CTV Starts Production on New Reality Series Pilot DREAM FUNDED: LET THE CROWD DECIDE

OTTAWA (March 6, 2015) – The customer is always right! CTV announced today from Prime Time in Ottawa the start of production on the new one-hour reality series pilot, DREAM FUNDED: LET THE CROWD DECIDE, produced by CTV in association with Entertainment One (eOne), Highway Entertainment, and United Artists Media Group. The pilot is the first project from Bell Media’s partnership with United Artists Media Group (a newly formed joint venture among MGM, Mark Burnett, Roma Downey, and Hearst Entertainment) and Omnicom Media Groups’ Highway Entertainment. Hosted by TSN’s James Duthie, DREAM FUNDED: LET THE CROWD DECIDE offers entrepreneurs the opportunity to earn up to $50,000 by pitching their untested business ideas to a crowd of 100 real consumers. Production begins today in Toronto through March 10. “DREAM FUNDED puts an entertaining spin on the crowd-funding phenomenon, where the crowd invests in everyday products, making dreams come true for emerging entrepreneurs while creating a feel-good show,” said Phil King, President – CTV, Sports, and Entertainment Programming. “With our partners’ stellar background in non-scripted entertainment, we anticipate the pilot will deliver high-stakes drama and real-life happy endings.” “We’re thrilled to be working with a market leader like CTV to bring this innovative format not only to Canada, but the world,” said C. Scot Cru, Executive Vice President of International at United Artist Media Group who brokered the deal with CTV and Highway Entertainment.   “Phil and his team have been great partners helping us to bring DREAM FUNDED to life.” “Highway Entertainment is thrilled to be working with UAMG, eOne, and Bell Media on this exciting project,” said Adam Ivers, President & CEO Highway Entertainment. “This endeavour exemplifies our laser-focused efforts to establish Canada as the next proving-ground for great formats, and working with these companies gives us a great head start.” An original take on crowd-funding, DREAM FUNDED: LET THE CROWD DECIDE, puts all the power in the hands of the crowd, and in the span of one hour, makes dreams come true. In the pilot, seven budding entrepreneurs, known as the “Dreamers”, will introduce their original product to a crowd of 100 curious customers, who each have $250 to support the Dreamer and new product they feel has the most potential. Throughout the show, celebrity entrepreneur experts Amber Mac and Ron Tite offer advice and feedback to the Dreamers, helping to elevate their pitches to a higher professional level. At the end of the episode, the Dreamers take home all of the money invested by the crowd, up to $25,000. And to raise the stakes even higher, the Dreamer who has earned the most receives an additional $25,000.

DREAM FUNDED: LET THE CROWD DECIDE Host James Duthie

With more than 15 years of hosting experience, Gemini and Canadian Screen Award-Winner James Duthie brings his natural charisma to the role of host of DREAM FUNDED. One of Canada’s most respected and popular broadcasters, Duthie is the host of TSN’s extensive and award-winning hockey, Grey Cup, and Super Bowl coverage. In addition to his TSN duties, Duthie hosted two Olympic Games for CTV, is a two time best-selling author, and also hosted the half-hour CTV prime-time special titled WILL FERRELL ON SPORTS AND STUFF with superstar Will Farrell. His entertaining and sharp-witted style has made him a fan favourite across the country as well as one of the nation’s most-followed media personalities on Twitter. Along with host Duthie, the cast also includes celebrity entrepreneur experts Amber Mac and Ron Tite, two of the most respected marketing and business minds in the country. Amber Mac heads her own company with her brother called Konnekt, and has been a regular business host and expert for BNN, THE MARILYN DENIS SHOW, CP24, Fast Company, CNN, CBS, and Sirius Radio. Branding and Creativity Expert Ron Tite is CEO of The Tite Group, a content marketing agency based in Toronto, and was named one of the “Top 10 Creative Canadians” by Marketing magazine. Known as the “Dreamers”, the seven budding entrepreneurs featured in the pilot of DREAM FUNDED are:

• Danielle Tchao and Freda Langelo from Toronto
• Meghan Athavale (CEO) from Winnipeg
• Rachel Paulter and Andrew Martinko from Waterloo, Ont.
• Dimitri Poliderakis from Laval, Que.
• Bob Stueck from Toronto
• Joe Pantaleo and Stefano Karabas from Scarborough, Ont.
• Misko Dzamba and Jason Yu from Port Credit, Ont.

Bell Media, Canada’s premier multimedia company, previously announced a partnership with United Artists Media Group and Highway Entertainment to create new television formats for Canadian and international audiences. In addition to creating its own award-winning original factual programming, CTV has developed and broadcast some of the most successful reality format adaptations in Canadian broadcasting history. DREAM FUNDED: LET THE CROWD DECIDE is produced by CTV in association with Entertainment One (eOne), UAMG, and Highway Entertainment. eOne’s Margaret O’Brien and Loren Mawhinney serve as executive producers as well as Stuart Coxe who is also showrunner ; Scot Cru, Dan Munday and Jim Roush are executive producers for United Artists Media Group; and Adam Ivers is executive producer for Highway Entertainment. For Bell Media, Robin Johnston is Production Executive. Corrie Coe is Senior Vice-President, Independent Production. Mike Cosentino is Senior Vice-President, Programming, CTV Networks. Phil King is President – CTV, Sports, and Entertainment Programming.   For more information, please contact: Amy Doary, Unit Publicist, DREAM FUNDED: LET THE CROWD DECIDE, 416.710.6079 Or amy@adpr.ca