Red 5 Creative, a Longwood (Orlando metro area), Fla.-based television production company, in association with Longwood’s Television Syndication Company, have joined forces to produce the 13-episode educational series Travel Thru History.
Now entering its second season, the show is looking to grow its reach by turning to eBay to find a sponsorship partner. The strategy follows the company’s success in finding an online funding source to launch the series last year.
To secure Travel Thru History’s first season of funding, producers Joe Dorsey and John DeMaio identified a novel funding resource, kickstarter.com – an online funding platform tailored to assist in the startup of creative projects. Kickstarter did its job, and Travel Thru History met its goal with the original 13 episodes currently airing on the MeTV network throughout 2013.
Now, the show’s producers are ready to create seven new episodes to air along with the original 13 in national U.S. syndication. This time, with a need for sponsorship support, the producers have turned to a more established website for selling just about anything and everything – ebay.com.
“People have sold everything from trinkets to cars on eBay, so why not a television sponsorship? It’s a great way to get our message that ‘we’re for sale’ to a large audience,” said Dorsey.
Specifically, Red 5 Creative is seeking a closed captioning sponsor for the show. The Travel Thru History show sponsorship will be listed for 10 days. The production company hopes the sponsorship opportunity will appeal to convention and visitor’s bureaus, hotel companies, and other tourism entities, as well as family-friendly consumer products and service brands.
“Closed captioning enables the hearing impaired to enjoy our show, but it’s a costly service. With this sponsorship, we’ve created an opportunity for a corporation to reach our audience of parents and teens with their message, while supporting independent, educational television,” said DeMaio.
Travel Thru History spotlights a different travel destination in each new episode. It will teach viewers about each destination’s roots and heritage through visual storytelling and interviews with local historical experts, while also showcasing the city’s unique points of interest.
“Every city has a story to tell centered around how its past has shaped its present. We want to tell that story in an engaging manner that involves viewers and educates as it entertains. The series combines history with travel in a manner that appeals to both teens and adults,” stressed DeMaio.
The eBay listing can be found here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=321050551409#ht_953wt_1342
Travel Thru History currently broadcasts on the MeTV network. MeTV is a digital station found in over 100 television markets. New episodes for the nationally syndicated 2013 season will be taped in New Orleans, Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York as well as other cities.
Visit www.travelthruhistory.tv for more information.
Red 5 Creative is a full service, television production company that produces travel and documentary content for broadcast and the web.
