TV Producer Overcomes Tragedies With Amazing Determination
Released on = November 22, 2005, 6:58 am
Press Release Author = Urban News Report
Industry = Entertainment
Press Release Summary = TV Producer will tell all in his upcoming documentary, including details about his Beef with BET, and why he Clear Channel Radio invited him to film a Mike Jones Concert, which they now clain is a Copyright Infringement.
Press Release Body = Steven Jennings aka Mikey Jukes is not the average guy. He has served for The United States Army, been The President of a State Funded DCFS Foster Care Agency and achieved a Bachelors in Sociology and a Masters Degree in Education Administration within the first 29 years of his life. Then one day as he was watching a TV show, he had a bright idea. Although he had no training and had never held a camera, He wanted to become a TV Producer, so he scribbled his concept on a notepad and from that day on, Mikey was on a mission. So in October of 2001, He created The Cipher Show, an Entertainment News and Music Video Program, which he put together while running a Medicaid Mental HealthCenter, a Foster Care Program, a Group Home and a Youth Leadership Development Program in Southwest Florida.. The first market he aired his TV show on was WEVU, southwest Florida\'s UPN affiliate. The Cipher Show was created to empower aspiring entertainers, so he rounded up local members of the community for auditions. He then contacted Def Jam Records, Interscope Records, Rap A Lot Records, Slip and Slide Records, Tommy Boy Records and Universal Records, by simply calling 411, getting numbers and fishing for names when he called the secretaries. Somehow he managed to get on their music video mailing lists within a month. He went on to air his entertainment show on TV for several months. During this time he met The Ying Yang Twins, and many other rising stars in the music industry before they became well known.
His first Co-Producer was the late Polo Abasi, whom was diagnosed with cancer during the first week of taping for The Cipher Show. This was an incredible blow to Mikey, whom was his close friend. Shaken by the whole ordeal, Polo backed out of the show and Mikey tried to carry the torch alone for 9 weeks before ending his first season as the only Producer, Writer, Field Camera Man and Marketing Director for the entire show. Polo unfortunately passed away from Cancer soon after. Since then, Mikey has traveled across the United States, from Florida, to Chicago, to Los Angeles and Back to Florida keeping the dream alive.
The Cipher TV Show was dormant for a year (2002-2003), then resurfaced in Chicago as a Hip-Hop radio show in 2003-2004, on WYCA 102.3FM Radio. Early in 2004 Mikey created http://www.WinYourOwnTVshow.com which is a reality TV website and TV show to seek a continuous flow of hosts for The Cipher Show.
Mikey, the notable Guerilla Producer behind this project, has labored carrying The Cipher Show, literally by hand, from state to state on a mission to reach National Television. But in times like these, a good idea just isn't enough. So in June of 2004 Mikey loaded up his computer, business plans, music videos, beta tapes and cameras and gave away all of his furniture. Then he jumped in his car late in the night, and drove straight to Los Angeles. By doing so, he left his family, friends and risked the possibility of homelessness to pursue his dream.
While in Los Angeles, Mikey Jukes encountered great hardships and danger. Without actually knowing a single soul in California, he started from scratch, following up on phone contacts and internet leads.
He eventually held and filmed a Casting Call. That's when he began building alliances with other Producers. After the casting call, things were slow, and Mikey needed to go into editing. He found Producer and Editor Joshua Chamberlain in Los Angeles. While Josh and Mikey were in editing, Mikey lost his temporary job and fell into the Hard Times of Los Angeles Life.
During this same time, Mikey Jukes and Joshua Chamberlain Produced the First 3 Episodes of The Cipher Show on a budget of less than $100 per show. Mikey Jukes spent several months; homeless in Los Angeles while in Production. He managed to keep a clean car, and wore clean clothes to business meetings. Many people were unaware that at the end of the night he parked his car on dark streets from Santa Monica to Sherman Oaks and went to sleep. Mikey lived the Hollywood Struggle, sleeping in his car, crashing on couches and holding on to his dream.
One night he was approached and almost attacked by a group of unidentified strangers, while he was crashing in his backseat at Leo Carrillo National Park.
Mikey woke up as they approached his windows in the pitch dark; he turned on his car and drove through bushes and landscape to escape whatever fate awaited him. He then spent time in South Central, Inglewood and Compton, staying with vague acquaintances, until landing in a safe Hotel Room in Downtown Culver City.
