Everything in Helena Marie Kirby's life happens randomly, but with rhyme and reason. She was originally attending Michigan State University in 2005 for Journalism when the world of entertainment came knocking. A local show entitled Text Me TV which was broadcast out of the ABC studio in Lansing, Michigan had found her, indirectly. Her cousin had worked behind the scenes and told her to come have a chat with the producer at the time. Well, Helena always jumps at a spontaneous opportunity! The gentleman loved her quirky personality and put her on air, the audience loved her too. She would have to perform on live television for six hours at a time (12:00am-6:00am) on the CW. This was her first chance to showcase her improvisational skills that were manifesting and evolving as every night went by. She had to entice the audience to send in as many text messages as possible. It was originally broadcast in Lansing and Grand Rapids.

To make a long story short, the company that owned the rights to Text Me TV and the idea was based out of Oslo, Norway. Rubicon Interactive decided that after a year of the show being in Lansing and Grand Rapids, not making a substantial profit, and having been through a few wacky producers, that they were going to fly to Lansing to make this work themselves. They came to the states pounded selling concepts into the casts heads, and decided to make Helena the line producer for the show. Shortly after they wanted her to fly to Oslo to get trained on exactly how to do this. She was ecstatic, although by this point she had dropped out of MSU for this opportunity. She was trained in the production side, as to how to manage a team, how to get them to achieve higher numbers, the psychology behind interactive television, and how to do all of the tedious work such as payroll, scheduling, advertising, and getting sponsors.

Over the course of the two years the show was on air, Helena was sent to Norway two times, the second time being to be the first English speaking/American girl on their interactive show MESS TV. It was really crazy for her to be on air in Oslo, it went very well though. She was also shipped to Las Vegas and New York to sell the concept at conventions such as the NAB and NATPE. Again, she was learning as she went, so she can adapt at a very intriguing rate. By the end of the show she and her executive producers in Oslo had gotten the show broadcast in Lansing, Grand Rapids, and specific cities in Delaware, Indiana, Maryland, and Ohio. However, in November of 2008 their Canadian partner (MyThum) had pulled out of the deal and the show was to be shut down. Helena was devastated.

Fortunately for her, she got the birthday wish of a lifetime. Her birthday being November 14th, she found out she would be moving to Oslo, Norway on November 7th. She would be working on the show in Oslo, and filming pilots for other interactive concepts for Rubicon. She was also told she would be going to Riga, Latvia to set up a show entitled Chill all on her own! She completed 26 interviews for a local producer there, as well as 26 interviews for hosts. She decided on a cast of 6 and trained everyone, although with the language barrier in Riga being difficult, it took a lot of dedication. Helena loved every second of it though, she even went on air in Riga for a second! It was the experience of a lifetime, but all good things must end. She came back to the states in February of 2009 and was supposed to set up two new shows in Ohio and Massachusetts, however due to the financial crisis that was suspended and Helena was back to stage one, but this time she was experienced and chomping at the bit.

Helena's passion since she was a child has been entertainment, she has also diligently played the piano since she was five years old and music has always had her heart!Helena has also done various short films in her time. She loves to entertain anyone at any given moment and as she says she “Thrives on awkward and revels in crazy”. Life's short and she wants to make the whole world dance with her.

Rubicon Tv Interactive (Oslo, Norway)
ABC Studio (Lansing, MI)
Delux Entertainment (Detroit)
MyThum Interactive (Canada)
Active Loop (Oslo, Norway)
Davide Photography (Detroit)

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