by Troy DeVolld
Let’s say you’ve been approached about being on a reality television show. You’ve given it some thought, and you think that the experience might be fun. There are some nagging doubts in the back of your mind about whether or not you should sign on the line, but you’re not even really sure what you need to know to make you feel more comfortable or help you decide to walk away.
First, understand that your life will lose a certain amount of spontaneity for the duration of taping. If you’re being followed, a producer and camera team can’t just follow you to the mall, to the grocery, to a club you like, or to some place you decide you’d like to go to on very little notice. It’s not an issue of manipulation or control, it’s just that locations have to be precleared. If you have existing commitments or things you’d like to do, consider it your job to discuss them with your producer and story team as early as you can so that they can try to help you make arrangements. Big travel is quite likely out, so if you’re planning to be out of town for two weeks in the middle of shooting, make sure that’s discussed and approved before you sign on to do the show. Given the fact that most reality shows are on tight budgets, the idea of you being out of the story loop for ten days has a massive impact on production.
Be clear from the onset about access and how production works. There’s virtually no such thing as a pure follow show, where a crew simply tags along during your everyday life and winds up with enough story content to fill six, eight, ten, thirteen or fifteen episodes. You will probably be asked to do certain things that will help steer story, like having dinner with a friend or cast member to discuss an issue that’s been weighing on you. You might even be asked to reenact some part of your life that happened off camera. You’ll most certainly be asked to come in for interviews time and again, often being asked about the same topics if previous answers don’t completely explain what happened in-scene once the post team has had a crack at the material — we don’t like having to ask you similar questions over and over again, either, but until a scene starts to come together in post, we don’t always know every aspect that will require clarity in order for viewers to understand the action.. If you are too busy or someone who is overly protective of their downtime, a reality show is probably not a great idea for you.