SAN ANTONIO - November 14, 2011 - NewTek, worldwide leader in portable live production and 3D animation systems, announced today that the NewTek TriCaster™ portable live production system will be used to produce and live stream the Transforming the World Through Comedy (TWTComedy) inaugural event. The live stream will begin at 8:00pm ET on Wednesday evening and progress through the evening, with live performances from New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. Fans may access the stream at www.stickam.com/twtcomedy.

 

The comedy fundraiser will benefit Haiti through local projects such as building schools for orphaned children, and micro-financing support for small businesses. In addition, funds will also benefit the Empowered Youth Initiative in the United States through Off the Mat into the World.

 

"Thanks to NewTek TriCaster, we can expand our fundraising efforts beyond the three great comedy clubs in New York, Chicago and L.A. to a global audience," says Amber J. Lawson co-founder of TWTComedy. "As comedy business veterans, we are surrounded by the gift of laughter and know the power of it. By bringing our message to the world through network-quality streaming we can make a huge difference for the charities we support."

 

Performances include*:

New York City/Gotham Comedy Club - Tom Papa, Gary Gulman, Rachel Feinstein, Rich Vos and Bonnie McFarlane.

Chicago/Zanies Comedy Club - Bobby Slayton, Dwayne Kennedy, Pat Tomasulo, Michael Issac and Pat McGann

Los Angeles/Hollywood Improv - Marc Maron, Retta, Jeff Ross, Wayne Federman and Ben Morrison.

 

*Participants subject to change

 

"TriCaster is changing the face of global fundraising. In the past, a select few events could find an national audience on broadcast television," said Philip Nelson, SVP Strategic Development of NewTek. "SXSW4Japan, Hollywood Helps Alabama - Red Cross Fund Raiser and many more charity events have found a global audience and increased their opportunity to help people thanks to TriCaster."

 

With TriCaster, anyone can simultaneously produce, live stream, broadcast, project and record HD and SD network-style productions. A single operator or small team can switch between multiple cameras, virtual inputs and live virtual sets, while inserting clips, titles and motion graphics with multi-channel effects. TriCaster is used by webcasters, schools, sports organizations, broadcasters, houses of worship, government agencies and others to provide a new level of extended programming and content to their audiences.

 

The TriCaster family of products in NTSC is available for education in North America starting at US$4,995 and in multi-standard for US$5,995.