CHICAGO’S “LOVESPITTERS” PREMIERES AT NYC TV PILOT FEST
Published in Reel Chicago, August 2014
“Lovespitters” live at the Double Door
Rich Seng, the Chicago-based digital communications visionary behind Gigity.tv, Crowdclips.com and the annual 30 Seconds Over Chicago advertising contest, recently joined forces with producer Nicholas Peters to create “Love Spitters,” a TV pilot set to premiere at the New York Television Festival’s Independent Pilot Competition in October.
“Love Spitters” features four bachelors who compete for a date with a mystery bachelorette: they answer questions, she picks one. It’s a basic win-a-date premise, but that’s pretty much where any similarity to traditional TV ends.
In Seng and Peters’ take on the genre, the guys attempt to charm the lady by expressing themselves in personalized spontaneous musical verse, aka freestyle rap. More often than not, they end up trying to ridicule one another as intensely as they try to impress her.
“It’s in many ways very grimy,” says Seng. “If they need to say something raw, they’ll say it.”
The spirited competition reflects an art form that Seng has championed since the early 2000’s, when he founded and produced “Rhyme Spitters,” a series of rap competitions held in clubs and playgrounds throughout Chicago.
“In the freestyle battle,” he explains, “you take something someone said to you and you flip it.”
Contestant Tia Benjamin
Seng initially tried to apply the format to a dating style show in 2006, but it didn’t take. He put the idea on hold until 2013, when he was approached by Peters after hosting the 2013 edition of his advertising competition at the Double Door.
“I recognized him on stage,” Peters remembers, “and I was like ‘that’s the guy from rap battles back in the day!’”
Peters, a DP, editor and self-proclaimed “rap battle nerd,” had spent years filming rap battles on the national stage. He also knew about the New York Television Festival through a number of “sketch comedy people” who had submitted work to it in the past.
He urged Seng to rework the show with an improv comedy twist “that everybody, not just hip hop fans, would be interested in.”
“Love Spitters” was taped early this summer at the Double Door. It included three rounds and a climactic rap battle. Contestants flirted and dissed one another with the help of relationship-based scenarios and a box full of props.
P.R.ism, an associate of Seng’s since the Rhymespitter days, mastered the ceremonies. DJ SKOR, another longtime partner in rhyme, spun the beats.
The “Mystery Box”
Subtitles were added during post to help viewers understand what Seng refers to as their “verbal gymnastics.”
“These guys are brilliant,” he says. “Pop culture references, sports and cartoons… You need subtitles to understand it all.”
The New York Television Festival was founded in 2005 “to showcase outstanding storytellers,” according to founder Terence Gray. Sponsors include A&E, Comedy Central and NBC.
Winners of the Independent Pilot Competition are eligible for development deals with partners including Lionsgate, National Geographic and SundanceTV.
Regardless of the outcome, Seng and Peters are proceeding with the same bold attitude that they ask of their contestants.
“We’re not sure what’s gonna happen,” Seng says. “But we’re gonna make the most of it.”