This document proposes several reality show ideas including: 1) "Freelance Artists" following the lives of artists struggling to make it in NYC, illustrating their efforts and triumphs. 2) "Transition/International Transition" depicting immigrants' hardships and triumphs settling in a new country, overcoming language/cultural barriers. 3) "Mark-ups" exposing large profit margins of companies and questioning where money goes. 4) "Small Business" highlighting struggles of small businesses competing with large corporations and risk of being acquired. 5) "Uplifting News" showcasing only positive stories as an alternative to regular news programs. 6) "

1. Freelance Artists / Starving Artists
Networks: TLC, A&E, Bravo, Style
Target Audience/Demographic: Young Adults
Issues: Their work being exposed and copied before they can make a name for
themselves. Copyright issues.
Location: NYC
Summary: Following the lives of freelance artist trying to make it big. Illustrating all of
their effort, struggles, and triumphs along the way. Including how they make a living
while they’re working on their art. Different artists personal journeys, they don't
necessarily interact with one another. Focusing on both their social and work lives to
show what the art scene is really like in New York City.
Contacts:
-Feel free to check our resources page for other phenomenal and talented industry
locals and please e-mail Christina at christina@nycartscene.com for rates, additional
recommendations, and contact information.
-http://www.nyc-arts.org/events/11009/The-Talent-Show
-http://www.agora-gallery.com/competition/default.aspx
-I also visited the museum at FIT where they had students or past students work on
display and I got the cards of the one’s that I found interesting.
Jennifer Merz- Illustration
www.jennifermerz.com
jjmerz@yahoo.com
201-934-9513
Yishai Minkin- Paint
www.YishaiMinkin.com
917-699-2560
Julie Muszynski- Illustration
www.juliemuszynski.com
juliemuszynski@me.com
212-677-0017

2. Donna Choi- Illustration
http://www.donnachoi.com
hello@donnachoi.com
949-246-2560
Transition / International Transition
Networks: TLC, National Geographic
Target Audience/Demographic: Mid-Adults and Older Adults (probably of more ethnic
backgrounds who have relatives that have immigrated).
Issues: Could possibly offend people of different cultures, or depict immigrants in a
negative way.
Location(s): NYC or LA
Summary: Depicting the hardships and triumphs of immigrating and transitioning to a
new country. Language barriers, cultural differences and fitting in with the way of life.
Could be about foreigners transitioning to America or Americans immigrating abroad, or
both. Could include individuals or families and could either focus on one person/family
per episode or follow multiple stories over a season.
Competition:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/does-reality-show-exploit-immigrants/
http://www.albertleatribune.com/2014/01/immigration-reality-show-has-real-potential/
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=immigrant+reality+show&qpvt=immigrant+reality
+show&FORM=VDRE#view=detail&mid=408D3AD11891CB0DCC41408D3AD11891C
B0DCC41
"Immigration Nation"- didn't see anything about it airing though…more about being
deported
Mark-ups
Network: TLC,
Target Audience/Demographic: Mid-Adults(frequent shoppers or deal-hunters)
Issues: Getting consent to depict specific companies on their large profit margins. Legal
issues.
Summary: Portraying the amount of mark-up some companies have on their products
and the profit they make from it. Could also depict sweatshop labor in third world

