Reality web series seeks next “Great Street Musician”

A scene from “In Search of the Great American Street Musician”

PRODUCTION HAS BEGUN, literally, in the streets of Chicago for a new music-based web reality series, “In Search of the Great American Street Musician” – an “America’s Got Talent” meets “American Idol” concept, hosted by local actors, Shannon Novack and Keithen Banks.

The series follows the pair as they comb every nook and cranny of Chicago in order to find the best undiscovered musical talent. Needless to say, the production team will be in and around Lollapalooza next weekend.

The show is a concoction of Elvis Thao, who serves as producer and director. His production company, Hand Sewn Productions, is working in conjunction with Chicago incubator, 2112, to develop and evolve the series from web to broadcast.

Two musicians will be featured per 30-minute episode, in which the street musician is playing and is then tells his backstory in a studio. Season One, to premiere in 2017, will consist of 12 episodes.

A REALITY TV SERIES from yoga guru Rich Tola, “Yoga Styles of RICH and Almost Famous,” has started shooting its pilot now through July 26 on such familiar locations at Navy Pier, Oak Street beach, Water Tower, Soldier Field and the new 606 Trail.

“I’ll be teaching people to ‘strike a pose’ in front of these landmarks,” says Tola, a former Wall Street executive, who has produced nearly 30 hours of instructional videos since becoming a certified yoga instructor in 2006.

Tola is a former Wall Street executive, with an MBA from Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern.

He is the series’ writer / producer / director; associate producer, Rhonda Carlson; DP, Alexander Halstead; editor, Aaron Rosenthal.

Yoga students appearing in the pilot are Vika Lvova, Amy Johnson, Lauren Accardi, Laura Moschel and Monica Bright.

ARTISTS whose completed work had been funded by the 2015 Chicago Digital Media Production Fund, a project of Vogal Fund and administered by Chicago Filmmakers, will showcase Tuesday, Aug. 2 at the Chicago Cultural Center starting at 6 p.m., presented by DCASE, free and open to all.

The 2016 Production Fund awarded a total of $100,000 in grants to eight Chicago digital media artists’ projects in amounts ranging from $3,500 to $19,000. Those digital artists funded range from students to established, award winning filmmakers.

Their new media projects highlight a range of relevant social issues, from under-representation to ableism to trans bathroom bills.

The Vogal Fund, through its grant-making and fellowship initiatives, supports nonprofits and individuals using media and technology to support socially conscious media arts projects intended for free online distribution to empower those who are politically, economically or socially disenfranchised.

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