TEN TALENTED CONTESTANTS SELECTED FOR NEW SEASON OF "ELLEN'S DESIGN CHALLENGE"

New York [For Immediate Release-December 15, 2015] Fans of Ellen's Design Challenge, the successful furniture design competition series that was first conceptualized by television icon and entertainment pioneer Ellen DeGeneres, will get their first look at the 10 talented season two competitors during the one-hour special Ellen's Design Challenge: Meet the Cast. Premiering at 11 p.m. ET/PT as part of HGTV's all-premiere New Year's Day lineup, the special will showcase: Vivian Beer, Manchester, N.H.; Bradley Bowers, Miami, Fla.; Julie Browning Bova, Indianapolis, Ind.; Miles Endo, Providence, R.I.; McKenzie Gibson, Providence, R.I.; Kyle Huntoon, Detroit, Mich.; Alexis Moran, Orinda, Calif.; Sef Pinney, Los Angeles; Melissa Rivera Torres, Pleasant Hill, Calif. and Dave Yale, San Jose, Calif. The special also will encore on Sunday, January 17, at 11 p.m. ET/PT.

The highly anticipated Ellen's Design Challenge, which premieres on Monday, January 18, at 9 p.m. ET/PT, will showcase the competitors as they sketch, design and build innovative furniture to avoid elimination. In a season filled with countless surprises, the finalists will be tasked with such challenges as designing furniture for the greenrooms at The Ellen DeGeneres Show. At the end of the season, the last competitor standing will receive a $100,000 cash prize courtesy of Wayfair.com and see their work featured in HGTV Magazine.

The contestants participating in season two of Ellen's Design Challenge are:

Vivian Beer | Manchester, N.H.

Vivian Beer is a furniture designer and business owner in Manchester, New Hampshire. She says her style is modern and that she loves to "push the envelope" with her work by using industrial materials such as concrete and auto body paint. She says she believes her academic background in the Fine Arts allows her to find inspiration in different places, including the arts and crafts community, architecture and even car design.

Bradley Bowers | Miami, Fla.

Bradley Bowers, a furniture designer and business owner in Miami, says his ultimate design goal is to showcase the innate beauty of the materials he loves, including paper, latex, wood and fiberglass. He describes his design style as "Materialistic" because he is "intrigued by the power and the knowledge that objects possess."

Julie Browning Bova | Indianapolis, Ind.

Indianapolis-based interior designer and furniture designer, Julie Browning Bova has worked in the design business with clients for the past 30 years and has been designing for manufacturers since 2011. Julie, who says she likes to balance eclectic and classic design elements, defines her design style as traditional with an equestrian influence. Most of her pieces incorporate leather straps, carved wood or decorative elements that might be found on a saddle.

Miles Endo | Providence, R.I.

Miles Endo was born in Tokyo and raised in Hawaii. As the son of two artists, he says he was drawn to creative pursuits at an early age. He describes his design style as modern with a Japanese influence and enjoys working with different types of woods and metals, such as steel, bronze, brass and cast iron. Miles specializes in custom furniture, culinary serving boards and Taiko drums, a Japanese percussion instrument.

McKenzie Gibson | Providence, R.I.

McKenzie is a furniture designer from Providence, R.I. She describes her design style as avant-garde and does not limit herself to traditional furniture norms. Her work has been described as very playful and McKenzie says she wants people to touch and interact with her designs. In addition to working with woods and metals, she says she loves to incorporate various types of rope into her designs.

Kyle Huntoon | Detroit, Mich.

Kyle Huntoon, a fourth generation woodworker, is a furniture designer and business owner in Detroit, Michigan. He says he is inspired by the clean geometric lines of mid-century modern design and loves to incorporate traditional joinery techniques in his works. He uses a variety of American hardwoods in his designs and specifically likes to work with black walnut - his favorite trees from his great-grandparent's farm.

Alexis Moran | Orinda, Calif.

Alexis Moran, a furniture designer and business owner in Orinda, California, describes her design style as modern, but acknowledges that most modern furniture lacks personality. She says she strives to infuse bold character into her designs and loves to showcase special aspects of each piece of material, whether it's natural or industrial. She finds a lot of beauty in natural materials and composition and typically works in wood and concrete. She also works in glass, metals, and plastics.

Sef Pinney| Los Angeles, Calif.

Sef Pinney, an L.A.-based furniture designer and business owner, characterizes his design style as modern with Danish and Asian influences. He says he prefers to work with any type of beautiful wood and veneers, as well as industrial materials such as aerospace plywood, aluminum, steel and titanium. Sef says his strength as a designer is his ability to envision and execute complicated, elegant pieces.

Melissa Rivera Torres| Pleasant Hill, Calif.

