The Last Bride Standing has finally sat down.

Without giving any juicy details away about Season Two of Last Bride Standing let it be said that there is a new champion. Before nine this morning, the last bride showed her stamina to be the best out of over 25 competing brides. The show was created by owner of Le Jardin, Conference and Event Center in Woodbridge, Ontario. He is featured prominently in Last Bride Standing as the Ring Leader and Contest Host. His Long Valley Productions owns the show and has contracted RedFish Studios to produce the it for international broadcast sales.

The RedFish crew providing production for Long Valley Productions on Last Bride Standing wrapped the set and interviews just moments ago. The show heads directly into post-production this week for 13 gripping episodes covering the entire event.

The show wrapped this morning at Toronto's Bridal Show which continues on all weekend at the Toronto Congress Center. There are almost 200 exhibitors reaching out to the bridal crowd with an unbelievable range of offerings.

Hats off to the RedFish crew for overcoming the challenges the come hand in hand with these kinds production projects. A job well-done in a world of round-the-clock production.

Last Bride Standing - Part Deux - Shooting On Location

A second season for Last Bride Standing has RedFish in production in multiple locations over the next week around the clock.

That's right Last Bride Standing is back and this time it has become a major happening. Last season there were 21 brides, this season there are 32. Last season the whole contest took place at Le Jardin in Vaughan (amazing place for any function - blatant plug for a great place), this season the contest starts at LeJardin and moves to two other locations. Last season there was a grand prize of $75,000 and this season it is over 100 grand to winner. Yes, Last Bride Standing has grown up quick. This year the show will even culminate at the Toronto's Bridal Show at the Congress Center in front of thousands of brides-to-be and their entourage.

A favorable audience response in season one has fueled the creative passion in Carlo Parentela, the host of the contest and the creator of Last Bride Standing, to make this season a real calling card for future episodes around the world.

"Carlo sees the value in what he is doing as an entertainment vehicle, but this time he brought in the entire wedding industry in Ontario to make it outrageous and unmistakable." Mike Wixson, Executive Producer at RedFish laughs as he summarizes Parentela's drive to make this show an international success. "There is no question that he has major plans for this show. Our job is to execute it as a showpiece for international broadcast sales. And this is exactly what we will do. The contest is the best fodder for a reality series ever."

RedFish will work with Long Valley Productions, the creators of the concept to develop a second season of compelling TV that is sure to have you picking your favorite to win by the end of the first episode.

Here is a quick clip from what we shot at orientation. It is, as we say in the biz: "A rush" from the first night of shooting last week.

Angela with the mad skills- Last Editor Standing

I often wonder what Angela tells people she does for a living. I recall as a group we had a hard time coming up with her title....Creative Post is what I think we came up with. Truthfully, a name for what Angela would only be under-playing.

Angela is an artist (painter among other things), music enthusiast and patient soul. Her work with us at RedFish is paramount. She oversees almost everything we put on TV from creative and editing perspective. She edits like a son of a gun! It's really quite something. Did you know these things?

Regardless, what I am writing about today has nothing to do with Angela's editing (she spends countless hours in the edit suite doing that very thing). This is to commend her for her efforts in working with myself and Humble Howard Glassman in her directorial debut on Last Bride Standing. I tuned that sucker in this weekend and it is a really enjoyable show. There is a great buzz about what Angela and Howard have been up to in the editing suites over the last few months. Howard has written an brilliant script and together the two of them have concocted a great representation of what went on at LeJardin Event and Conference Center early in the fall.

Look for her credit on Last Bride Standing. Angela Schermaul - Director.

Very good work.

Mike Wixson

Executive Producer

RedFish Studios

www.theredfish.ca

mike@redfishentertainment.com

Response to Last Bride Standing Is Outstanding

We were all very excited to see what the outcome would be yesterday evening when Last Bride Standing took to the airwaves across Ontario on SunTV. This first series, intended to be the flagship of a new brand of reality programming, was to be the weather vein on how to take this program to markets around the world.

Here's what happened:

• A lovely launch party was held at Le Jardin hosted by Carlo Parentela the show creator and the host of the program. Dinner was incredible and the crowd loved the show.
• We all head from our families. Everyone was quite impressed. Some guys groaned...excellent.
• Then on Monday morning the emails and calls began. Friends, sponsors, broadcasters, and various media inquiring and congratulating.

So far....so good.....Shouldn't expect much, rite? Wrong. Before we knew it we were in the midst of a house on fire! The show seems to be taking off.

