What if a clutch of small, socially conscious businesses could compete for big money that normally they could never access? That’s the premise for “The Great Disruptors,” an independent business-themed reality television series in development by a pair of San Fernando Valley producers: Alex Mond of Sherman Oaks and Mark Stampfli of Northridge. “Companies will die from a lack of financing and cash flow,” Mond, a former investment banker, told the Business Journal. “I wanted to bring a lot of the capital from Wall Street to small companies.” Stampfli has worked for the past decade in the reality show industry, including a stint at Original Productions on shows such as “Deadliest Catch” and at Commonwealth Pictures. Mond and Stampfli’s plan is to raise money to independently produce an eight-episode first season. A trailer for the show is already running at greatdisruptors.com. They expect to raise enough money to produce the show by year’s end and begin taping episodes in the spring. “We have investors on board and we’re looking for more investors,” Stampfli said. As for production, “we have a facility here in Van Nuys,” Mond said, while Stampfli added that they will also utilize Broadcast West Studios in Culver City. Competition for capital In each episode, three companies with social impact compete, totaling 24 companies per season. A panel of judges will have rotating seats that will include a celebrity influencer spot. The public uses the OurSt app platform and the internet to vote. “We’re making the public the star,” Mond said. According to the show’s website, the series is part of “a movement to solve world issues such as health, wellness, science, energy, ecological stability, sustainability, global warming, clean water issues and solutions to combat social problems such as poverty, prison overcrowding, human trafficking, hunger, disease and universal primary education.” The winning company at the end of each season will receive a cash prize as “selected investors from the globe will invest in these companies,” the website states. “We already have a database of companies,” said Mond, who added that there are crowdsourcing campaigns through Plug and Play Tech Center and SeedInvest and fundraising parties currently being planned for November. “We want about 100 companies to qualify.” The show’s app also links to information on the competing companies and corporate sponsors of the show. So far, the producers have secured $5 million in sponsorship commitments from Wells Fargo and Apple Inc. “There are no losers,” Mond explained, as the show will advertise the sponsors. Mond currently runs Regenerative Health and Wellness Institute in Marina del Rey, but he previously worked for more than three decades as an international investment banker. He served as managing director of Mandiri Bank in the Singapore office at Malibu Capital, acted as Middle Eastern Fund advisor for UOB Singapore and worked out four loan structures worth more than $12 billion for the Asian pharmacy chain. In 1996, Mond, who began his career with IBM in 1987, was named vice president of Washington Mutual, America’s largest savings and loan association until its 2008 collapse when JPMorgan Chase assumed its assets. Mond has what he calls his “wall of disruptors,” an advisory board comprised of 15 entrepreneurs from different walks of life. The list includes figures such as Jonathon Angell, an angel investor who serves as managing director of Liquidity Fund; Shawn Mojtahedian, a USC biotech scientist; economist Arthur Lipper; health expert Dr. Charlyn Belluzzo; Darshan Sedani, co-founder of Intellimedia Networks, which specializes in enterprise-level application platform development; mobile live streaming startup LiveFrom.Me founder Teodros Gessesse; and Tac Leung of Silicon Valley Alliance. Some of these players have been retained in an advisory role while others will double as participants on the show. Mond sees the show and attendant OurSt app as “allowing entreprenuers to make money and eventually help the U.S. and its economy,” he said. Business reality “The Great Disruptors” is not without precedent. In reality television, entrepreneuership has become a winning commodity. Going back to “The Apprentice” and “Celebrity Apprentice,” such shows are cheap to produce and continue to prove popular with such programs as “Undercover Boss” (CBS) and “Shark Tank” and its “Beyond the Tank” spin-off (ABC). “Shark Tank” stars Mark Cuban, Daymond John, Barbara Corcoran, Kevin O’Leary, Lori Greiner and Robert Herjavec have collectively doled out nearly $100 million across the show’s 10 seasons and counting, to help the show’s contestants with their fledgling ideas. In May 2015, an article at Hollywood news site TheWrap explored the popularity of the unscripted business shows, which were experiencing an unprecedented boom. “There appears to be some sort of a gold rush when it comes to business reality TV,” Jim Ackerman, senior vice president of primetime alternative at Comcast-owned CNBC, told TheWrap. “When you talk about your livelihood, there are always major stakes involved and I think people respond to that.” Aaron Heresco, an assistant professor of communication at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, said that the enduring popularity of these business-flavored contest shows goes back a decade to one of America’s darkest moments. ‘If you look at ‘Shark Tank’ in the American context, it started about a year after the financial meltown,” Heresco said, believing that such programming is “a response of public curiosity to the world of business but they share the world of business in a way that it’s dramatic and engaging. … It’s hard to untangle these shows from the economic crisis (watching) other people’s dreams come true and then vicariously living through these experience.” While the Great Recession may have exposed some of the flaws and downsides of the American Dream, a series such as “Great Disruptors” will continue to sell viewers on this enduring national narrative. “It makes ultra-successful entrepreneurs look like us (selling) an American dream where, with a little luck, (the average American) can make it big,” Heresco explained. Heresco said that there is certainly a running throughline running through business-focused reality programming that goes back to a pre-presidential Donald Trump presiding over “The Apprentice” and “Celebrity Apprentice,” but he added that in fact it goes back much further. “In the American psyche, there’s a timeless fascination with the rogue entrepreneur going back to Howard Hughes or (in the 1980s with) Robin Leach in ‘Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous,’” he said. Donna Deutchman, chief executive of Homes 4 Families, a Woodland Hills-based nonprofit builder which creates housing for veterans, recently participated in an episode of the reboot of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” to air on HGTV in 2020, which saw two families being assisted in a veteran-enriched neighborhood. For her social-minded organization, Deutchman said, taking part in “Extreme Makeover” was not only noble in promoting awareness of the plight of U.S. veterans, but good for business. “Of course, a large part of the reason to participate is the promotional awareness for the organization which hopefully can empower us to do more,” she said. Deutchman sees reality shows involving real-life businesses and nonprofits as the basis for riveting television. “The appeal to the audience is seeing the challenges be overcome,” she said. “It’s good storytelling and engaging for viewers.” Ultimately, Mond and Stampfli want to champion the entrepreneueral spirit and see the underdogs win on their show. “We want to replace lottery tickets,” said Mond said of the business opportunities “Great Disruptors” promises its prospective contestants.
