Reality TV: An Insider's Guide to TV's Hottest Market (13 page)

Ramblers are a different breed. These folks couldn’t deliver a complete, well-thought-out statement in an envelope. Their sentences run together, new thoughts are introduced in the middle of other thoughts, and it’s virtually impossible to imagine their unfocused content ever making it to air.

Ramblers can be tamed by breaking your questions down. Instead of asking them to “tell us what happened when you got to the party,” break it down into smaller bits like:

“So, what were you thinking when you walked up to the door?”

“What did Sara say to you when you went in?”

“How did you react to Sara when she asked you that?”

Remember… it will all come together in postproduction, so it doesn’t matter if you get short answers. It’s easier to put several thoughts together than it is to pull coherent content out of a rambling response.

•  THE VICTIM / SELF-PRODUCER

Here’s a real toughie. The Victim feels that he or she is being made to look bad based on their perception that the rest of the cast is turning against them. As a result, every interview encounter with them will register as another opportunity for you to embarrass or humiliate them.

Sample calls of The Victim:

“You guys are going to cut this up to make me look however you want, so I’m just not going to say anything.”

“You’ve been trying to make me look bad since day one.”

“I hate this place. I just want to go home.”

The reason I also refer to Victims as “Self Producers” is because, as you’ve read above, they’ll frequently refuse to answer things or give you statements as written because they’re sure it’s just you looking for more ammo to blow holes in their personality on the show. They think that by managing everything they say in interview or do on screen that somehow they’ll be able to control the end product.

Victims and Self-Producers are tough to work with, but setting aside some extra time in interview to let them say anything they want to share outside of what you’re asking them for can be helpful. It’s not always a total write-off either — you often get great material out of letting them vent.

•  ATTENTION, BLABBERMOUTHS!

A final consideration to remember in interview is to not leak information among the talent that other castmembers have shared with you. If castmember X finds out from someone in-scene that castmember Y is talking about her behind her back, that’s great TV. If she finds out from you during an interview, she’s just had a realization off-camera and you, my friend, will have a huge hole in your story.

Some Thoughts On Scenework

Whether you’re safely ensconced in an un-air-conditioned garage somewhere in Encino in the middle of August watching “house reality” action go down, or on location in Ohio taking notes on your cast lovebirds’ romantic rowboat getaway at a mosquito-infested lake,
⁶
you’re probably wondering why you’re there instead of just watching whatever tape comes back at a later date. Well, here’s why — Reality TV isn’t just about rolling tape and waiting for happy accidents… sometimes you have to prod story along.

Stir It Up: Bringing Your Cast Back to Life

Just like in real life, there are moments of awkwardness or boredom during production in which castmates clam up and just stop talking to each other, and it’s tough to squeeze story out of source material like a character reading a book on the couch while another one eats a hamburger across the room.

It’s those duller moments that should prompt you to brainstorm with your Field Producers new ways to get your castmembers talking and spark conversations and debates that will further your story.

Take the castmates I just mentioned… the ones who are in the same room reading a book and eating a hamburger. Your Field Producer could be sent in to quietly suggest to one of the pair that they bring up the subject of last night’s party, where one of the castmembers fell in the pool during a fight with another castmember. Now you’ve gone from wasting tape waiting for action to happen to jump-starting genuine character interaction. Sure, the subject won’t have come up organically, but you’ll never know it in the final product. Once your fresh topic is off the blocks, your characters are suddenly talking again, and who knows what the new conversation may open up?

Feeding topics of conversation to your castmembers during stagnant moments is just one way to liven things up without materially changing the agenda of the day’s outline. Here are a few more:

•  Suggest that a castmember privately reach out to another castmember who’s withdrawing from interaction with the group.

•  Ask some members of the cast to discuss (amongst themselves) who they feel is in the lead, getting the most attention, creating the most problems for the rest of the group, or who they’re worried about losing at the next elimination.

•  If there’s a good hour or two until the next planned activity in the outline, suggest a simple group activity that will put a sizable percentage of castmembers in an immediate area and force interaction. Maybe an impromptu game of poker or a short soak in the hot tub will loosen their tongues.
⁷

Take care, however, to not overwork your cast to the point where they start to resent being asked to instigate or participate in these little side moments.

Set Etiquette

While the world of reality production is often faster and looser than that of traditional scripted comedies and dramas, there are certain professional expectations during the production phase that are too important to be overlooked in this chapter.

Don’t Feed The Animals: The Talent Is Not Your Friend

You heard me.

The cast is not your friend. You are not their friend. You should try your best to get along with them on the rare occasions that you interact (during interviews, in odd situations where you’re traveling together, and so on), but don’t get chummy.

Why?

In Reality TV, once you lose your status as a disinterested observer, the work suffers. Trust me. If your on-camera talent is making non-stop asides to the camera crew he’s been playing cards with the night before in the middle of a scene where he should be paying attention to his castmates, you’ll either have to scrap the scenes or pray for a miracle in the edit bays.

Another rookie mistake is taking pictures with your castmates and posting them to your social networking site accounts. Remember way back when I told you how seriously Reality producers, networks and production companies take the illusion of reality? How do you think they’ll react to seeing you and their talent doing shots together at a pub after a day of shooting? You can, no kidding, be fired for this kind of behavior. I’ve seen the memos.

