Booking “The Real World” Denver cast

Booking “The Real World” Denver cast
by John Wenzel on September 25, 2006

“The Real World” Key West cast, now available for birthdays, bar mitzvahs and barn raisings.

– Everyone knows that being on a reality TV show, especially one as long-running and well-known as “The Real World,” can lead to a larger career, even if that simply means paid appearances at parties and lectures at colleges. The best-case scenario finds you getting on even more TV shows, or getting into modeling, acting and other slightly sustainable fields.

– But who books these appearances, and how does the newly-freed Denver cast, for example, break into that lucrative market? Earlier today I talked with Michael Martin, founder of Michael Martin Agency, perhaps the biggest booker of “Real World” cast members around, about what governs this contract-heavy process and what “The Real World” Denver cast can expect once the requests start pouring in…

– Martin, a savvy 30-year-old businessman, (see his Myspace page here), revealed that he’ll be having cast members actually post on his blog in the future. He also promised to forward us the inside news about the Denver cast’s appearances when they start hitting.

For now, here’s our chat:

John Wenzel: So how did you get started in this business?

Michael Martin: I went to the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, got my degree in computer engineering, and was doing engineering work near MIT. Since I worked in Boston I started doing nightclub promotions for social contacts. So by doing that, since Boston is the biggest college city in America, I was actually recruited by MTV to do their Spring Break down in Cancun.

By doing that I got in good with the casting director and other people. Then I started booking casting calls and segue-wayed into “Real World” cast members looking for bookings. I felt it was something I could base an agency around, with the show continuing, even past Denver now, for at least another couple years. It’s a good show to be involved with. And “Road Rules,” which hasn’t been renewed yet. It keeps getting kicked around — there’s word it should be picked up but nothing’s absolute.

Where are you based out of?

San Diego. I’ve been doing this for five years but as my own agency, since December 2002.

And you’re currently booking appearances for “The Real World” Key West cast, right?

Yeah, they’re actually a great cast to work with for these appearances. They’re all very professional, very into it when they’re there. They put on a great show as opposed to in the past, there were people that’d just take the paycheck and sit in the back corner, which doesn’t do any good for future appearances. This cast is exceptional, very punctual.

Why do you think that is? Are reality TV shows now attracting more determined, business-oriented type of people that want to make a career out of it?

You’re definitely seeing that expectation coming into play for the last few seasons of “The Real World.” I think after Las Vegas people started thinking, “I can really make a lot of money after this is over.” MTV doesn’t really pay people to be on the show. There’s a saying at MTV that like, “We’ll make you famous. It’s up to you to make money off that.�? MTV really doesn’t pay much for anything. People think it’s this big corporate network, but really they play off their name and they can pay people peanuts. They use a lot of independent contractors and don’t hire too many full-time people.

That means these cast members are obviously eager to squeeze as much out of the experience as possible?

They don’t do these appearances for free — that’s how they make their money off the show. They’re making at least $1,000 per appearance, depending on what they’re doing. At these things they all have an itinerary, they all have a purpose. Some plug their own products, some are just there to make people sure they’re having a good time, to keep the club hopping. That residual exposure is good when someone tells their friends about what a good time they had at that club.

Like when Club Vinyl had its unofficial Launch Party and Reality TV Junky Party here this summer with former cast members?

Sounds like it.

Are you the only one booking these cast members?

There are several agents. No one has exclusivity, including myself. People lose understanding sometimes of these events. They merge MTV in with Bunim/Murray Productions, but they’re separate. Bunim/Murray strictly does the casting. Some of these parties have nothing to do with MTV, since they just buy the show through Bunim/Murray.

Bunim/Murray controls rights to the cast, and MTV controls rights to their trademark and brand and how it’s presented. It’s only through people that are outside the network or the directors — that’s when they go through me. MTV doesn’t even cast for “The Real World.” It’s strictly through Bunim/Murray. There have been companies in the past saying they were casting for “The Real World,” but they were false.

But the one here in Denver on Saturday was the real deal?

Yeah, that was real.

Do you meet the cast members, or do you just see their photos and bios and go from there?

I meet the majority of them. I’ve been doing it for so long it’s kind of like a family.

How do they first get in touch with you, or is it the other way around?

It’s usually like, “Oh, I’m done with the show. What do I do? Who do I talk to?” They generally talk to previous cast members well before their season airs. Then the cast members contact me and say, “Hey, here’s my contact info. How’s it work?” I give them the rundown of procedures and how contracts work.

