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By Kate Mulcrone
Special to MSN Entertainment
If spring is a time of renewal then let's go ahead and call summer a time of reality -- reality television, that is. Reality shows have become such a dominant force in our culture that almost anyone can become a celebrity by convincing a producer or two that they're worth watching. Even though the idea is to be "real," it turns out you can learn how to be an arguably better version of yourself and increase your odds of getting cast on a reality show. How? By going to school.
Even though I'd rather perform surgery on myself than go on TV, I took part in a one-day workshop at the New York Reality TV School so that you could all benefit from my ... embarrassment. Admittedly, I was curious to see what the other students would be like. You have to be pretty serious about reality TV to shell out $139 and give up a Saturday, right? Like the woman I chatted with before class who told me she'd like to be on "America's Next Top Model." She was about 5 feet 5 inches tall, so I'm not sure it's in the cards for her.
Our instructor was Robert Galinsky, the school's founder, who, according to his IMDb page, played Fanatic Hassidic Jew in the 2001 film "Brooklyn Babylon." Other instructors included Robert Russell, who lent his expertise in the area of casting. He has cast shows like "Big Brother" and "The Bachelor." Jorge Bendersky and Dave Martin -- two former reality show cast members (Jorge was on "Groomer Has It" and Dave was a contestant on "Top Chef") -- were also on hand, to cover the whole "been there, done that" angle. Clearly, I was in the company of experts. Here's what I learned:
| D o you want to be the person who consoles the crier or the one who bags on her? Do whatever you want, just make sure you seize the moment and turn someone else's tantrum into some camera time for yourself. |
Reality TV School Is Kinda Like Preschool
Reality TV
School started bright and early -- OK, slightly before noon -- on a Saturday
morning. Most of the other people there looked like they'd gotten a good night's
sleep instead of staying out at the bar until pretty late. Ahem. The first thing
we had to do was stand around in a circle and introduce ourselves. Let's call it
show and tell, grown-up version. Most people were actors. One guy was a
contestant on "Deal or No Deal."
Another woman was about to shoot a pilot for a reality show based on her dating
life. After that we did some stretching to loosen up. Then we played a bizarro
game of Simon Says. Looking back, that was the easy part. I felt a little silly,
sure, but it would get worse before it got better.
Reality TV School Is Kinda Like High School
Remember high
school? Remember feeling self-conscious all the time? Well at Reality TV School
there were cameras everywhere. The smarter classmates seemed blissfully unaware
of them, but I felt myself freezing up every time my image was put up on the
video monitor.
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