September 27, 2001
By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
When Julie Schenker spotted
an MTV crew filming a group of young'uns downtown, she decided to follow
them.
"I had seen pictures of
some of them on Web sites and recognized them," says Schenker, 18, of Albany
Park. "The producers, or whoever they were, kept shooing me away, which
was annoying 'cause I wasn't even in their way. I was just watching. One
of the guys--I think Chris, but I'm not positive--winked at me and motioned
that it was cool for me to be there.
"He was a doll, but one
of the girls who was with him was just plain nasty. She was acting like
a big star. No one was really paying any attention to her. It looked like
some of the people were embarrassed by her attitude. The blond girl was
saying she was hungry, and the mean girl just kind of made a face at her."
When a production assistant
asked Schenker and some of the others milling around to fill out release
forms, she pocketed hers and left.
"I thought about signing
it, but they don't give you enough time to read the contract," she says.
"I know enough about the show to know that they can make you look like
an idiot if they don't like you. But it was cool getting that form as a
souvenir."
The "guest/performer release"
is fairly standard, giving MTV and Bunim/Murray Productions the right to
use your likeness in any way they choose and, guess what? You can't sue
them if they misrepresent you because part of the agreement states you
will make no claim of any kind against them.
This is a dilemma Jason
Drake didn't have to worry about. When he and his production crew went
by the Real World apartment to tape a segment of their access cable show
"3 Guys Pickin," no one asked them to sign anything, much to their chagrin.
"The 'Real World' crew came
out to film one of the girls leaving and they filmed us filming them for
about 5 seconds," says Drake, producer of the show. "I doubt they'll use
it, since they didn't make us sign any release forms. The crew did wave
to us as they left."
He notes that his co-hort
"Beer Man" wasn't impressed with their dwelling.
"Beer Man has a background
in construction and engineering," says Drake. "The air conditioning set-up,
the lack of open windows, the reserved parking for the crew, the front
door that isn't really the front door--not impressive."
In order to complete their
"Real World" experience, Drake and company went across the street to Piece
for a bite to eat.
"We tried to enjoy some
very unenjoyable pizza," he says.
He didn't spot Tanya or
Cara, who had been hired earlier this summer as a waitron and hostess,
respectively.
Neither did I during any
of my stops there in the past few weeks. But I must say that I found the
Wolfgang Puckish pizza to be quite tasty and worth the trip, even without
any "celebrity" servers.
Got a scoop about "The Real World" in Wicker Park? E-mail me at realworld@suntimes.com
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