Starting today, three shows will hold auditions locally as producers bypass big cities in search of more genuine people.
By ERIC DEGGANS
Published June 19, 2004
He has never been to the Tampa Bay area. Most of what he knows about this place comes from chatting with a longtime friend, former Gilligan's Island star (and occasional Redington Shores resident) Dawn "Mary Ann" Wells.
Still, The Real Gilligan's Island producer Lloyd Schwartz, son of Gilligan's Island creator Sherwood Schwartz, is convinced this is the perfect place to look for people to fill his latest project, a reality show featuring average people who will reprise roles from the classic sitcom while playing a competitive game.
"We need someone associated with water for Gilligan and the Skipper, and there's some colleges around here, so we can get young people," said Schwartz, who will assemble his show with Mike Fleiss, cousin to Hollywood madam Heidi and creator of ABC's reality romance show The Bachelor. "It's a population that encompasses a lot of things."
And Schwartz, who will vet candidates Thursday at the Pier in St. Petersburg, is not alone.
Average Joe co-executive producer Andrew Glassman - whose company has casting agents in Tampa today and Sunday considering hopefuls for a new travel/romance reality show on NBC called Escape Your Life - said communities like the Tampa Bay area can see a surge of audition activity by developing a good reputation among a growing cottage industry of reality TV casting directors.
Glassman and Schwartz join a long list of producers who have turned the Tampa Bay area into a mini mecca for reality TV, tapping locals for The Bachelor, Fear Factor, Road Rules, The Real World, Trading Spaces, Survivor and Extreme Makeover, among other shows.
Local benefits from such attention can come in two waves; as merchants see a few thousand dollars in extra sales, area tourism and film production officials can make a case for bringing more extensive production to the community.
"(During the Gilligan's Island auditions), people are going to need cold drinks and snacks and stuff like that . . . so all those little shops and facilities in the Pier will see some money," said St. Petersburg-Clearwater film commissioner Jennifer Parramore, whose office helped Gilligan's producers by providing volunteers to work during casting sessions and presenting information on local yacht clubs.
"We are building a relationship with a producer, who often is a distant city like Los Angeles," she said. "Now they know my name and phone number, and I know their names and numbers as well."
In the past, casting agents might present auditions in larger cities such as Miami or Atlanta. But the recent flurry of auditions in the Tampa Bay area indicates producers may be looking at local sites with increasing interest.
"They don't want to cast their shows in New York or L.A., because the people who turn out want to be actors and they're totally transparent," said Glassman, now developing a female version of Average Joe called Average Jane. "Instead of going to Miami, you have them swing through a couple of Florida cities where people are a little more real and have that genuine quality ... so everyone doesn't look like the same aspiring actress from Santa Monica."
Schwartz, who helped his father produce the original Gilligan's Island and The Brady Bunch, said CBS's attempt to make a reality TV version of The Beverly Hillbillies inspired him. He'll feature a skipper, sailor, girl next door, rich man and his wife, professor and even a movie star who are "shipwrecked" on a desert isle, facing challenges to earn their rescue and a huge, undetermined prize.
His tips for auditioners: "Don't act like Gilligan, just be him. Don't act stupid, because Gilligan wasn't stupid, he was just enthusiastic."
Will they look for obviously awful people, like American Idol's William Hung - a horrible singer and dancer who has made a career of lampooning himself in videos and on record?
"I couldn't tell anyone to be awful on purpose," said Schwartz, who nevertheless acknowledged that each audition will be videotaped and could appear on the show. "Just be yourself and have fun. If you fit the bill, you'll get the job."
In the world of reality TV, where every show concept can be summed up in a sentence and anyone could have the next blockbuster in their hip pocket, Glassman resists saying much about Escape Your Life, beyond noting that even some contestants don't want to know too much.
"It's come to the point where people who sign up say, "I know there must be some twisted element. ... Don't ruin it for me,"' the producer said, laughing. "If (you have) watched reality shows and think you're a great character ... even if you're not right for one show, that same casting director may be working another show six months later and remember you."
Indeed, St. Petersburg resident Marissa Clark thought she was headed for a Joe Millionaire-style reality dating show when she signed up for a new program developed by TBS.
Instead, she was whisked to the wilds of Australia for Outback Jack, a reality dating show debuting at 9 p.m. Tuesday featuring 12 pampered beauties living in the wilderness, vying for a hunk who must choose between them.
"I didn't talk to any (friends) ... because I figured they might try to talk me out of it," said Clark, 23, an aspiring actress who once performed with area teen pop group Mpress. "Once I knew the twist, I figured I'd just suck it up and have some fun."
Glassman said applicants just need to be distinctive people who are open about their lives, especially any past personal scandals.
"We tell people, when it comes out, and it will, it will be much more embarrassing to you than us," he said. "(But) whether there are moments to make you cringe or you walk away with the prize, there's nothing like the experience of going from relative obscurity to being in the national spotlight overnight."
CASTING CALLS
ESCAPE YOUR LIFE Today from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Doubletree Hotel, 3050 N Rocky Point Drive W, Tampa. For details: www.nbc.com/nbc/footer/Contestants.shtml
AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL A casting director from supermodel Tyra Banks' UPN series will come to the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tampa at 10 a.m. Wednesday for a daylong casting session. For details: www.upn.com/shows/top_model_application/index.shtml
THE REAL GILLIGAN'S ISLAND Thursday at 2 p.m. at the Pier in St. Petersburg; an eight-hour casting call, videotaping applicants who most closely evoke the original show's seven characters without performing outright impressions. Hopefuls are expected to dress like a character and may be asked to sing the legendary theme song. For details: www.telepicturestv.com/gilligancasting/
