Rick Henry Wins $10,000 TONTINE Video Contest

Host "Boston Rob" Mariano to award prize to Melissa, Texas, resident as part of revolutionary "social" casting process.

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) October 4, 2007 -- Tontine Productions, producers of the upcoming reality television series, "TONTINE", announced today that Rick Henry of Melissa, Texas, has been chosen winner of the $10,000 "TONTINE" Video Contest. The show's host, "Boston Rob" Mariano, will present the prize to Henry at his home on Friday, October 5th.

At the conclusion of its nationwide casting tour in August, "TONTINE" asked select applicants to upload home videos of themselves to YouTube.com to further express their personalities, showcase their creativity and, importantly, expose themselves to public judgment. Over 300 videos were submitted, watched over a half-million times.
"We wanted would-be contestants to present themselves not just to their potential audience but also to their potential competitors," says "TONTINE" executive producer Ted Haimes. "For some of these people, the virtual competition has already begun, even if the cameras haven't started rolling -- and that's what we hoped for."

You see them jockeying for position and making friends at the same time. They feel they know each other from their videos and are bonding through the shared experience, yet the irony is that the winner of this game will walk away with everything their competitors have. It really is a fascinating insight into how they might play the game.

Haimes notes that hundreds of "TONTINE" applicants have been congregating on social networking sites, including www.TontineNation.com, an unofficial community forum. "You see them jockeying for position and making friends at the same time. They feel they know each other from their videos and are bonding through the shared experience, yet the irony is that the winner of this game will walk away with everything their competitors have. It really is a fascinating insight into how they might play the game."

"TONTINE", due to air in fall 2008, will pit fifteen contestants against each other in a series of intense mental and physical challenges lasting over 100 days, with the winner's $10 million prize coming exclusively from the estates of the fourteen losing contestants. "We chose Rick Henry's video because it conveys the core qualities of the ideal "TONTINE" player," says casting director Tad Patrick Frank, noting that Henry is willing to miss the birth of his first child to compete on the show. "Rick showed us not only that he possesses the physical and mental fortitude to succeed in the competition, but also that he understands the stakes of the game and sees them as a source of inspiration."

Source: Tontine Productions, LLC
(310) 220-1763
press @ jointhetontine.com
Link to Rick Henry's video and announcement: http://youtube.com/watch?v=-cqu0AhtT8w

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