I imagine the game’s changed a bit over the years…

It used to be halfway through the season before we started getting (appearance requests), but now we’re seeing them right around the second or third episode. They get so busy already… it’s right after the first week now that places start wanting them. It’s amazing how it’s getting sooner and sooner.

Well, media attention has increased. A site like ours can tell you who all the cast members are before the show even airs, even if it pisses off Bunim/Murray that we’re riding them on every little thing.

Your site is very good in that regard. You’ve also got the backing of The Denver Post. I know Austin had a site doing the behind-the-scenes thing, but the newspaper itself wasn’t involved.

We just wanted to have fun with the show while it was in town, do a rumor/gossip type thing, but it really seemed to anger Bunim/Murray. We’ve heard from people that they absolutely hate us, which means we’re doing our job.

They’re very protective. They want to control their buzz. I myself have to check with the casting director at MTV, who doesn’t necessarily deal with “The Real World” itself until the reunion show. But he sometimes says he won’t talk about something yet, or to keep something under wraps. Even though I don’t work for MTV, I don’t want to burn any bridges or piss anyone off. We both help each other out for different events. I like to keep things on the up and up and not push any of the wrong buttons. But MTV’s very, very protective of their stuff.

I think ultimately this site is just going to feed viewership of the show, which is something I’m ambivalent about. There’s now way that MTV hates that aspect of it…

Yeah, even when they’re rubbed the wrong way, they’re part of Viacom, this grand umbrella of all those media companies combined. They understand marketing very well. There’s that old saying that all press is good press. They have to go through the motions for legal issues, but they understand it in the grand scheme of things.

Are you currently working with the Denver cast much? Have you talked to any of them?

The Denver cast has contacted me through their Myspace profiles. With the Key West cast that’s how a lot of them found me — even before I was aware of who they were for the show. I think it was a week after wrap. But I exchanged e-mails with the Denver cast just to make them aware of how things are.

They haven’t yet done their training session with Bunim/Murray, on how to do a lecture, how to work a party, etc. I tell them how to do a contract, what to avoid, how to not get burned. In the past some cast members were tied to exclusive contracts that have really hurt them. They have a show window of doing appearances once the show stars, but it can burn off and they need to act quickly.

Are any of the Denver cast members sticking out for you so far, seeming like the ones that will draw the most attention?

It’s hard to say. With Key West, I knew Svetlana was going to be the top getter, which she is, her and John. But this season I kind of look for, what do I say… I look for that Trishelle (from Vegas). That person that stands out, right or wrong. So far, from what I can tell, I don’t see one that really stands out to me. Who do you think?

I think Colie is going to get a lot of attention. She seems like a really fake, loud-mouthed jerk. Ty is also being talked about a lot by various people around town, although for more positive reasons.

Ty’s the one I’ve heard the most about, but I haven’t really talked to him directly or gotten that sense. But that’s the initial feedback I’m getting. It’s not necessarily the most popular cast member that always does the best. It’s an interesting mix of what attracts people to actually see them. Sometimes the most popular cast member doesn’t always draw the most people.

Which former “Real World” cast member gets the most money for appearances?

Trishelle probably gets the most out of all of them. For modeling she makes top dollar.

What’s a ballpark figure?

It goes from $1,000 to $5,000 for an appearance.

So obviously some of these people are doing this full time?

Oh yeah, Syrus from Boston… that season was well over ten years ago, but that’s been his bread and butter since then. He’s the best at keeping this thing going, just because he’s very charismatic, very professional, he’s never been late, and he’s always got that energy. That’s how you can keep doing these appearances after ten years. Some of the cast members, they’re very tough to book and everybody forgets about them. But not him.

So the same things that would make you attractive in any context — consistency, professionalism, business sense — those help you in this job too?

Professionally, yeah, you have to be the anti-Lindsay Lohan. If you show up late and burn me or burn my contacts because you don’t feel like being there, that’s really bad. You can be the most attractive and engaging person but people aren’t going to want to do business with you unless you keep that in mind.

Cool, that’s about all I had. Is there anything you wanted to add?

Yeah, let me ask you something. When the show was in Denver, did people like it and react positively? I know the past few years it’s been pretty negative.

I’d say about half-and-half. People threw bottles at them and cursed and yelled, but no concussions or violent public fights, that I’m aware of.

When it was here in San Diego, it was very very negative. A lot of locals harassed them when they’d go out. After San Diego is when they got their security detail. Philly it was pretty bad too. Austin and San Diego were both bad. Key West was a little bit better.

It’ll be interesting to see how this season goes, for sure.

It will…

So thanks for your time, Michael. Keep in touch and let me know when you hear about all the Denver cast bookings.

Definitely.