FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  October 12, 2006
Contact:  Bobbie Fisher, Director of Corporate Communications, 757.889.9107

WHRO TV15 TO AIR KING NEPTUNE SPECIAL PROGRAM
Documentary Chronicles Beach Residents’ 34-Foot Gift to the City

Norfolk:  WHRO TV 15 has announced that it will air King Neptune: The Making of the Myth, on Thursday, October 26, 2006 at 9:00pm, and will repeat the program on Sunday, October 29, 2006 at 5:00pm.

Produced by Coastal Training Technologies Corporation, King Neptune: The Making of the Myth documents the creation of the breathtaking 34-foot bronze statue of this mythical character that adorns the Virginia Beach shoreline.  A true labor of love, the documentary chronicles the efforts of a group of citizen volunteers from Virginia Beach, who first envision the statue, and then raise 100% of the funding, enabling them to make a gift of the statue to the City of Virginia Beach in a public unveiling under the stars the very next year.  The journey takes the viewer half way around the globe and back with amazing footage of an artist’s rustic foundry in China and a myriad of logistical challenges that had to be overcome to bring their dream to reality. Against all odds, the devoted Richmond artist, Paul DiPasquali and other participants found ways to overcome every obstacle that blocked their path.

Graphic animations are used to visualize the ancient Chinese lost wax process used to cast the bronze statue. Though this painstaking process itself is enough to carry a documentary, there is engaging subtext on ecology, leadership, cross-cultural communication and a host of other fascinating topics.  Woven throughout the program are the candid perspectives of those involved as we follow their impossibly short timeline to its triumphant conclusion.

The program will be introduced by WHRO Board Member and Virginia Beach entrepreneur Gerald S. Divaris.