• By lunch time plans to put up billboards on the Gardiner Expressway and 400 Highway in the big city had been arranged.
• A promotion for the show will now run on SUN-TV regularly to promote the show and a contest to win $20,000 toward your wedding. Way cool.
• A new commercial for the show was cut to run on SUN-TV and to promote the contest.
• The ratings arrived for the show and although (unlike some yentas in our midst - LOL!) I will not reveal exact numbers I can tell you we were all very pleased with how many people tuned in.
• Within minutes of getting ratings news, we also found out the website did over 13,000 visits last evening alone.

It is unbelievable the momentum a good idea can gain. In our daily planning meeting today I will report that someone to remain nameless (Carlo) announced that we are headed to Vegas with the the show. A major casino has expressed interest in hosting the contest and show there as well.

I have to admit, I was skeptical almost up until the week of shooting. Carlo and Howard would constantly say, "...relax, this is a show....a good show.....". Maybe I worry too much.

Way to go, Carlo, Howard, Andrew, Angela, Rob, Tarik....and on and on and on. Way to go.

Mike Wixson

Flounder...I mean Founder.

RedFish Studios

Everyone Has An Idea for a Show. This guy made it actually happen.

Each week we receive a lot of concepts for TV shows (please don't send more). Some of the ideas are alright. Most of them are interesting for one segment maybe a half-hour and that's it. Some of the ideas are so bad they ruin my week (LOL!). Most of the time when we get a suggestion for a show I will have to send a letter saying that it is not for us at this time....yadda yadda yadda. I am getting really good at this. So good, I may have missed some good ideas along the way just because I am getting smooth at saying, "No." Just ask my kids. It is my favorite word according to them.

Just when I thought I would never have to say, "Yes" again, along came Carlo Parentela. He is a successful businessman who owns an impressive Conference and Event facility in Toronto called, LeJardin. It is incredibly popular for weddings. The place is stunning.

Carlo had an idea. It took much convincing from RedFish Producer, Rob Pagetto to even listen to the concept. I was in the hills of Tuscany when Rob called and wanted to talk about the concept. I was on holiday and did not remotely care. He made me listen. I did. Wow! What an idea! What a great idea!

Sure enough four days later, back in Toronto, Rob introduced me to Carlo, who had an idea for a TV reality series called Last Bride Standing. Within minutes together, I could see that nothing was going to get in Carlo's way. He knew he had an unbeatable idea and he was going to do it, dammit.

Although Carlo has had no formal training in TV or broadcast business, over the next two months he worked tirelessly to get a handle on how we deal with broadcasters, the creative process and even editing. While the show was an unbelievable amount of work and is still in post production today, Carlo quickly adapted his business acumen to his new passion, Last Bride Standing. The results have been amazing. Tonight the first episode airs on SUNTV (Rogers 15) across Ontario and into various parts of Canada. Even before the show has aired in it's home town there is interest in creating localized versions of the show in markets all around the world. Even in Toronto, before the show aired once, SUN-TV has decided to build a massive $300,000 local promotion for the show - even giving away a wedding to viewers who tune in.

Not bad for your first show, Carlo. International appeal, promotional appeal and now a desire from the broadcaster that we make more as soon as possible.

Directed by Howard Glassman (Humble Howard) and being post-produced by Angela Schermaul (sought after as one of the nation's most creative directors of post production), the show is the original concept of Parentela. Truth is, it is the oldest contest on the books. Last one touching the prize wins it. But his vision for how this becomes a reality show really was a sharp assumption. Howard, Carlo and myself spent hours pouring over how the show would work, but the "concept" was never touched. The seed that was Carlo's idea remains the basis for the show.

Tonight you will meet Carlo Parentela on TV for the first time. He is larger than life. He is a character. He is savvy....and he is now a TV PRODUCER. Congratulations, Carlo let's set those PVRs for tonight at 6:30 on SUNTV for Last Bride Standing. Even better, tune in live.

Visit www.lastbridestanding.com for more information about the show or how you can get involved as a contestant.

Renaissance Man for a New Age

You may know Humble Howard as the consummate morning radio host. He redefined what a morning man does when he arrived in Toronto so many years ago to be teamed up with Fred Patterson to become the dynamic duo....HUMBLE & FRED. You may also know Howard from his many years on television in Toronto - Ed The Sock comes to mind right away. He is still pulling big numbers along with his morning show team including Colleen Rusholme, Kim Stockwood and Rick Hodge at EZ Rock in Toronto. All of this is quite well known about Howard.

