According to some 2022 reports, obesity remains an ominous health threat across America as the avoidable condition plagues more than a third (36.2%) of the U.S. population. This scary statistic is that much more frightful as the Halloween holiday looms large. However, this year there’s no need to fret as one weight-wise wellness company will pay you cold, hard cash for your candy! This amid the kick-off of HealthyWage’s “Cash for Candy” program, which will pay individuals $10 per pound of candy up to $100 per person—and up to $10,000 in collective payouts!

Through the initiative, any individual can donate their excess, unwanted and unopened candy to Operation Shoebox on or before November 22, 2022, get directly paid for it and, in doing so, support American troops overseas! Participants need not be a HealthyWage challenge participant as anyone, anywhere in the U.S. can donate candy and cash in. Full submission details and instructions can be found online at https://www.healthywage.com/pages/cash-for-candy-2022. 

This program is a reprisal of the company’s wildly successful 2018 initiative through which HealthyWage—the world’s leading purveyor of financially-induced wellness contests for individuals and corporate/team-based weight loss challenges—then collected a tasty 994 pounds of candy and paid out whopping $9,000 in donations.

“We’re thrilled to again support Americans in their quest to avoid temptation, manage their weight-related health, and bolster their bank accounts,” said HealthyWage Co-Founder and diet gamification pioneer David Roddenberry. “By rewarding individuals with cash in exchange for their excess candy, while also supporting our troops overseas, it’s a win-win—one that can help people start their ‘holiday diet survival’ mindset to avoid needless seasonal weight gain.”

Relative to its range of popular “dieting for dollars” challenges that are available year-round, some of which paying out as much as $10,000 per individual, HealthyWage is founded on substantive research and “double-incentivization” methodology that proves competition and rewards—especially the cash variety—can as much as triple the effectiveness of weight loss programs. And, the proof is in the performance in the form of quantifiable and undeniable metrics that behavioral economics-based gamification works when it comes to weight loss.

As case-in-point, since its inception in 2009 and as of September 2022, HealthyWage has paid more than $51 million cash rewards for a collective 3.6 million pounds lost. Also exemplifying the power and efficacy of HealthyWage’s approach are throngs of HealthyWage success stories (both female and male).

“Studies continue to show that monetary incentives serve to enhance the effectiveness of, and duly complement, weight-loss programs of any and all sorts, especially when paid out quickly like our various programs,” said Roddenberry. “The average HealthyWager participant more than doubles their investment if they are successful at achieving their goal. The financial upside potential is impressive.”

So effective is this diet gamification method, famous personalities have joined HealthyWage in the fight to get America fit. The company also partners with global health and fitness expert Jillian Michaels to provide free 6-month access to the Fitness App by Jillian Michaels for participants taking a HealthyWager challenge. The partnership provides HealthyWager challengers with custom workouts and meal plans—everything they need to succeed—with a chance to win up to $10,000.

If this is the Halloween season when you would like to thwart temptation (or help your children achieve the same) and be financially rewarded for doing so—all while being charitable towards American troops, the HealthyWage “Cash for Candy” program is a sweet opportunity. Even for the temptation season just beyond, the company’s cash-fueled approach to weight loss and management just might give you that extra dose of motivation that’ll truly help you stay the course, shed weight and make some extra money in the process. There’s no better time than right now to bank on yourself.

About Operation Shoebox

Operation Shoebox was founded in 2003 by military mom, Mary Harper. With a mission to provide hands-on support for troops deployed overseas and for returning home, they send on average 350 and 400 care packages a week with items such as coffee, socks, toothpaste, letters of encouragement (and candy!). In addition to supporting troops overseas, they also host fundraisers and collect supplies for homeless veterans in need. Learn more at https://www.operationshoebox.com.

About HealthyWage™

Industry-leading health and wellness purveyor HealthyWage provides cash incentives, social and expert-based support, tools and resources, and goal-setting and tracking technologies to address our nation’s obesity epidemic and improve America’s collective health.  HealthyWage is at the forefront of the weight wagering movement, having formally created competitive, cash-fueled programs for more than 90 Fortune 500 and other companies, hospitals, health systems, insurers, school systems, municipal governments and other organizations throughout the U.S., and their program has been more informally run at more than 3,000 companies and organizations.  The company was founded in response to academic research that proves even small cash rewards triple the effectiveness of weight-loss programs; that people are more effective at losing weight when their own money is at risk; and that social networks play a large role in the spread of obesity, and will likely play a large role in reversing obesity.  Learn more online at https://www.healthywage.com/.

CATALYST STORY INSTITUTE ANNOUNCES 2022 INDIE TV FESTIVAL AWARDS

22 awards presented at close of four-day festival that featured appearances by David Letterman, Tina Fey, Jason Alexander & Lee Aronsohn

(Duluth, Minnesota) – The Catalyst Story Institute has announced its awards for outstanding achievement in independent episodic content at its 17th Annual Content Festival that took place from September 28th through October 1st. As the nation’s longest running indie TV festival, awards were handed out across genres from comedy and unscripted documentaries to animation, drama, and thriller.

