WELLINGTON, FL – November 6, 2003 – G-STAR School of the Arts For Motion Pictures and Television has signed up as a sponsor for the upcoming Sidelines Equestrian Triathlon®. As part of the sponsorship, G-STAR will air coverage of the event on The G-STAR TV Show on PBS, a high school student-produced program broadcast on WXEL Channel 42 (PBS). The show reaches 1.7 million homes from North Miami to Orlando to Vero Beach on Sundays at 8:00 AM. The Fourth Annual Sidelines Equestrian Triathlon will be held December 27, 2003, in the Internationale Arena at the Palm Beach Polo Equestrian Club in Wellington, Florida.

Students from G-STAR, guided by their award-winning instructors in TV and film, will produce two in-depth programs on the Triathlon. “We are doing a piece and a show before the event, and then a show after the event,” explained film producer Greg Hauptner, the founder and co-principal of the G-STAR School. “It’s a weekly half-hour show, and we are planning to use the whole half hour for the Triathlon for both programs.”

G-STAR is a Florida Public Charter High School in Wellington, now in its fifth year of operation. As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, G-STAR works in collaboration with the School District of Palm Beach County, as well as the business community, civic and community organizations, and TV and movie production companies.

The G-STAR crew producing the Triathlon shows is comprised of all ninth graders. “The work that they are doing for just one semester is just incredible,” said Hauptner. “They’re turning out wonderful stuff!” The students plan to include pre-event behind-the-scenes footage with the riders and horses; a segment on the Make A Wish Foundation of Southern Florida, the beneficiary of the Triathlon; interviews with representatives of the national equestrian sport magazine Sidelines, and Triathlon presenting sponsors Village Animal Clinic and Outback Steakhouse. Segments will also feature the team competitions in dressage, show jumping, and polo.

“Many of our students and children have owned horses and are horsemen themselves,” Hauptner points out. “It’s an exciting event and the connection between student/child and horses is very special. Unlike any other pet, a horse becomes an integral part of the child’s working with an animal. The horse becomes part of you as you’re riding it and the two respond together as one. That’s a unique relationship that’s not found anywhere else, and we’d like to bring that to our television audience.”

The Triathlon features 12 top riders on four teams of three, with a specialist in dressage, show jumping and polo on each team. The teams compete against each other in three phases – a dressage freestyle to music, a hit-and-hurry jump course, and two chukkers of polo. The winner of the Triathlon is the team that accumulates the highest number of total points from all three phases.

Starting at noon, the Sidelines Equestrian Triathlon features a holiday theme with activities for the whole family including a raffle, pony rides, clowns, hair braiding for kids, and shopping at vendor booths. A parade will kick off the event and a half-time show will entertain before chukkers. Wrapping up the festivities will be an Olympic-style awards presentation for the athletes and a wish presentation to one of the Make-A-Wish children.

Sidelines Triathlon VIP tables are available at $750, which includes seating for six, the Outback Steakhouse lamb-and-shrimp buffet, and a ringside view. Non-reserved seating in the VIP pavilion will be available at $150 per person and includes the buffet. General admission tickets are $10, with children 12 and under admitted free (they must be accompanied by an adult). Triathlon sponsorship packages are available.

For more information on the Triathlon, contact Sidelines, 11320 Fortune Circle, Suite G-14, Wellington, FL 33414; Tel: (561) 790-6506; Fax: (561) 790-6686; Email: sidelinestriathlon@earthlink.net; Website: www.sidelinesnews.com.

For more information on G-STAR School of the Arts For Motion Pictures and Television, contact Greg Hauptner, 2030 S. Congress Ave., Bldg. A, West Palm Beach, FL 33406; Tel: (561) 967-2023; (Fax) 561-963-8975; E-mail: greghauptn@aol.com; Website: www.gstarschool.org.

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