Oprah Winfrey is Searching for the Next TV Star'

14 May 2010 13:00 Africa/Lagos


OWN: THE OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK Announces Advertising Partnership With Leading Retailer Kohl's Department Stores for the Original Series 'Your OWN Show: Oprah's Search for the Next TV Star'

Auditions can be uploaded at Oprah.com beginning May 14 and in person at select Kohl's Department Stores in Four Major U.S. Cities in June

Oprah Winfrey



LOS ANGELES, May 14 /PRNewswire/ -- OWN: THE OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK has struck an advertising partnership with leading retailer Kohl's Department Stores for the original series "Your OWN Show: Oprah's Search For The Next TV Star." OWN's new competition series, presented by Kohl's and executive produced by Mark Burnett ("Survivor," "The Apprentice"), is a nationwide search to discover television's next big star. The winner of the competition will be awarded his or her own studio talk show for the OWN network. Online auditions to participate in the series begin May 14 at Oprah.com, as announced today on "The Oprah Winfrey Show."


"Kohl's is the perfect partner for OWN and 'Your OWN Show: Oprah's Search For The Next TV Star,'" said Kathleen Kayse, executive vice president, sales, OWN. "We're really looking for strategic partnerships that bring something special to our audience and Kohl's can do that."


"We are incredibly excited to partner with OWN for this debut television series, 'Your OWN Show: Oprah's Search For The Next TV Star,'" said Julie Gardner, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Kohl's Department Stores. "This multi-faceted integration will span across several mediums and is designed to reach our shared consumer in a way that is fresh, fun and relevant."


The partnership with Kohl's will include a "Presenting Sponsorship" position for Kohl's for "Your OWN Show: Oprah's Search For The Next TV Star," paid media, integrations, online and on-air exposure, tagged tune-ins and publicity. Unique to the partnership, a series of short, co-branded vignettes, specially created for the series, will air both within and outside of "Your OWN Show: Oprah's Search For The Next TV Star."


To audition online, May 14 to June 26, contestants (who must be 21 to participate) can make a three-minute audition video and upload it to Oprah.com. A user-friendly editing toolkit, as well as tips and techniques from celebrities will.i.am, Lisa Ling and Peter Walsh, will help contestants enhance their audition video. Online submissions will be voted on by the public and the five individuals who get the most online votes will be flown to Los Angeles to audition for Mark Burnett Productions. Audience voting takes place at Oprah.com where the public can watch contestants' videos and vote for their favorite.


To audition in person, open casting calls (not part of the online voting process) will be held at four select Kohl's Department Stores in the following cities:


June 5: New York, NY
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June 12: Dallas, TX
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June 19: Los Angeles, CA
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June 26: Atlanta, GA
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For all details about auditioning for "Your OWN Show: Oprah's Search For The Next TV Star," please visit: www.Oprah.com.


About OWN: THE OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK


A joint venture between Harpo, Inc. and Discovery Communications, LLC, OWN: THE OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK is a multi-platform media company designed to entertain, inform, and inspire people to live their best lives. OWN will debut on January 1, 2011 in approximately 80 million homes, on what is currently the Discovery Health Channel. The venture also will include the award-winning digital platform, Oprah.com. For more information, please visit www.oprah.com/own.


About Kohl's Department Stores


Based in Menomonee Falls, Wis., Kohl's (NYSE:KSS) is a family-focused, value-oriented specialty department store offering moderately priced, exclusive and national brand apparel, shoes, accessories, beauty and home products in an exciting shopping environment. Kohl's operates its 1,067 stores in 49 states with a commitment to environmental leadership. In support of the communities it serves, Kohl's has raised more than $150 million for children's initiatives nationwide through its Kohl's Cares for Kids® philanthropic program, which operates under Kohl's Cares, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kohl's Department Stores, Inc. For a list of store locations and information, or for the added convenience of shopping online, visit www.kohls.com.


Source: OWN: THE OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK

CONTACT: Nicole Nichols, SVP, Communications & Strategy,
+1-323-602-5511, Nicole_Nichols@own.tv; Beth Gebhard, Director, Publicity &
Communications, +1-323-602-5516, Beth_Gebhard@own.tv; Janet Daily: OWN
Publicity, +1-323-602-5624, Janet_Daily-cw@own.tv, all of OWN: THE OPRAH
WINFREY NETWORK; or Vicki Shamion: Vice President of Public and Community
Relations of Kohl's Department Stores, +1-262-703-1464,
Vicki.Shamion@kohls.com


Web Site: http://www.oprah.com/own



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OWN: THE OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK Acquires Academy Award(R)-Nominated Box Office Hit PRECIOUS from Lionsgate

OWN: THE OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK, a joint venture between Discovery Communications and Oprah Winfrey. (PRNewsFoto/Discovery Communications) SILVER SPRING, MD UNITED STATES

1 Mar 2010 18:00 Africa/Lagos

OWN: THE OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK Acquires Academy Award(R)-Nominated Box Office Hit PRECIOUS from Lionsgate

Film Has Grossed More Than $45 Million At North American Box Office and Earned Six Academy Award® Nominations, Including Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress And Best Director

LOS ANGELES, March 1 /PRNewswire/ -- OWN: THE OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK has acquired television rights to the critically acclaimed, box office hit PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE from Lionsgate (NYSE:LGF) . OWN Chief Executive Officer Christina Norman and Lionsgate Television President of Programming & Production Kevin Beggs made the announcement today. OWN has licensed the first broadcast window behind pay television beginning Summer 2012.



