CASTING CALL - DIVER CO-HOSTS

Emmy-winning production company will produce an on-going reality-based TV series of a hardcore shipwreck diver who teams up with a female underwater archaeologist to explore the best wrecks in the world accessible to everyday sport divers.

Across the globe, the ocean floor is littered with the wrecks of seafaring mankind. Viking longships, steamships, submarines, warships and Spanish galleons. Each has a unique and fatal story, many are submerged tombs, and some hold unbelievable treasure.

For an underwater archaeologist, wrecks are priceless and fragile time capsules, glimpses into past lives and cultures. For salvage divers, wrecks offer more tangible rewards -- from gleaming brass ships’ bells to Spanish gold.

In Awesome Wreck Dives, viewers will join our co-hosts as they research, dive and explore the world’s most exhilarating wrecks, unaided by submersibles and hi-tech professional equipment. Both topside and deep within the wrecks, our cameras will be there to capture the fear, excitement and challenge of sport wreck diving at its very best.

A WRECK SAMPLER

Prinz Eugen – A German cruiser that survived WWII and several atomic test blasts before being towed to Kwajalein Atoll where it finally sank, still laden with lethal munitions.


La Concepción – This Spanish galleon loaded with Old World artifacts, coins and jewelry sank on Silver Shoals reef in the Dominican Republic in 1641.


Zenobia – A Swedish ferry that sank on its maiden voyage off Cyprus in 1980 and is remarkably intact with its full cargo of cars and trucks.


SS Yongala – A luxury passenger ship sunk in 1911 off Australia, which has evolved into a spectacular undersea open aquarium.


MALE DIVER HOST

Our male diver host will be an experienced wreck diver with worldwide familiarity of the most popular sport diving wrecks. He will have solid salvage savvy and a passion for any type of submerged shipwreck, airliner, or structure. He is totally comfortable and level-headed in tight underwater situations, and is intimately familiar with the latest sport diving techniques, methods and gear, including Nitrox.

For our series, he must be capable of effectively working with his female co-host under a wide variety of diving conditions, as a true partner in this adventure. He will be quick-thinking and dead serious when necessary, yet easy-going and non-intimidating otherwise, with engaging charisma and a keen sense of humor on-camera. In short, highly competent and gutsy but no reckless daredevil, and certainly no macho hardass.

Our male diver would be about mid-20s to late-30s, attractive, physically fit and athletic, willing to endure widely varied diving and location conditions, and to participate in on-camera activities outside diving at each destination.

FEMALE UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGIST

Our female co-host will be a charismatic and athletic scuba diver, ideally with a background in maritime history and archaeology.

She will be an enthusiastic sport diver with verifiable experience diving in challenging conditions, including strong currents, zero visibility, and depths greater than 150 feet. She must also be comfortable diving in conditions with limited access to the surface, including wrecks, caves or caverns.

A strong interest and familiarity with history and archaeological principals and shipwrecks is required. Training and active field experience in underwater archaeology on underwater excavations is preferred.

Our diver will be culturally inquisitive and open to new experiences around the world under a broad range of conditions. She will be about age 25-35, attractive, health-conscious, and a natural athlete. Production will be physically challenging, even grueling at times, depending on the environment. She is cheerful, tough, charming, comfortable on-camera, and no quitter or prima donna.

OTHER REQUIREMENTS -- BOTH HOSTS

Fluent English; valid passport; willingness and availability to travel internationally, sometimes for weeks at a time; clean police record; no drugs, smoking, or other personal habits or skeletons in the closet that might endanger anyone or slow production; the flexibility and willingness to adapt to major program or creative changes; strong work ethic; sense of humor, and the ability to live and work as one with co-host and crew.

AUDITION MATERIALS

These are paid and insured positions. Serious candidates should submit a selection of adventure and water sports images, a diving summary, any harrowing or exciting or really unique diving experiences, and articles or other supportive materials. Most importantly, candidates must submit a video clip of at least 5 minutes in length including the following: 1) a description of why you love diving, shipwrecks and maritime history or archaeology; 2) a passionate explanation of why you feel you are the perfect candidate for this role; 3) a sequence of you engaged in vigorous outdoor activity, preferably involving water sports, though other sports or physical work is acceptable; 4) a sequence of you dressed for an evening engagement in which you explain why you are just as capable of handling yourself at a dinner party or night out in a foreign country as you are inside a wreck in zero visibility. Feel free to include any other clips that you feel shed additional light on your enthusiasm, intelligence, sense of humor, athleticism and durability. Have fun with it, but make sure your passion shines through!

Submission deadline has been extended to June 30, 2009. For video and other large files, please compress and send via www.yousendit.com or www.vimeo.com or a similar file transfer service. All materials may be submitted to Walt at: info@firststryke.com.