(Via Bell Media) Let the crowd decide, says a new reality show coming up on CTV. Really: that’s its name — Dream Funded: Let the Crowd Decide. The crowd in this case is an audience of 100 real consumers, each with $250 to spend. Seven hopeful entrepreneurs — the “Dreamers” — pitch their untested business ideas to the crowd. Then the show “in the span of one hour, makes dreams come true” according to Bell Media. Crowd members invest their money in their favourite project, and the Dreamer who raises the most funding takes home an additional $25,000 — making the entire jackpot potentially $50,000.
They’re helped along the way by celebrity entrepreneur experts Amber MacArthur and Ron Tite with professional advice on their pitches. The show is hosted by James Duthie, popular TSN broadcaster and two time best-selling author.
Production will start March 10th in Toronto.
Dream Funded: Let the Crowd Decide is produced by CTV in association with Entertainment One (eOne), Highway Entertainment, and United Artists Media Group. The pilot is the first project from Bell Media’s partnership with United Artists Media Group (a newly formed joint venture among MGM, Mark Burnett, Roma Downey, and Hearst Entertainment) and Omnicom Media Groups’ Highway Entertainment.
Goals for the show include “making dreams come true for emerging entrepreneurs while creating a feel-good show,” says Phil King, President – CTV, Sports, and Entertainment Programming, and also “to establish Canada as the next proving-ground for great formats,” according to Adam Ivers, President & CEO Highway Entertainment.
We’ll see how the crowd’s decisions go over with the larger crowd watching from home.