Several students walking outside the Johnny Rockets restaurant on Thayer Street last night were flagged down by a man on the roof of a car that featured a large white sign with an alluring message: "MTV Casting Inside!"
The man, Pete Taylor, is working on an untitled reality show that will be shot in Los Angeles this March. With Bunim/Murray Productions - producers of "The Real World" and "The Simple Life" - on-board, Taylor's show will take 12 "singer/actor/model/entertainers" and pair them up with celebrities, who will show the aspiring stars how to make it big in Hollywood.
"We're looking at Brown students because they're diligent, smart, and most of all, creative - very indie, which is a hot word right now," Taylor said. "We love the indie crowd."
Rachel Isaacs '10 and Alexander Hutter '10 were both drawn in by Taylor's hand waving and stepped inside Johnny Rockets to take the young producer up on his casting offer. They filled out a questionnaire that asked for their best and worst traits - Isaacs listed her bust as her best and bad temper as worst, while Hutter described himself as "metro" and "judgmental." After submitting the questionnaire with their contact info and an indication of when they would be available for shooting, the two students reflected on their experience.
"I didn't really know what was going on," Hutter said of the casting call. "I just came in because I was yelled at."
Isaacs joked about what might happen if she were chosen for Taylor's show.
"I was kind of hoping they'd send us to Hawaii or someplace like that," she said. "L.A. will have to do."
