Sci Fi Channel is using “Tin Man,” its unique take on “The Wizard of Oz,” to push fund-raising to help build Habitat for Humanity houses.
Sci Fi’s upcoming “Tin Man” mini-series is the vehicle for the cable channel’s “Brick by Brick” fund-raising effort—playing off the Yellow Brick Road element in the story—through November and December. Viewers will be encouraged to make donations, at $10 for each virtual brick, to support Habitat for Humanity projects around the country online at http://www.scifi.com/habitat.
The site also contains links offering visitors background information about “Tin Man.”
Construction of a Habitat home in Kansas City, to be funded by Sci Fi, will begin this month. Kansas City-based Heartland Habitat for Humanity, which works with low-income families in Wyandotte, Johnson and Leavenworth, will oversee that effort
The concept grew out of the start of the ‘Oz’ storyline: A house destroyed by a tornado.
“For Kansas and tornadoes, Habitat for Humanity was a synergistic thing to do good and raise awareness of ‘Tin Man’ at the same time,” said Adam Stotsky, Sci Fi executive vice president of global brand strategy and market development.
Sci Fi began airing on-air spots last week plugging the Dec. 2 debut of the six-hour mini-series and the Habitat fund-raising effort. NBC also aired a half-hour special about the production of “Tin Man” last week.
Stotsky noted that Sci Fi’s corporate parent NBC had already been involved in supporting Habitat for Humanity, helping to rebuild homes in New Orleans damaged by Hurricane Katrina.
Sci Fi’s contemporary interpretation of the classic L. Frank Baum story follows the odyssey of a young girl—dubbed DG in this version of the tale—who finds herself removed from her routine life and thrust into the Outer Zone.
Habitat for Humanity is an ecumenical Christian ministry that has built more than 250,000 houses worldwide since its founding in 1976.
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