3. counties to get cheaply produced merchandise (Apple, Forever 21, Nike just a few that
have been in the news). Including issues on both human rights as well as exploitation of
prices. Where is the money going? Would be a documentary or a few part series.
Small Business
Networks: TLC, A&E
Target Audience/Demographic: Young Adults and Mid-Adults
Issues: Having big business copy off of small business ideas, copyright issues.
Summary: Going behind the scenes on how small businesses work and what makes
them successful. Including the struggle to compete with larger companies for pricing
and customer loyalty. Also, how big business seems to absorb smaller companies when
they become successful/become a threat and if they still maintain their successful
standards afterward. (ex. Ben & Jerry's). Might focus on small companies that give back
and make a difference, as well (ex. Warby Parker, Clark's Botanicals, KIND food).
Competition:
-http://www.tv.com/shows/very-small-business/
-http://ezinearticles.com/?Small-Business-Television-Shows&id=4509903
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Your_Business_(TV_series)
-Most series focus on helping failing small businesses, this is more like praising them.
Uplifting News
Networks: ABC, CBS, PBS,
Target Audience/Demographic: Parents who don’t want to expose their kids to regular
news programs but still want to have their children be aware of what’s going on in the
world, People who would rather have inspiring news instead of news that is mostly
about violence and crime.
Issues: Might not get total coverage on major issues if they happen to be too heavy or
too graphic. If it’s a daily program that would be a big dedication.
Summary: Showcasing positive news stories to share with people. This would be a
great alternative to regular news programs, having stories of inspiration rather than
focusing on crime and the problems in the economy. It would be a big hit with parents
who would like to have their children be more informed while not having to cover their
eyes or ears if a story comes on that is inappropriate. It would maybe have stories that
show a story of how someone has battled and overcome a disease, or how a business
or area that once struggled is now back on it’s feet again. There can be hints or sub-

4. stories about more negative events such as shootings or celebrity scandals, so people
are not completely uninformed about these topics, but it will not go into much detail. It
will only skim the surface to give a brief breakdown of the story. Could be a daily show
or a weekly special.
Competition:
700 Club- ABC family, but that has a religious background.
Optimist TV- http://optimistworld.com/
-Many cites with uplifting news articles/videos but not a specific show.
Education Nations
Networks: TLC, PBS
Target Audience/Demographic: Parents, Teachers, and other adults interested in the
success of school systems.
Summary: Focusing on how education works throughout the world; from Europe where
education is heavily funded by the government to Africa where they’re really trying to
develop a system. It will depict how different the school systems are and how their
students are affected by it. Education is a big and diverse topic in today’s world and it
would be a great initiative to shed more light on issues with school systems and how
challenging and deprived some systems are while others are praised. Could include
current students and could also feature interviews of past students of the system and
see how education has affected their lives. Could be a documentary or 3 or 4 part
special.
Competition: A documentary on Higher Education Worldwide.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cF8zBmZr7Ng
Right Food Right Time
Networks: Food Network, Cooking Channel
Target Audience/Demographic: Food Lovers, New Yorkers and Future Entrepreneurs
Issues: Restaurants and Chefs may not want to show all of their secrets.
Summary: It takes a lot to be a successful restaurant in New York City. It all depends on
location, skill, competition, and customer loyalty. This would go behind the scenes on
what it really takes to run a restaurant in NYC, from food buying to interacting with
guests, etc.
Some restaurants to notice:

5. Pagani- Bleecker Street- New American
Mez Mascal- Upper East Side- Mexican Cuisine
Balthazar- Soho- French Cuisine
Inspired Articles
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/20/opinion/sunday/secret-ingredient-for-
success.html?_r=0
http://www.businessinsider.com/joe-bastianich-on-restaurant-success-2013-8
Oppression
Networks: TLC, Oxygen
Target Audience/Demographic: Women (from stay at home moms to working,
independent women)
Issues: Could be taken the wrong way at times by men.
Summary: Women, even in today’s modern day and age, are still facing problems of
oppression all around the world. It is definitely more extreme in some countries such as
Muslim countries and countries throughout Africa where men tend to control women and
abuse them at times. It even happens in the U.S. too, women are paid less than men for
the same job and also face harassment in and out of the workplace. It’s something that
is not brought to light very much. We could have activists say their input on it, like
Angelina Jolie and others. Could be a documentary or several part special.
Competition:
Half the Sky was a documentaty aired on PBS that focusing on turning oppression into
opportunity for women.
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/half-the-sky/
Minimum McWage
Networks: PBS, TLC
Audience: Bargin hunters, Human Rights activists, and Political people.
Issues: Companies could not like the negative connotations that come along with
showing how little some of their workers are paid.
Summary: Focusing in on how people live day to day on minimum wage. It’s a big topic
and not really shown in people’s perspective who have to live it. It would show the
pressure of living on so little and how they manage to get by.