(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20091120/PH15283LOGO )


PRECIOUS has garnered more than $45 million at the North American box office, expanded to more than 650 theatres nationwide, and earned six Academy Award® nominations including Best Picture, Best Actress (newcomer Gabourey Sidibe), Best Supporting Actress (Mo'Nique), Best Director (Lee Daniels), Best Adapted Screenplay (Geoffrey Fletcher) and Best Editing (Joe Klotz).


The film has already won a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award® for Best Supporting Actress (Mo'Nique) along with the Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award for the film (Lee Daniels, Gary Magness and Sarah Siegel-Magness), a Directors Guild nomination for Lee Daniels as Best Director and a Writers Guild nomination for Geoffrey Fletcher (Best Adapted Screenplay). Additionally, the film has been named to AFI's list of 10 best films of the year and dozens of year-end critics' 10 Best lists.


Set in 1987, PRECIOUS is a dramatic, vividly realized story of a Harlem teenager who overcomes tremendous obstacles to discover her own worth, beauty and potential. PRECIOUS is a Lee Daniels Entertainment/Smokewood Entertainment Group production presented by Lionsgate in association with Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry. The film is directed by Lee Daniels from a screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher based on the book Push, a novel by Sapphire. The film stars Mo'Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey, Sherri Shepherd, Lenny Kravitz and introduces Gabourey Sidibe. PRECIOUS was produced by Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness. Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, Lisa Cortes and Tom Heller are Executive Producers; Simone Sheffield serves as Co-Executive Producer; Mark G. Mathis is Co-Producer; and Andrew Sforzini and Asger Hussain serves as Associate Producers.


"PRECIOUS is the perfect film for OWN," said Norman. "It's a powerful film of self-discovery and empowerment, and I know it will resonate deeply with our audience."


"OWN's licensing of PRECIOUS epitomizes our strategy of supplying quality content to cable networks hungry for fresh programming to build their brands and serve their target audiences," said Beggs. "We are pleased to be in business with OWN, and we are very proud of PRECIOUS and confident that, as its commercial success and critical recognition continue to grow, it will become an icon of our culture."


The deal includes several films from Lionsgate's vast library of more than 12,000 motion picture and television titles.


About OWN: THE OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK


A joint venture between Oprah Winfrey and Discovery Communications, OWN: THE OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK is a multi-platform media company designed to entertain, inform, and inspire people to live their best lives. OWN will debut in January 2011 in approximately 80 million homes, on what is currently the Discovery Health Channel. The venture also will include the award-winning digital platform, Oprah.com. For more information, please visit www.oprah.com/own.


About Lionsgate


Lionsgate (NYSE:LGF) is the leading next generation studio with a strong and diversified presence in the production and distribution of motion pictures, television programming, home entertainment, family entertainment, video-on-demand and digitally delivered content. The Company has built a strong television presence in production of prime time cable and broadcast network series, distribution and syndication of programming through Debmar-Mercury and an array of channel platform assets, including TV Guide Network in partnership with JPMorgan's One Equity Partners, the Epix multiplatform channel with partners Viacom and MGM, the FEARnet branded horror channel with partners Comcast and Sony, and the KIX and Thrill branded action and horror channels in Asia. Its feature film business has generated more than $400 million at the North American box office in the past year, including such recent hits as PRECIOUS, which has grossed more than $45 million at the North American box office and earned six Academy Award nominations, DAYBREAKERS and BROTHERS. The Company's home entertainment business has grown to more than 7% market share and is an industry leader in its box office-to-DVD revenue conversion rate. Lionsgate handles a prestigious and prolific library of approximately 12,000 motion picture and television titles that is an important source of recurring revenue and serves as the foundation for the growth of the Company's core businesses. The Lionsgate brand remains synonymous with original, daring, and quality entertainment in markets around the world.

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20091120/PH15283LOGO
Source: OWN: THE OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK

CONTACT: Nicole Nichols, SVP, Communications & Strategy Communications,
OWN: THE OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK, +1-310-602-5511, or Peter D. Wilkes, SVP,
Investor Relations & Executive Communications, Lionsgate, +1-310-255-3726,
pwilkes@lionsgate.com


Web Site: OWN