The Catalyst Content Festival is a four-day annual event in Duluth, Minnesota where selected pitches, scripts, produced pilots/series and other creative content are showcased for industry experts and the general public. The festival also included live and virtual panel discussions and social events with industry leaders. Current and past honorees include students, first-time writers and producers, industry veterans, and Emmy Award winners, from across the country and around the globe.

This year’s Content Festival featured special virtual Q&As with iconic comedy writer, producer, and actress Tina Fey, and legendary talk show host, comedian, writer and producer David Letterman as well as the award-winning actor best known for his role on Seinfeld, Jason Alexander. In addition, writer and producer Lee Aronsohn (Co- Creator, Two and A Half Men) held live in-person workshops and panel discussions for indie TV comedy creators.

“This year’s Catalyst Festival highlighted new voices in television, and our award winners demonstrate true excellence, talent, and innovation,” said Philip Gilpin, CEO & Executive Director of the Catalyst Story Institute. “The creativity on display at this year’s festival shows that the future of the Indie TV industry is incredibly rich with powerful stories.”

For the 2022 program, Catalyst expanded submission categories beyond traditional television to include thrillers, social media, and literary content in book, short-form, and other narrative formats.

This year’s award winners – selected after rounds of review by industry judges, consisting of industry professionals from across the country – are as follows:

AWARD WINNERS

• OUTSTANDING PILOT PITCH – Hans Obma, A Question of Service 

• OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES – Hans Obma, A Question of Service 

• OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES – Sophia Conger & Rebecca Dearden, Sugar Baby

• OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY – Beth Napoli, A Question of Service 

• OUTSTANDING EDITING – Eddie Frente, Brownsville Bred

• OUTSTANDING DOCUMENTARY SERIES – Kevin Rumley, Hunger Strike Against Ecocide

• OUTSTANDING COMEDY PERFORMANCE – Keely Bochicchio-Sipos, Sugar Baby

• OUTSTANDING ACTOR DRAMA PERFORMANCE – Hans Obma, A Question of Service 

• OUTSTANDING ACTRESS DRAMA PERFORMANCE – Bridgitte Silva, Chiqui

• OUTSTANDING COMEDIC ENSEMBLE CAST – Camp Greenwood 

• OUTSTANDING DRAMATIC ENSEMBLE CAST – Last Name Unknown

• OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR DRAMA – Jenna Sutch, Death Doula

• OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR COMEDY – Kourtney Bell, Camp Greenwood

• OUTSTANDING THRILLER SERIES – Maxie Rockymore, Neptune Rising

• OUTSTANDING DRAMA SCRIPT – Mark Brown & Whitni Resides, Redneck Army

• OUTSTANDING COMEDY SCRIPT – Stephanie Bast, Wash Your Birdie: 101 Things That Can Crawl Up your Vagina and Kill You

• OUTSTANDING INNOVATION – Grace Ng, Crash Punks

• OUTSTANDING SOCIAL MEDIA SERIES – Becca Schall & Jessica Taylor, Victorian Ladies

• OUTSTANDING LITERARY WORK – Susan Thurston, Sister of Grendel

• OUTSTANDING PODCAST – Pat Treuer, Of The Comics

• OUTSTANDING TABLE READ – Susan Marks, All That Glitters

• OUTSTANDING MINNESOTA SERIES – Brittany Parker & Tony Denman, Locally Grown Comedy

WHAT: Hundreds of aspiring ballet dancers – ages 9 to 19 – from all over California will be at the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) ballet scholarship auditions.  This is where the next big ballet stars are scouted! Participants go on to dance professionally for American Ballet Theatre, Paris Opera Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, New York City Ballet, and more!

WHO: Hundreds of California’s most talented ballet students dancing for judges from top companies and schools from around the world.

WHERE:
Auditions: Irvine Barclay Theatre 4242 Campus Dr, Irvine, California, US 92612
Masterclasses: Southland Ballet Academy, 9527 Garfield Avenue, Fountain Valley, CA 92708

WHEN:
Auditions: Saturday, October 22 from 2pm – 9:30pm | Sunday, October 23 from 9:30am – 8:30pm
Masterclasses: Friday, October 21 from 2pm – 8pm

ABOUT YAGP:
Youth America Grand Prix is the largest global network of dance. YAGP fulfills its mission of dance education through scholarship auditions, master classes, alumni services, performances, and education. For the past 24 years, over $4.5 million has been awarded in scholarships to the world’s leading dance schools, with up to $350,000 now awarded annually. Since YAGP’s founding in 1999, over 200,000 young dancers – ages 9 to 19 – of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds have participated in YAGP’s international workshops, audition classes, and dance awareness events. Today, more than 12,000 young dancers audition annually. More than 450 Youth America Grand Prix alumni are now dancing with 80 professional companies around the world, including American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, Mariinsky Ballet and many others. Over 100 of these alumni are soloists and principal dancers. Larissa Saveliev founded Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) after training and touring with the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow, before moving to the United States in the early 90’s.