NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--To celebrate Project Runway's milestone 10th anniversary, Lifetime, in partnership with Friends of the High Line, will transform a portion of the High Line in New York City into a virtual runway with a dynamic, 20-foot long, interactive installation on the elevated park featuring the stars of the Emmy® Award-nominated hit show host Heidi Klum, mentor Tim Gunn and judges Michael Kors and Nina Garcia.
The centerpiece of a multi-market, multi-platform campaign designed to give Project Runway fans and fashionistas the opportunity to live, capture and share their “Make It Work Moments,” the exhibit, features innovative human tracking technology that mixes real-time virtual emotions of Klum, Gunn, Garcia and Kors reacting to passersby as they walk the High Line. The runway installation will be open to the public from Monday, July 16th, through Thursday, July 19th, at the Chelsea Market Passage, the passageway on the High Line between West 15th and West 16th Streets. Visitors will be also able to share their “Make It Work Moment” with the world online at hash tagged #MakeItWork and strut the runway, July 16th, 12 p.m. to 10 p.m., July 17th from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., and July 18th and 19th, from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m.
A celebration of Project Runway’s 10th anniversary will be held at the High Line on July 17th with a VIP red carpet private event featuring Klum and other members of the Project Runway cast. The 10th Season of Project Runway, with 16 new designers, premieres on Lifetime, beginning Thursday, July 19th, at 9 p.m.
The installation marks the first time that Friends of the High Line has partnered with a national brand to present an interactive public installation of this nature on the High Line itself. The project was created by Civic Entertainment Group and Nexus Interactive Arts, a UK based arm of 2012 Cannes Grand Prix award winner, Nexus Productions.
"The High Line is, in essence, a runway – visitors from New York City and all over the world come and walk on an elevated platform in the heart of the Meatpacking District, the city’s epicenter of fashion and design, so this is an incredible partnership where style, culture and community meet,” says Diane von Furstenberg, CFDA President and High Line supporter.
"It is only fitting to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Project Runway, a force in fashion and culture, by inviting people to express their own style -- 30 feet up in the air on the High Line and in the heart of downtown New York,” said Lifetime Networks President and General Manager, Nancy Dubuc.
“We are so thrilled to be partnering with Lifetime to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Project Runway and the debut of the show’s new season,” said Joshua David, Co-Founder of Friends of the High Line. “This innovative installation shows how public-private partnerships can present fun, engaging opportunities for High Line visitors while also supporting the ongoing maintenance and operations of the park, which is funded entirely by the generosity of private donors.”
To further promote the return of Project Runway, pop-up Project Runway photo experiences will also bring the runway to the streets of New York July 13th and 14th, as well as Boston, Los Angeles and Chicago on July 14th and 15th, giving fans the chance to share their best runway strut via Facebook and Twitter and enter to win weekly prizes. A "Make It Work in NYC" sweepstakes will launch simultaneously at mylifetime.com, with chances to win a Grand Prize that includes tickets to the Project Runway finale, $10,000 cash and a first class trip to New York.
In addition, Lifetime is launching a multi-format social media campaign that will complement the on-air, event and sweepstakes elements to support the program’s 10th anniversary premiere. Utilizing Instagram, Pinterest, Piictu, and Viddy to share exclusive videos and images with viewers, beginning July 19th, Lifetime’s "Make It Work" social media effort will employ each platform to boost interest and sustain engagement throughout season 10 by encouraging viewers to share videos, participate in design challenges, tweet their favorite Project Runway moments and exhibit their own sense of style. Specifically:
- Instagram, @OfficialProjectRunway will post photos (hashtagged #MakeItWork) of existing work from the upcoming season's cast of designers;
- Pinterest, LifetimeTV will use its "Fashion Time" board to post and repin photos from the Pinterest community (also hashtagged #MakeItWork);
- Piictu, @ProjectRunway will create "piicture" streams by posting photos of fabric, accessories, colors, and patterns. Users can show off their own fashion sense by prompting them with various design challenges;
- Viddy will post 15-second video clips from the show introducing each contestant from season 10 and will post videos from the show throughout the season; and
- Twitter, @ProjectRunway will encourage followers to tweet images of their favorite #MakeItWork moments and will reward best looks with a weekly prize.
