They’re big, they’re bad, and they’re gonna be
at your local multiplex faster than you can say Richard Hatch.
The tsunami of reality programming will soon crash onto the
silver screen again with the tentatively titled “Spring
Break: The Movie.” It’s going to be cast with real
college students and part of the first wave of auditions will be
held at Madison’s on Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. for
would-be UCLA Pucks. This “reality movie” along with
other cultural milestones like “Jackass: the Movie”
could be the start of a whole new trend in entertainment, an
extension of the reality television phenomenon that started 2 1/2
years ago.
“Spring Break: The Movie” will follow a traditional
documentary form, a break from the contest-based mold for most
reality shows. The film’s structure is still uncertain, but
the idea at present is to follow eight co-eds from the end of
finals to Spring Break in Cancun, Mexico, and ending a couple of
weeks after their return to academia. “Spring Break: The
Movie” is slated for a lightning-fast Summer 2003 release,
only two months after production.
“It’s a little backwards, isn’t it? To not
have the concept ready before we do casting,” said Robyn
Kass, the executive casting director for the film. “But once
we figure out who the people are, the structure will come into play
afterwards.”
Although there are open calls at 19 universities in total, Kass
is highly optimistic about the UCLA prospects, having worked with
students here before through numerous TV shows, mainly dating
games.
“We’ve been to the campus before, and we know that
UCLA students are fun people, energetic people, and great-looking
people, too,” she said.
People hoping to party on the big screen can expect a quick and
painless preliminary audition. Applicants will fill out a small
information sheet, then talk briefly with a casting producer.
“This is so we get a feel for personality and what type of
person they’d be on Spring Break,” said Kass.
Kass and her team are not the only ones on the “reality
movie” trail, however.
Bunim-Murray Productions, the team behind MTV’s
iconoclastic “The Real World,” also have a Spring Break
documentary in the works with New Line Cinema. However,
Bunim-Murray is not casting anywhere on the West Coast.
With not one, but two spring break “reality movies”
on the way, it would seem that interest in reality programming is
high, yet the current television landscape tells a different story.
Despite a growing multitude of reality offerings, from Fox’s
cheeky “Joe Millionaire” to MTV’s goldmine
“The Osbournes,” few have scored high on the ratings
board. Even “Survivor,” CBS’ flagship reality
series, gets upstaged weekly by the “last” season of
NBC’s traditional multi-camera sitcom
“Friends.”
“Spring Break: The Movie” provides some hope for the
declining genre, but Kimi Maibaum, a third-year biology student,
remains skeptical.
“I’m sure there’ll be plenty of people (at the
auditions), but I wouldn’t think its success is a sure
thing,” she said. “It would appeal to the same
audiences as “˜Jackass: The Movie’ or “˜Girls Gone
Wild.'”
Kass rebuffs the idea of a limited audience, and hopes that the
“reality movie” trend starting in Cancun doesn’t
stay in Cancun.
“I’m a reality TV junkie, and I’m really
excited about this movie, and I hope there will be more,” she
said. “I think the country’s really gonna be curious.
People will wanna see how it all pans out. “