Melissa Rivera Torres, a furniture designer and business owner born and raised in Mexico, describes her style as modern industrial. She says she loves to use bold colors and fun materials that allow her pieces stand out and make people smile. Melissa says she enjoys working with stainless steel, wood, PVC, Plexiglas, acrylic and aluminum and isn't afraid to try unconventional ideas - she once transformed a 28,000ft warehouse into the stage for Hawaii's first ever Fashion Month.

Dave Yale | San Jose, Calif.

Dave Yale, a furniture designer from San Jose, describes his style as modern and says he loves geometry, working in 3D design programs and is a master at CAD/3D modeling. He says he is influenced by mid-century modern design and is currently designing a line that infuses classic forms with a wild sense of fun, including unexpected scale, color and materials.

Ellen's Design Challenge is produced by Ellen's production company, A Very Good Production, and A. Smith & Co. in association with Telepictures. The executive producers for the series are Ellen, Jeff Kleeman of A Very Good Production, and Arthur Smith, Kent Weed, Ian Mallahan and Jonathan Singer of A. Smith & Co.

ABOUT HGTV

America's leading home and lifestyle brand, HGTV features a top-rated cable network that is distributed to more than 96 million U.S. households and HGTV.com, the premier source for home-related inspiration, instruction and entertainment, attracts more than six million people each month. The brand also includes the HGTV HOME(TM) consumer products line which showcases exclusive collections of paint, flooring, furniture, plants, fabrics and other home-oriented products. For more information on HGTV HOME branded products and to find a retailer, go to www.hgtvhome.com. In partnership with Hearst Magazines, the HGTV Magazine, a home and lifestyle publication, is currently available on newsstands. Viewers can become fans of HGTV and interact with other home improvement enthusiasts through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram. Headquartered in Knoxville, Tenn., HGTV is owned by Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. (SNI).

ABOUT TELEPICTURES

Telepictures is an industry-leading and Emmy(R) Award-winning producer of innovative, multiplatform advertiser-friendly television series and digital content for the first-run syndication, cable and digital marketplace. Programs produced by Telepictures have won 90 Emmy(R) Awards in the last 19 years, including Outstanding Talk Show or Outstanding Talk Show Host for 16 of the last 18 years. Current Telepictures series include Crime Watch Daily, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Ellen's Design Challenge, Extra, Judge Mathis, The People's Court, The Real, TMZ, TMZ Live and TMZ Sports. Upcoming programs include Heads Up!, Hello Goodbye and South of Wilshire (January-February 2016 preview on select FOX Television Stations). For more information about Telepictures programming, please visit www.telepicturestv.com.

ABOUT A VERY GOOD PRODUCTION

A Very Good Production (AVGP) is the Emmy(R)-winning television and film production company of producer/writer/actor/host Ellen DeGeneres. Based at Warner Bros. Television Group (WBTVG) with an exclusive multiyear deal, AVGP produces the nationally syndicated daytime talk program The Ellen DeGeneres Show and develops television projects for all divisions of WBTVG, including scripted and unscripted primetime series for network and cable, as well as additional syndicated fare. AVGP's slate of television projects includes the upcoming animated family comedy Green Eggs and Ham for Netflix; the forthcoming unscripted variety/comedy series Little Big Shots and unscripted relationship series First Dates for NBC; the unscripted design competition program Ellen's Design Challenge for HGTV; Heads Up!, a fast-paced game show debuting in 2016 on HLN and based on the wildly popular game and app of the same name from The Ellen DeGeneres Show; and Hello Goodbye, an upcoming unscripted series for the Travel Channel highlighting heart-warming - and sometimes heart-wrenching - stories of love, sorrow, family and friendship from travelers of all cultures and walks of life. Jeff Kleeman serves as President of A Very Good Production.

ABOUT A. SMITH & CO. PRODUCTIONS

A. Smith & Co. Productions creates some of the most innovative, highly rated, and high-quality programming for the domestic and international television marketplace. The company has produced more than 3,000 hours of award-winning programming - with budgets totaling over one billion dollars across more than 45 broadcast and cable networks. Current productions include "Hell's Kitchen," "American Ninja Warrior," "Spartan Race," "Ellen's Design Challenge," "Unsung," "Full Throttle Saloon," "Team Ninja Warrior," "Container Homes," and "The Dunk King." Past hits include "Kitchen Nightmares," "Wizard Wars," "Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura," "UFC Countdown," "Joe Rogan Questions Everything," "Paradise Hotel," "I Survived a Japanese Game Show," "The Swan," "Trading Spaces," "Pros vs. Joes," "Skating with Celebrities," and many others. For more information, visit www.asmithco.com.