional Development Program.
ABOUT ERIC R. LIM
Also brought on board as the show’s Director of Photography was Eric R. Lim, a hot young talent just out of college. (Lim completed college in just three years instead of four.) He is a May 2007 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he majored in communication arts and received a certificate in East Asian studies. Lim previously received a certificate in filmmaking from the New York Film Academy (2004).
As a producer, Eric Lim is a winner of the “Take on Tony Jaa Contest”, for his digital short, “Lasershot” directed by Niko Pueringer (Weinstein Company, January 2007). This short is included in the “Extras” in the 2007 DVD release of “Quentin Tarantino Presents ‘The Protector’ ”. Lim, also accomplished in the martial arts, is a second degree black belt. He appears in this martial arts short as the “Man in Black”. He also worked on the action choreography.
Eric Lim is the producer and director of Cinema Toast’s “Zero Trooper-F”, which premiered as an official selection of the 10th Annual Wisconsin Film Festival (April 3-6, 2008, Madison, Wisconsin). It played at the UW Cinematheque to a sold-out audience, as part of a shorts collection. Lim also appeared as an actor in Cinema Toast’s “Loose Cannons,” a feature-length action comedy that also made its debut as an official selection of the 10th Annual Wisconsin Film Festival. It was also sold-out. Directed by Andy Schlachtenhaufen, another recent UW-Madison film graduate, “Loose Cannons” features Lim as both choreographer of its many fight sequences, and as one of the main characters. Both films had an encore showing at the Orpheum Theatre in Madison on April 25, 2008. “Loose Cannons” especially, is receiving a lot of buzz on the film blog circuits.
Lim also ended up also serving as an editor and music editor for “8ight degrees.” During the filming of “8ight degrees,” as for all the production team, it became hectic for the talented Lim. He was juggling his commitment to the show in the Chicago area, while in the midst of getting ready to premiere two of his own films in Wisconsin in April. Lim made the 2-1/2 hour road trip back and forth from Madison to Chicago many times.
Asked in April by a reporter what kind of a response he got following the screening at the Wisconsin Film Festival, Lim is on record as saying, “My parents told me they were very proud of me. My girlfriend said she loved me, and my friends all gave me high fives. Pretty normal response to anything I do.” (Interview with Kristian Knutsen, April 25, 2008, “Isthmus/The Daily Page”, “Monster invades Madison! Eric Lim previews Zero Trooper-“F; Director and action choreographer discusses action-comedy short film).
UP NEXT for ERIC LIM: Lim's current film project is "Greenside," starring Mike Moh of "Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight" and Jackie Chan's "Rob-B-Hood". Lim is serving as the film's producer and will also appear as an actor in this film.
WATCH “8ight degrees”
“8ight degrees: portraits of exceptional people with impact” is available Video on Demand via www.suncastv.com, with the show’s direct link at: www.suncastv.com/channels/8degrees.html
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Media requests for more information, photos or interviews with “8ight degrees” Director/Host/Writer/Production Designer and Editor Marc Rita; Co-Host Christine Lin; Director of Photography and Editor Eric R. Lim; Theme Music Composer Keith Uchima (“Eyes of the New World,” “The Theme from “8ight degrees”); Bassist/Music Composer Tatsu Aoki; Music Composer Gong-Qian Yang; with any of the portrait honorees, or with any of the faces working behind the scenes of “8ight degrees,” may be directed to ENERI Communications at info@enericom.net or (312) 635-0888.
Profiles on the Director, Co-Host, Director of Photography, Music Composers and/or the Show Creator are available upon request. They are also downloadable via the web link: www.enericom.net/8ight.
Visit the ENERI News Blog at: www.enericom.net/blog .
