May 12, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
INSIDE OC with Rick Reiff has featured a wide array of A-list guests in its first season on KOCE.
The program, devoted to the newsmakers and trendsetters of Orange County, has had exclusive, hard-hitting interviews with Sheriff Mike Carona, D.A. Tony Rackauckas and controversial defense lawyer Joe Cavallo. INSIDE OC was the first program to ask Anaheim Angels President Dennis Kuhl about the team’s then-rumored name change.
Among other luminaries to appear as guests: U.S. Olympics chairman Peter Ueberroth, Carl’s Jr. founder Carl Karcher (with current Carl’s corporate CEO Andy Puzder), sports super-agent Leigh Steinberg, Lindora weight-loss chief Cynthia Graff, Little Saigon developer Frank Jao, Wahoo Fish Tacos’ Wing Lam, businessman-fundraiser Paul Folino, trial lawyer Wylie Aitken, philanthropist John Crean, Congressman Chris Cox, UC Irvine Chancellor Ralph Cicerone, Van’s Gifts President Reva Colover, plastic surgeon Michael Niccole, Bodega Chocolates’ Martucci Angiano, fund manager Daryl Carter, Western Digital’s Matt Massengill, Vietnamese actress Kathy Nguyen, architect Carl McLarand, county treasurer John Moorlach, Lennar Corp. point man Emile Haddad and OC Weekly’s “Commie Girl.”
“And this is just for starters,” says Reiff, the host and producer of INSIDE OC. “In the new season ahead we’ll continue to feature the people who are making news and excelling in what they do, who are having an impact in our community and far beyond.”
The show has featured the theatrical legends of South Coast Repertory, the marketing chief of Quiksilver, the creative wiz behind Too Faced Cosmetics, members of the punk band Home Grown, and authors Franz Wisner (“Honeymoon with my Brother”), Jean Ardell (“Breaking into Baseball”) and Quang Pham (“A Sense of Duty”).
“We’ve had professors talk about stem-cell research, global warming and women in the executive suite,” Reiff says. “We’ve had psychotherapists analyze romance and bad behavior by Little League parents. We’ve talked with the party bosses and office holders, and we’ve had media pundits opine on The Tunnel, the Catholic Church, the housing market, the best restaurants, `OC cool’ -- you name it.”
Ernie Schneider, former Orange County chief administrator, gave an emotional recounting of the 1994 bankruptcy’s personal toll, while politician-turned-author Jim Rogan shed a tear recalling the longshoreman-grandfather who raised him.
The show has hosted visitors, too, including a leader of Britain’s Tory Party and Muammar Khadafy’s top diplomat.
“All of this points up Orange County’s remarkable wealth of people, talent and ideas,” says Reiff. “No other community anywhere near our size is so lacking in local commercial news coverage, and REAL ORANGE and now INSIDE OC are filling that void.”
INSIDE OC airs every Wednesday at 7 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. immediately following REAL ORANGE, KOCE’s weeknight news series.
INSIDE OC is re-aired Sunday at 11:30 a.m. INSIDE OC segments also appear twice weekly on REAL ORANGE.
Emmy nominee David Nazar is associate producer of INSIDE OC. Nazar also reports for the show, with on-location features and profiles.
Glen Eytchison, a noted designer and former director of the Laguna Beach Pageant of the Masters, has designed the branding and set for INSIDE OC.
INSIDE OC is made possible on KOCE by grants from the University of California, Irvine; the City of Anaheim; City National Bank; the law firm of Preston, Gates & Ellis LLP; Danzi Capital Group Inc.; Street Asset Management; Bridgecreek Development Company and the Orange County Business Journal.
“I applaud these supporters for understanding that programs like this on KOCE are good business and the best way to target millions of Orange County television viewers,” says Reiff.
Reiff is executive editor of the Orange County Business Journal and writer of its popular “OC Insider” column. He has won a Pulitzer Prize and a Golden Mike. He is also a professor of media at Chapman University, a public speaker and a media consultant.