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The Real World comes to Madison
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Also by Mike Wagner:
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by Mike Wagner
Tuesday, October 7, 2003
MTV casters are coming to State Street Tuesday to seek out local talent for the upcoming season of Road Rules and The Real World.
An open call will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the second floor of State Street Brats for anyone willing to audition. The application process includes filling out a one-page form and being interviewed in groups with an MTV casting director.
“We love the student body here at Wisconsin. We were drawn here because of the number of interesting personalities within the university,” Casting Director Jason Horowitz said.
Horowitz said he and the other casting directors are looking for unique, dynamic and outgoing individuals who have a willingness to share their story with the casting directors. He said one important quality that they look for is sincerity.
“We have become adept at weeding out people who try to put on a show,” Horowitz said. “My best advice is to just be yourself.”
Horowitz said the main reason why they selected State Street Brats as the venue for the auditions was because the restaurant could easily accommodate such an event without seriously disrupting their usual business.
Manager Matt Goetch of State Street Brats said that he was not surprised when MTV approached their restaurant with their plans for another casting call.
“They’ve been there once before to do Road Rules and it worked out really well for them,” Goetch said. “The last [audition] was big. Some people were even wearing costumes. It was really interesting to watch.”
Goetch said that State Street Brats will be opening at 10 a.m., one hour earlier than usual, to accommodate the event, and will be operating as usual all day.
Madison is 11 of 14 open calls across the country, all of which occur in the span of about one month, and organizers are expecting anywhere from 800 to 1200 people to show up during the day, with the biggest portion auditioning in the morning.
Because of such large numbers, Horowitz said he encourages people to show up early. He said the casters will hold as many interviews as possible, but that the balance between interview time and the number of interviews will depend on how many people show up.
The Real World is now in its 13th season and Road Rules is in the South Pacific for its 12th season on MTV.
Horowitz said that those selected from this series of auditions will begin filming on either Road Rules or The Real World in January of 2004 and the season will likely air sometime during the summer of 2004.