Sponsors for Project Runway and the 10th Anniversary VIP event include L’Oreal Paris, Lord and Taylor, HP, Lexus and Marie Claire.
ABOUT PROJECT RUNWAY
Hosted by supermodel and fashion maven Heidi Klum, the hit series Project Runway provides budding designers with an opportunity to launch their careers in fashion, under the watchful eyes of mentor and Liz Claiborne Chief Creative Officer Tim Gunn and judges Michael Kors and Nina Garcia. Project Runway was 2011’s number one rated and most watched competitive reality program on ad-supported cable among Women.
Project Runway is produced by The Weinstein Company, Miramax Films, Bunim-Murray Productions and Full Picture. Executive producers include Bob and Harvey Weinstein (Co-Chairmen of The Weinstein Company), Meryl Poster of The Weinstein Company, Jonathan Murray, Sara Rea and Colleen Sands of Bunim/Murray Productions, Heidi Klum, and Jane Cha Cutler and Desiree Gruber of Full Picture. Barbara Schneeweiss oversees the production on behalf of The Weinstein Company. Rob Sharenow, Gena McCarthy and David Hillman of Lifetime also executive produce.
ABOUT THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY
The Weinstein Company (TWC) is a multimedia production and Distribution Company launched in October 2005 by Bob and Harvey Weinstein, the brothers who founded Miramax Films in 1979. TWC also encompasses Dimension Films, the genre label founded in 1993 by Bob Weinstein, which has released such popular franchises as Scream, Spy Kids and Scary Movie. Together TWC and Dimension Films have released a broad range of mainstream, genre and specialty films that have been commercial and critical successes. TWC releases took home eight 2012 Academy Awards®, the most wins in the studio’s history. The tally included Best Picture for Michel Hazanavicius’s The Artist and Best Documentary Feature for TJ Martin and Dan Lindsay’s Undefeated. The Artist brought TWC its second consecutive Best Picture statuette following the 2011 win for Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech.
TWC is also active in television production, led by former Miramax Films President of Production and current President of Television Meryl Poster, with credits including the Emmy® nominated and Peabody Award winning reality series Project Runway, spin-off series Project Runway All Stars and Project Accessory, the VH1 reality series Mob Wives, spin-off series Mob Wives Chicago and the critically acclaimed HBO comedy/crime series The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency which also received a Peabody Award. The company is currently in pre-production on the martial-arts epic Marco Polo for Starz as well as production on the Mob Wives spin off series starring Big Ang, the breakout hit 'mob wife' character. TWC has 17 other shows in active development, including The Nanny Diaries, being adapted for ABC by Amy Sherman Palladino (Bunheads, Gilmore Girls).
ABOUT LIFETIME
Lifetime Television is committed to offering the highest quality entertainment and information programming, and advocating a wide range of issues affecting women and their families. The network posted major growth in viewership among the key demographics in Second Quarter 2012 versus Second Quarter 2011, posting a 13% jump among Women 18-49, +5% among Adults 18-49 and +1% in Women 25-54. Additionally, among Women 18-49, Lifetime marked the network’s strongest 2Q growth in 10 years. Lifetime Television®, LMN®, Lifetime Real Women® and Lifetime Digital™ are part of Lifetime Entertainment Services, LLC, a subsidiary of A+E Networks. A+E Networks is a joint venture of the Disney-ABC Television Group, Hearst Corporation and NBC Universal.
ABOUT THE HIGH LINE AND FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE
The High Line is an elevated freight rail line transformed into a public park on Manhattan’s West Side. It is owned by the City of New York, and maintained and operated by Friends of the High Line. Founded in 1999 by community residents, Friends of the High Line fought for the High Line’s preservation and transformation at a time when the historic structure was under the threat of demolition. It is now the non-profit conservancy working with the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation to make sure the High Line is maintained as an extraordinary public space for all visitors to enjoy. In addition to overseeing maintenance, operations, and public programming for the park, Friends of the High Line works to raise the essential private funds to support more than 90 percent of the park’s annual operating budget, and to advocate for the transformation of the High Line at the rail yards, the third and final section of the historic structure, which runs between West 30th and West 34th Streets.
Photography is available at www.lifetimepress.com.
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