While we’re on the subject of posting to social networking sites, it’s even a bad idea for talent to have your email or social networking account info. Let’s suppose that, months down the line, the show is on air and talent doesn’t like what they see. They’ll almost surely drop you an email or send you a private message asking you about what’s coming up for them on the show, how they’ll be portrayed later in the season, why you made certain choices with their content, or other questions along those lines. If you respond, you’re likely in violation of your non-disclosure agreement, and discussing show content that hasn’t aired yet with anyone, including cast, is a huge no-no. Giving a castmember written documentation about how you composed their scenework is about as wise as pouring gas on a fire. Last but not least, why lose valuable time and sleep over someone else’s neuroses about how they’re being portrayed on television, even if your characterization is spot-on?

In summation, getting chummy is a bad idea. Keep your distance.

Trouble In Paradise: What To Do When The Shoot Goes South

Few castmembers truly realize what they’ve signed on for until things are underway for a few days. Most don’t understand why the environments are so strictly controlled or why they’re being directed to do or say specific things, and once the interaction with other castmembers starts to get real, they may feel helpless and out of control as their expectations give way to the realities of participating in a Reality program.

There’s a tremendous amount of diplomacy and handholding to be done with Reality castmembers, and sometimes it falls on you to handle it. Remember, a castmember who feels manipulated and abused will create serious problems down the line and likely poison the attitudes of the whole group if left unchecked.

A Story Producer I know had the misfortune of sharing transportation a few times with a competitor on a Reality series who was obsessed with pumping Producers and crew for information on her standing within the competition. No amount of encouragement, support or information was enough for her, and when she was ultimately eliminated from the show, she was bitter and inconsolable, claiming that she felt “set up” because she couldn’t get straight answers out of anyone during her experience.

I said this earlier, but it bears repeating:
Castmembers are not your friends
, even though you should take measures to ensure that they’re comfortable. I suggest you try to avoid dealing with them directly as much as possible and leave that to the Field Producers and faces they’re familiar with. But when you can’t avoid interaction (as with the instance in which that Story Producer had to share transportation), here are some things to remember:

•  Never tell a castmember what will or won’t be used on the show.

•  Never divulge to a castmember any information they haven’t already learned on-set. And remember, talking to a castmember is like talking into a tape recorder that could be played back to anyone at any time.

•  Never tell a castmember how you think they’re coming across oncamera in an effort to assuage them.

•  Never tell an outright lie to a castmember to calm them. It’s like setting a time bomb that’ll eventually go off and obliterate any semblance of trust between them and the production.

So with all those “nevers” laid down, what
can
you say?

It’s okay to tell them that your job prohibits you from having discussions with them about production… in fact, it’s advisable.

It’s okay to tell a castmember that you empathize with their concerns, and that your focus is on telling a good story, not intentionally humiliating anyone.

It’s okay (and probably best) to deflect questions and major concerns to more senior Producers or EPs on-set.

A Final Word On Production: Physical Safety

Remember that the physical safety of your cast and crew takes precedence over getting story. If you overhear threats of bodily harm, cast revenge plots with any element of physical danger, or anything along those lines, report them to your superiors immediately.

If you think they won’t take such threats seriously, guess again. During the taping of a major Reality program some number of years ago, a castmember pressed a knife against a female castmate’s throat, asking if it would “be OK if I killed you.” The offending castmember was immediately ejected from the program. Reality gets enough bad press and criticism as it is for its dark side, and production companies aren’t cruising for lawsuits.

While not all of them do, most production companies take the high road from the very beginning, subjecting potential participants to extensive psychiatric and character evaluations prior to adding them to the cast. I can speak firsthand to this as I was phoned as a reference for a friend who was to appear on a popular Reality series just a few years ago. In the call, which lasted the better part of an hour, I was asked questions about my friend’s typical alcohol consumption, propensity toward violence when provoked, and a host of other probing questions. It was really quite remarkable to experience just how thorough their process was.

In addition to psychological and character evaluations, hopefuls are also often given complete physical exams to ensure that they’re up to the stress of appearing in Reality programs with any sort of endurance considerations.

But enough about the cast. Let’s talk about you and your health and safety.

You’re on the same set in a complete run-and-gun environment for weeks at a time… it’s up to you alone to ensure that you’re ready for the challenge.

It’s easy to forget the basics of keeping yourself physically and mentally well during production. Long days may mean lack of sleep, and you can’t rely on production craft services to provide the most nutritious snacks or meal selections. After a few weeks of subsisting on nachos, chocolate candies, and soda, you’re lucky to have any wits about you at all to handle story, so pack healthy, portable snacks at home and bring them to set if at all possible. Sleep as much as you can in the off-hours, and (if you can swing it) get in a walk, a run, or a trip to the gym every day at some point to keep your energy up and provide the personal, reflective, regenerative down-time you need.

If you are being placed in a situation where you perceive you are at risk,
⁸
it’s okay to say no to the production or ask if there’s another member of the story team who doesn’t feel as threatened or endangered by a situation. If the circumstances that may arise were not discussed at the time you were hired, you have every right to say no to risky activity. Above all, if you’re asked to participate in illegal activity, you’re well within your rights to refuse or walk away.

No television show is worth anyone’s life, health, sanity, freedom, or safety.
Period.