Watch A Total Write-Off!

Well, the day has finally come. A Total Write-Off!, that exciting reality show that I was honored to participate in, will be airing shortly and I have promised to get the word out!

So here it is...the official announcement:

Watch writers battle using their creative power in the Edmonton made Comedy Reality Series

A TOTAL WRITE-OFF!

Airs Wednesdays at 9:00pm MT on ACCESS starting February 14

(Edmonton, February 6, 2007) - A Total Write-Off! is the fast-paced and fun television series where two teams of writers match wits in a writing showdown as they compete to create short stories based on spontaneous audience suggestions.

With comedian Barbara North as host and ringmaster, it's a hip Whose Line Is It Anyway meets Just for Laughs for both wordsmiths and fans of the written word.

A Total Write-Off!'s guest authors run the gamut from novelists to screenwriters to journalists- even some not-so-famous writers who collaborate with our pros. Anyone who writes, whether it be novels, grocery store flyers, technical journals or even obits was eligible to enter the fray. The object is to gain what all writers desperately crave - the thumbs up from an adoring public.

Each week for 13 weeks four authors are paired up in front of a live audience to do battle, armed with their creative powers and a laptop. Out of the 52 guest authors on the show 32 are from Alberta and 21 hail from Edmonton. Local authors participating include David Belke, John Acorn, Timothy J. Anderson and Alice Major. (and Cheryl Kaye Tardif :)

Here's how it works - with Barbara interacting with the audience and the writers in their "pit," these impromptu literary masterpieces unfold, based on plot parameters tossed out with wild abandon by audience members. Barbara also interviews the writers to find out where they get their inspiration, how they face the blank page and to hear about their current projects. It's a car wreck of creativity, featuring a ticking clock, cliché alarms and instant reviews of the works-in-progress by literary critic Alan Kellogg.

After "pencils down," the completed short stories are read aloud by the writers - while simultaneously acted out by the comical A Total Write-Off! Mime/Dancers, Kevin Gillese and Matt Alden. And it just wouldn't be a complete write-off without the audience choosing their favourite story to close the show.

A Total Write-Off! is created and hosted by Barbara North, who has appeared on Just for Laughs, CBC, W Network, Canadian Learning Television, and more. She also created and starred in the CBC TV comedy special Army Brats.

A Total Write-Off! premieres in Alberta beginning next Wednesday, February 14, on ACCESS, with its national launch starting on March 14 on Canadian Learning Television (CLT) and on March 16 on BookTelevision.

A Total Write-Off! is a Panacea Entertainment production, produced by Lisa Miller and executive produced by Josh Miller. The series was produced in association with Canadian Learning Television, produced with the participation of the Canadian Television Fund, created by the Government of Canada and the Canadian Cable Industry, produced with the assistance of the Government of Alberta Film Development Program, the Government of Canada Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit Program and produced with the participation of Rogers Telefund. Additional interim financing was provided by the CHUM Television Prairie Bridge Fund.

(reproduced with permission from Panacea Entertainment)