Mikey couldn\'t give up on his mission. So with the help of his small team of Producers, Mikey aired The Cipher Show on KJLA Channel 57 & 33 in Los Angeles from 3/4/05 to 3/25/05 reaching 3 million households weekly.
He would then sign a contract to air on WTVK Southwest Florida\'s WB channel 6, starting Friday June 24th 2005 at 2:00pm. The Cipher Show aired for 4 consecutive weeks in Florida as well. Mikey would return to Florida only to face another challenge. His estranged wife required emergency surgery for a tumor in her stomach the size of a 9 month old baby. Mikey sat at his wife's side in the hospital, still busy writing plans and networking for his TV show, while supporting his wife as she overcame a death threatening surgical procedure. Still determined, Mikey never stopped believeing his TV show would succeed. It was at this time that Mikey began to attract Star Power. On June 28th 2005, The Cipher Show was an obscure figure on the Red Carpet of the 2005 BET Awards After party. They interviewed Celebrities such as Rap Star Slim Thug, Actor David Fobbs, Actress K.D Aubert and others.
Mikey was determined to continue his course, and his determination placed him in similarly interesting situations, as he maneuvered his camera backstage at a Clear Channel Radio Concert and interviewed Rap Star Mike Jones, Cuban Link and The Youngbloodz. Next he would fly to Los Angeles where he was invited to The Red Carpet of The 2005 Peta Awards. Here he would collect a "supportive shout out to The Cipher Show" from Pamela Anderson, Alec Baldwin, Jamie Lee Curtis and a host of other celebrities. Mikey was on a roll, until Early in the morning of September 12, 2005. Mikey was driving down the street crossing De Soto and Ventura, in Woodland Hills California, when he reported feeling very light headed and sick. Mikey Said, \"I tried to shake it off, thinking I was just sleepy, when all the sudden I began to feel like my head and my body were no longer connected. It was a creepy feeling, like my mind was leaving my body, and I began testing myself, to ensure I was not passing out, by wiggling my fingers and toes while I was driving. I felt myself loosing consciousness.\" So he pulled his car over and stumbled out onto the street asking for help. Mikey thought he was having a heart attack or a stroke. Little did Mikey know, he was loosing consciousness. \"It was like a dream, but it was real and I kept thinking, I am about to die and The Cipher Show will die with me. It was a painful thought. I began to pray to GOD to spare my life,\" Mikey said. \"This is the sad part of my story, I stumbled down the street, as I was asking strangers for help, and nobody would help me. I walked into a Gas Station (The one on the corner of Ventura and De Soto, next to 7-11) and said, \"Please help me, I think I am having a heart attack\". The attendant looked at me and said nothing, he just walked away. Then I stumbled to the 7-11 and begged for help, I couldn't even see the numbers on my cell phone anymore, so I needed someone to help me, and the attendants at 7-11 just looked at me as I was fading away,\" Mikey Said. \"So I did what I had to do in order to SURVIVE. I climbed on the 7-11 store counter and laid down and elevated my feet on the candy stand and laid my head on the cash register and pulled my phone out and tried to dial 911 myself. The first couple tries I missed the numbers but I eventually dialed 911,\" says Mikey. \"It is hard to dial when you can't see, and I have a weird flip phone that has flat number buttons. I wasn\'t embarrassed, even though I saw myself on the security cameras looking really ridiculous.\" After the ambulance took Mikey to the hospital, they diagnosed him as having a deadly condition called: Hypokalemia. Hypokalemia is a chemical imbalance that results from low potassium and it can result in death. Mikey said, \"This is our world, the kind of world that will watch a man die and refuse to help him.\" Mikey stayed in California for several more months before returning to Florida to prepare for his next Television Show Project. Mikey Jukes has become somewhat of an "Urban Legend" on the internet. His life is a soap opera, which he freely opens to the general public, his influence is being felt by thousands of loyal internet users and with several million hits on his website, many people are wondering just what he will do next. So Mikey will soon reveal his darkest secrets in a tell all documentary, which will address allegations that Clear Channel Radio invited him to film a Mike Jones Concert, featuring Youngbloodz, Ton Loc, Cuban Link and many others, and which Clear Channel later claimed to be a violation of Copyright Infringement. Mikey will also reveal information about how he was i n contact with BET Executives since 2002, only to see his idea used on BET's New Faces Competition.
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