Day Time Star to Co-Host Sketch Comedy Championship That Benefits Non Profit Group Which Serves Disabled
Hollywood, California (PRWEB) November 10, 2014 -- The Co-Executive Producers (Paul Lawrence and Steven James Tingus) of the 2014 International Sketch Comedy Championships (ISCC) are pleased to announce that the 9th annual competition will take place in Hollywood at the world famous TCL Chinese Theatre’s Inside Jokes Comedy Club on Thursday, November 20, 2014, at 8:00 PM.
The Co-hosts for the event are Robert Scott Wilson, Actor from the cast of NBC's "Days of Our Lives" and Sandra Santiago, who has ignited the screen with superstars such as award-winning actors Danny Glover and Danny Trejo. Her most recent production is called Sangre Negra where she plays Erik Estrada's wife.
The ISCC attracts sketch comedy groups and features them in a live competition event held every year at a world class venue. This year’s event will serve as a fundraiser/awareness drive promoting the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers (CFILC), a non-profit organization that serves the disability community. Additionally, the Co-Executive Producers plan on promoting to entertainment industry executives in attendance the awareness of not only having characters with disabilities in programming but to actually hire talent with disabilities in front and behind the camera. The Co-Executive Producers also make it a priority to invite entertainment industry producers, directors, agents, managers, casting agents and development executives to not only identify new talent but to also engage the industry in a worthy cause.
The event is judged by an industry panel of experts who evaluate up and coming groups on their writing, execution and overall star potential. Each competing group performs a scripted sketch comedy set and is then evaluated by a panel of judges. A winning group is announced and presented with various career-building awards such as pitch meetings with top producers, special guest appearances, etc. Previous groups entering the competition have been signed by top-tier management companies, given a feature film development deal and booked on an off Broadway show.
During the event, each group will be given a 20-minute set to perform their best material before a jury of industry judges and a live audience that is filled with entertainment industry executives, celebrities and the general public. The judges will choose a winning group and that group will receive this year’s coveted trophy which also comes along with career-advancing opportunities such as pitch meetings with industry producers, opportunities to produce comedy videos for major comedy networks and much more.
According to Co-Executive Producer/Founder Paul Lawrence, “While every year we have a major turn out from the industry that really helps to get deserving talent discovered, this year’s additional purpose of educating the industry on disability issues and potential of hiring talent with disabilities has us really excited.”
Lawrence has teamed up with former White House disability policy and research official, Steven James Tingus, to develop a show that will not only feature some of the best up-and-coming comedic talent, but will also benefit a non-profit disability organization that trains and empowers youth with disabilities to live independently in order to achieve their aspirations.
Tingus brings to Lawrence his expertise in disability policy and personal experience in order to help educate and assist the entertainment industry in hiring talent with disabilities in front and behind the camera, and to help develop storylines and create characters that resonate with people with disabilities, their families and caregivers. “The entertainment industry can be an incredible ally in creating social change,” Tingus said. “Less than 1% of characters on television and in film represent people with disabilities, yet there are more than 57 million Americans with a disability whom along with their loved ones and caregivers are an untapped market base with over a billion dollars in annual disposable income. I look forward to working with industry leaders to make the business case for hiring talented people with disabilities onscreen and behind the camera.”
This year's event will benefit youth with disabilities through CFILC's Youth Organizing! Disabled & Proud project that connects, organizes and educates youth with disabilities.
The event offers general admission seating at $20 per seat and special VIP tables of ten (10) for those that would like to support the cause more generously at $100 per seat. The price per ticket is tax deductible since CFILC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation (http://www.CFILC.org). To reserve general admission seating tickets at $20.00 per seat (see below), or if your company is interested in VIP tables of 10 at $100 per seat, then send an e-mail to: intrnl- sketchcomedychampionship(at)usa(dot)net or call (323) 547-7588.
paul lawrence, International Sketch Comedy Championships, http://www.sketchcomedychampionships.com, +1 9548055011, [email protected]
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