Think You Could Be a Reality-TV Star? Here's Your Chance

The producers of "The Next Reality Star: Pittsburgh" share some do's and don'ts for potential candidates.

photo courtesy of great american country

Do you ever have those moments when you think, “Wow — my life should be a TV show”?

Well, the people over at One Louder Productions and the Steeltown Entertainment Project think that you should have your own reality show, maybe.

“The Next Reality Star: Pittsburgh,” a search for Pittsburghers with reality-star potential, debuted in 2012, and it’s back for a second round. On July 11, you can audition at WQED Studios in front of producers and judges (TBD) for a shot at TV fame. Share your personality and your story — just be sure to thoroughly fill out the application before you show up.

The winner of their last contest was Chet Welch and his partner Bob who raise llamas on a farm in Armstrong County, but Welch also coaches beauty pageant contestants. Their show “Farm Queens” ran on the Great American Country network. 

Bob Kusbit, the project’s producer, is a Latrobe native who has helped to engineer reality shows such as MTV’s “MADE.”

“This is a real opportunity,” he says, as long as those auditioning act natural and don't try to create a phony persona. Casting producer Ellen Berkman Davis, who has worked on such reality hits as “Survivor” and “The Amazing Race,” agrees.

“Pure and authentic is the way to go,” she says. As a native Pittsburgher herself, Berkman Davis adds, “we are known as hard-working, honest and relatable. People like to watch that.”

Kusbit says that a successful reality show plays “in between the coasts” — it has to be relatable to people in small towns and those living in the Midwest.

“[In Pittsburgh,] there just seems to be a lot of character,” he says, adding that the city is a “largely untapped market” of talent.

Kusbit says he and Berkman Davis are looking for great characters and stories, but also saleability to different TV networks.

“It’s hard to sell a show about one character,” Kusbit says. “They’ve got to have a good supporting cast around them. The best reality characters are people who are living an interesting life without the cameras.”

For those chosen as finalists, it's not a done deal. Kusbit says they must also pass a background check as part of the overall vetting process.