Screen Magazine: Vol. 28, Issue 21

Screen Magazine - Index

Screen Magazine - Screen Magazine: Vol. 28, Issue 21 - Index

��
��
Reality TV has brought us the best
survivalists, idols, apprentices and even
the biggest losers – well, now the sales
industry gets to see who’s the best. Envision
U (a Livonia, Mich.-based corporate
training program) has teamed up with
Farmington Hills, Mich.-based hdstudios
(a division of Grace & Wild) to produce
the web- and television-based reality show
competition, “Are You Up? The Ultimate
Sales Challenge.”
The brainchild of Rod Hariston, chairman
and CEO of Envision U, the show, also
referred to as the “Ultimate Performer Sales
and Leadership Challenge” is a combination
program of sorts, taking a little bit of “The
Apprentice” and adding a dash of “Survivor” to
the mix, creating a challenge program that seeks
to discover the “most influential personalities in
individual cities across the nation.”
The first city chosen to run the competition
was Detroit, and hdstudios’ executive producer
Robin Tracey was tapped to produce and direct
the challenge rounds. These included multicamera
shoots in and around the city of Detroit
at such locations as Oakland Community
College’s CREST Center in Auburn Hills and
Comerica Park in downtown Detroit.
hdstudios’ own B-Stage was used for a singing/
makeover challenge in which the contestants
received vocal coaching from one of the show’s
producers, Roger Love (president of Voiceplace
Inc. and vocal coach to celebrities such as
Reese Witherspoon and Mötley Crüe), then
performed in front of a live audience.
The series of five webisodes began airing in
August on ABC affiliate WXYZ-Detroit Channel
7’s website. The several hundred initial contestants
were pared down to 12 finalists who competed
in five corresponding challenges.
These challenges were all shot by hdstudios
and included a fire-fighting challenge, the singing
competition, negotiating a hostage situation,
a scavenger hunt, a personal makeover and a
number of sales-related tests. The sixth episode,
announcing the winners, was shot before a live
studio audience and aired on September 20
during primetime on Channel 7.
In addition to producing the challenge
rounds and providing stage space for the
challenges, hdstudios also provided editing
services by senior Avid editor Michael
Pfaendtner, Avid editor Dyan Bailey and
assistant editor Eric Carlsen. Editorial
graphics & media coordinator Ken Mitchell
and assistant editor Brad Muckenthaler
encoded the webisodes for use on the
WXYZ website.
Envision U plans to take the “Ultimate
Performer Sales and Leadership Challenge”
to Phoenix, Washington, Philadelphia,
Miami and other cities across the U.S.
Full-length versions of the first season
can be viewed at www.WXYZ.com.
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��