Issue Date: August 1, 2004
Are you ready for your 15 minutes?
Sites can help make your reality-TV dreams real.
If you crave fame or simply want to follow your favorite reality-TV heroes through their stints as stars, hop on the Web. Dozens of sites can serve as road maps on your journey to vie for the Bachelor's affection, get a life-altering makeover or, perhaps, scarf down slimy slugs for a bundle of cash.
SirLinksalot.net is a great place to find a comprehensive list of shows scouring America for contestants. From the homepage, choose "casting calls links" to begin your search. This will take you to a page filled with links to press releases and news articles telling you when "Survivor" execs are coming to your town, or how to be the next Shirley Partridge on VH1's new "Partridge Family." Also check out TVRules.net for more information and casting calls.
Sites like these "are a great bulletin board," says Rob LaPlante, casting director for NBC's "Apprentice 2," which started casting in March and continues through August. But if you already know what show you want to be on, LaPlante says, "go to the source."
Most network Web sites let you download application forms. Casting agents recommend mailing one with a short audition tape describing what sets you apart from others. "Every single tape gets looked at," says Sasha Alpert, VP of casting for Bunim-Murray Productions. Close to a third of the cast of MTV's "Real World" is found that way, she says.
If you aren't picky about where you're cast, go to RealityAuditions.com to create a personal Web page complete with a detailed profile and two photos (which you can upload). Then wait for casting directors to dial your number. A year's membership costs $29.95. Reality Auditions doesn't promise to get you prime-time exposure; it considers itself a "springboard" to elevate you above the sea of applicants. Founder Wil Fernandez says as many as 150 executives use his site to sift through the masses of reality-TV wannabes: "Producers can search the database by keywords, location or interests." One member, Larice Addamo, found fame as a contestant on the dating show "Blind Date."
While scanning sites and upping your chances to be chosen as America's next reality royalty, pop over to RealityTVWorld.com to keep up with today's shows and yesterday's stars. Find out how William Hung of "American Idol" fared singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" at the Toronto SkyDome, or get the details about former "Real World" cast member Kelley Limp's wedding to actor Scott Wolf. Who knows? Maybe soon someone will be tracking your reality-TV fame and good fortune.
-- Karen Schubert
|
