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COLUMBIA COLLEGE TELEVISION DEPARTMENT RELEASES

NEW WEB SERIES
"The Rent" Comedy Series Written and Produced by

Internet and Mobile Concentration Classes

CHICAGO, May 13, 2010 - The Columbia College Chicago Television Department will release the first episode in a new web series titled, "The Rent" at 9:00 p.m. on May 13 at www.therent.tv. The series, written, produced, directed, and edited by Columbia students in Television Department's Internet and Mobile concentration, features three careless friends who dream up crazy schemes to earn rent money before they get evicted from their apartment. The hilarious cast plots "get rich quick" schemes, trying everything from sex tapes and blackmail to illegal conspiracies. Five additional episodes will follow the premiere, with one new episode debuting at 9:00 p.m. each Thursday through June 17.

In 2009, Columbia's Internet and Mobile students in the TV Department released their first web series called "Sexperts." A huge success on YouTube, "Sexperts" has garnered more than 150,000 views to date. The series became the most subscribed channel of any type as well as the most subscribed comedy channel on YouTube during its launch week.

Additional information about the making of "The Rent":

  • Editing: Edited in Wayne Kumingo's Advanced Post Production: Prime Time: Narrative class
  • Production: Produced by Columbia's Directing the Webisode class
  • Writing: Written by Cody Regennitter in Writing for Internet and Mobile TV, taught by Michael Fry
  • Acting: Brendan Carney, Nick Bender, Kevin Quatman and Dan Flannery, Paige Klone, John Kellerhals and Jacqui Pugh

The Columbia College Chicago Television Department offers a unique course of study focused on television and its emerging forms, balancing creativity, technology and ethics. Fostering an environment that supports collaboration and creativity, the television department prepares students for careers with tracks including Writing & Producing, Directing & Production, Internet and Mobile Media and Post-Production. For more information, visit www.colum.edu/television.

Columbia College Chicago is an urban institution that provides innovative degree programs in the visual, performing, media and communication arts to more than 12,000 students in more than 120 undergraduate and graduate programs. A college with a "hands-on, minds-on" approach to arts and media education, Columbia College's programs include film & video, art & design, arts management, television, radio, music and interactive media - all within a liberal arts context. Under the current leadership of President Warrick L. Carter, Ph.D., Columbia is dedicated to opportunity and excellence in higher education. For more information, visit www.colum.edu.

Media contact: Erin Purdy, Columbia College Chicago Television Department, (312) 369-7482 or epurdy@colum.edu