'SignTasTic!,' game show featuring sign language, filming in Pittsburgh

A unique new game show aiming to raise awareness about American Sign Language and the deaf community is being filmed in Pittsburgh.

Each episode of the show, dubbed “SignTasTic!,” features two contestants who have to learn 50 sign language words before the show. The show then tests how well they’ve learned those words through activities such as trivia games and charades that all revolve around American Sign Language.

The host, Dan Cook, and the performers who are involved in the show are all deaf. The contestants aren’t deaf but learn sign language words through the game.

“It’s focusing on deaf and hearing people. It’s bringing the two worlds together,” Cook said via an interpreter.

Cook said he hopes the show will encourage people to learn some sign language so they can better communicate with individuals in the deaf community, breaking down the “invisible barrier between hearing and deaf worlds.”

Cook, a Pittsburgh native, has a master’s degree in American Sign Language and teaches as an American Sign Language professor at CCAC.

He developed the idea for the show with Silent Visual Media owners David S. Keinath and Heather Gray. Gray also serves as the show’s executive director and co-host.

Cook said he believes the show is the first in television history to revolve around sign language.

“We’re really in uncharted territory,” he said.

The budget on the initial production was about $1.2 million.

Details about when and where the show will air have not been announced. The show has not yet been sold and is not in distribution.

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Putting the show together with a crew that includes about 10 deaf individuals has been a unique experience, Gray said.

“The entertainment business hasn’t always been friendly to people with disabilities,” she said.

To overcome that, the crew made some adjustments on the set to ensure deaf performers feel welcome. They’re using two teleprompters — one in standard English and one with American Sign Language, which is written differently than English. They have sign language interpreters and a sign language coach on set.

The show aims to prove that deaf individuals have a place in the entertainment industry and to teach people sign language in a fun, accessible way.

The final two episodes of the 11-episode initial production of “SignTasTic!” were filmed Friday at WQED studios in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood. They’re using the studio that once housed “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” Gray said.

“It’s so special. I feel that all of the values we espouse are Mr. Rogers’ values,” Gray said. “We accept everyone, come as you are. We were all made different so we can learn from each other.”

Stephanie Paris, a contestant from Cleveland, said she has learned a lot from participating in the game show.

“It’s really cool, being able to learn the signs. I can’t say I’ve learned (sign language) yet, but I know 100 words and I want to keep learning,” Paris said.

Though Paris said it was stressful to try to memorize signs for the show, she was excited to finally learn some sign language, something she’d always wanted to do.

Plus, being on a game show had been a lifelong dream, she said.

This particular show, Paris said, proves that the entertainment industry can evolve to be more diverse and inclusive.

“It shows we don’t have to do everything the way we’ve always done it,” she said.

Paris was competing against Lamont Richmond of Cleveland to see who had mastered the signs better. In each episode, there is $5,000 at stake for contestants.

Richmond said he enjoyed being on camera, but the most rewarding part of being on the show was “learning something new and showing the world it can be done.”

National game show producer Silent Visual Media LLC has been filming the show for about a month. The team producing the show includes producers Leigh Hampton, who has worked on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” “Hollywood Game Night” and other shows, and Jared Bierylo, who worked on “Hogwarts Tournament of Houses,” “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?” and other productions.