But there is more. Much more. For the last two years Humble Howard (Howard Glassman) has been working with RedFish Studios as a lead hand in creating and devloping a number of TV shows that are picking up steam in Canada and other markets around the world.

We first contacted Howard to be the host of ManUP! It seemed like a long shot because the show was so...um.... ridiculous. It required a host with Lettermanesque people skills and the ability to keep the show moving. " If only we could get Humble Howard...", I recall saying. One email later to Howard and he was in. Not just to be the host, but to write it, and co-direct it. He has incredible vision for this show and three seasons later, it seems to be going strong. The show is a riot. You can see video and pics at manuptv.blogpot.com whenever you get a minute.

It did not stop with ManUP! Howard quickly began to dig in as one of the creative forces at RedFish behind shows like The Spirited Chef with Christopher Woods (who still appears on Howard's morning radio regularly), and now The Last Bride Standing.

You may think of Howard as a funny guy. He is. You may think of him as a performer. He certainly is. You may not, right away, realize that he is also a savvy broadcast businessman, a creative director and a dedicated producer behind the scenes.

He is driven like very few individuals I have met in this industry. He is an incredibly hard worker putting in as many as 15 hours a day between EZ Rock and RedFish Studios. Why? He has vision that is motivated by his desire to entertain the masses...even if he is not in front of the camera.

Howard is the Executive Producer who watches over the development of all of our new projects as well as delivering the shows we are in production with.

Humble Howard reminds me what we should tell every person entering the broadcast business: "You are going make enormous efforts or fail." He makes enormous efforts and the results are amazing. Sure is he a great radio personality, but that is just a glimpse of who Howard is. He is truly a renaissance man for our era of broadcast.

Reality Lag? The Side-Effects of Reality Show Production

It was a five day, 24-hour a-day production. We were following the on-going action and drama of 19 brides-to-be as they competed to win a wedding worth over $65,000. Prizes in total: $100,000! This was a serious affair.

We knew that going in which is what made it such a good subject for a reality show. The last contestant with her hand on the wall of Le Jardin (banquet facility in Toronto) was to win the contest and take the big prize.

The show, LAST BRIDE STANDING, is a very compelling program. We are proud of what it is becoming in post production. The crew at all levels was amazing. Here is where things got a little weird: Most of the production crew has many, many productions under their belt. They are focused on their craft and they are amazing at it. Normally, we shoot, edit, sell and enjoy. This time was a little different. For days after we wrapped shooting, I was getting calls from various camera operators, audio techs, producers and even our support crew saying that they were experiencing "side-effects" from the shoot we just did.

I have to admit, I was experiencing the same thing: Unable to fall asleep at a normal time, not so hungry, obsession about what we had just witnesses in shooting the show... the list kept growing until on day four after, everyone seemed to feel back to normal. Did we experience Production Lag? It seems like it.

We had all become so involved in what we were producing and we spent so many hours with the contestants that when it was all over, how much emotional stock we had put into the show really began to surface.

The show has a touching ending (sorry can't say anymore) and I can attest to this because even as we were shooting it happening, tears ran down the cheeks of seasoned production veterans who have probably rarely had that happen to them on set.

Reality TV show production has side-effects. I hope some of those side-effects are great ratings and international distribution. We will see starting November 22 on SUN-TV. Hope you tune in.

Last Bride Standing Promo Now Online

RedFish is deep into post production of Last Bride Standing. There is a taste of what is to come right now if you visit our site. It is looking really good. The show has so much drama. We are really proud of how it is looking. Carlo came by for a look last week and he was quite amazed as well.

Last Bride Standing Television Show

Starting September 13, 2009 in Woodbridge, Ontario and running for 5 straight days, future Brides accompanied by their fiancés and family will stand at Le Jardin Conference & Event Centre 24 hours a day for 5 days to win over $100,000 in Wedding Packages and prizes. The Last Bride Standing will win a first prize valued over $60,000 which includes a Wedding Reception.

It's a live Event, as well as a 13 episode TV series premiering November 22 2009, Radio Promo, Media Frenzy and Feature Film (Docudrama). Other planned Wedding contests in Las Vegas, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami as well as yet to be named international cities.

Produced by Le Jardin Conference & Event Centre, Long Valley Productions and RedFish Entertainment.

The newest Reality Show (DocuDrama) to hit the airwaves and it's CANADIAN!

www.lastbridestanding.com
www.lejardin.com
www.findabanquethall.com
www.theredfish.ca