ABOUT IPTV
SuncasTV is ahead of the curve in introducing the IPTV concept to American audiences. SuncasTV is an IPTV service provider which supports IPTV viewers in the U.S. and globally by offering a wide range of information and entertainment content from around the world (www.suncastv.com). It has a specialty towards providing programming from Asian channels and networks. It targets IPTV viewers in the U.S. with initial entry in the Asian market by offering content from a variety of Asian countries. Currently the channel carries content that is Cambodian, Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Thai and Vietnamese, and there is an English channel.
Traditional TV viewing required broadcast reception, satellite dish, or cable. Without installing any cables or satellite dishes, one can watch your favorite broadcasts delivered to your TV set whenever you want, regardless of where in the world you are. This is the future trend for TV viewing/delivery. IPTV will soon be the standard platform for delivery for video on demand (VOD), pay per view (PPV) and subscription content from providers.
A major telecommunications industry leader is expected to launch its version with a multi-million dollar advertising campaign, which will help let the average American consumer know what IPTV is. Other countries are already ahead of us in this area, such as in Europe and Asia.
PROGRAM SPONSORSHIPS
ITPV offers a new, more compelling model for advertisers to reach and influence consumers. It can provide more immediate feedback mechanisms to support new commercial models. Especially in a challenging economy, IPTV offers more economies of scale, and reaches a broader worldwide audience for a longer period of time, than traditional advertising models.
Attractive program sponsorship opportunities for the show “8ight degrees: portraits of exceptional people” will remain available on www.suncastv.com throughout Summer 2008. Please contact ads@suncasTV.com or (847) 364-4008, or info@enericom.net or (312) 635-0888 to book space. Rates start at $500.00 and run in increments through $5,000.00. Rates are also downloadable at www.enericom.net/8ight.
TECH TIPS/ABOUT STREAMING TECHNOLOGY/BROWSER CAPABILITIES
SuncasTV.com Online contains live and on-demand audio and video. At SuncasTV.com Online you'll find lots of media content from SCTV as well as material from many other sources. To present these services, SCTV uses streaming technology. Streaming is the delivery of media content over the Internet using data compression and this process allows the user to start playing the material as it downloads. This saves having to download the entire file before you can play it.
SuncasTV.com uses the Windows Media platform to deliver streaming content. For the best media experience, SCTV recommends Windows Media Player 9 or higher. Lan/Cable or DSL high-speed connection recommended; please remember to set firewalls to allow streaming content. Channels optimized on Internet Explorer browser or Mozilla Firefox. Mozilla and MAC users will need to download a plug-in for viewing; the link is available on the show site.
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WATCH 8ight degrees/portraits of exceptional people with impact/inductive radiating out
A SuncasTV/ENERI Communications production
An Asian Pacific American Heritage Month IP (Internet Protocol) TV Series
World Premiere May 1, 2008 Running Video on Demand Throughout Summer 2008
www.suncasTV.com/channels/8degrees.html
Portraits of Arun Sampanthavivat/Tiffani Kim Griffith/Bernarda Wong/ Karen Uchima and Cung Le
8ight degrees/portraits of exceptional people with impact
2008 IPTV world premiere on www.suncasTV.com
Created by Rieny G. Cualoping/Executive Producer Sunny Leon/Executive Producer Rieny G. Cualoping/ Written by Marc Rita with Rieny G. Cualoping/Directed and Production Design Concept by Marc Rita/ Hosted by Marc Rita with Co-Host Christine Lin/Director of Photography Eric R. Lim/Edited by Marc Rita/Eric R. Lim/Dan Gutierrez and Kevin Gulik/Theme Music by Keith Uchima/Music by Tatsu Aoki/Music by Gong-Qian Yang
FULL CREDITS LISTING
AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST
ENERI Communications
“Energy Upon Impact”
tel 312.635.0888
info@enericom.net
FOR:
ENERI and
SuncasTV
"Gateway to your hometown"
2407 East Oakton Street - Suite B-10
Arlington Heights, Illinois 60005
tel. 847.364.4008
www.suncasTV.com
ads@suncasTV.com
8/e
doc id
8ightpr2Rd3F52908.doc
