Eye of the Beholder TV Documentary August 30, 2003

One of the most interesting tidbits of the 2003 NPC USA's in Las Vegas was that two of the competitors, Chris Cook and Alley Miesch-Nie, had a Discovery Channel crew following them for the last few months until this moment of the contest. This documentary is going to be shown on one of the Discovery Channel's in January 2004, and will run for about an hour. It basically will show to the audience what it takes to get in shape for a contest, from the dieting to the training to the discipline. It really was quite interesting watching them work backstage, with Serena Yang as the hostess, a director, a soundperson and a cameraman. The documentary is one of four in the "Eye of the Beholder' series, which asks people to re-evaluate your preconceived notions of beauty. The episode will be entitled 'The Hardcore Physique', and they describe it like this. "For some sports, the body serves the game. For bodybuilding, the body is the game - and on this playing field, it really is a game of inches. Bodybuilding has its own language of symmetry and shape, and some would say unnatural proportion. Meet the men and women who seek the ultimate perfection of the human form, and learn how East and West often persue different visions of the 'perfect' body. Chris Cook definitely lived up to their expectations, winning the Super Heavyweight class with a perfect first place from all eleven judges. Alley Miesche-Nie did not fare so well this year, placing eighth in the Heavyweight class. The crew was there with Chris the following morning also at Gold's Gym of Las Vegas, where they should one of the benefits of winning his class; a photo shoot for one of the magazines. They have had many stops along the way, including watching them train with Charles Glass at Gold's of Venice, a day will Bill Dobbins taking pictures of them, and much more. Before the finals in the evening, Alley was crossing her fingers for a better outcome, but alas, it just was not so. About Serena Yang. As the Creator, Executive Producer and Host of Eye of the Beholder, Serena Yang introduces viewers to a dynamic cross-section of people and their passions on a global quest to examine and expand our definitions of beauty. A veteran world traveler and former international correspondent for CNN, she is highly suited to the task of bridging cultures. As the West Coast Correspondent for "World Beat," CNN's groundbreaking international music series, she anchored specials from Hong Kong to Montreal, covered the Grammy Awards and international WOMAD festivals, and interviewed the world's most renowned musicians, from B.B. King and Stevie Wonder to Carlos Santana and Ravi Shankar. Prior to joining CNN, Yang was a writer, producer and interviewer for E! Entertainment Television's "E! Features," a weekly series on the making of major motion pictures, interviewing many of the most respected artists in Hollywood, including Rob Reiner, Martin Scorsese, Robert DeNiro and Harrison Ford. As Vice President of Production for Binder/Boothe Entertainment, she produced a steady stream of feature film documentaries for Disney, Warner Bros. and Miramax Films, adding to her impressive list of interviews such artists as Michelle Pfeiffer, Kevin Spacey, Meg Ryan and Robert Redford. Born in New Jersey and raised in Portland, Oregon, Yang began traveling with her globetrotting family from the age of six. At age 19, while still earning her degree in Broadcast Journalism at the University of Southern California, she began her broadcasting career in Hong Kong as a writer, producer and reporter for TVB, the largest English-language programming network in Asia, covering fashion, business and technology as part of the network's primetime news magazine team. An intrepid producer, interviewer, and cultural explorer, she established Serena Yang Productions in 1998, producing programming for CNN, MGM and Touchstone Pictures on subjects ranging from Mongolian throat-singing to the inner-workings of the CIA. Most recently, she documented the making of "Shanghai Knights," starring Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson, and produced the DVD for the number one box office spy thriller, "The Recruit," starring Al Pacino, including a special feature on the real-life CIA training program.