A lot happens in the village of Clarkston, but rarely do events capture the attention of a nationwide audience.
So I experienced mild surprise when I took a call in late January from Debbie Denton, advertising sales representative for The Clarkston News, saying that a camera crew from MTV had arrived at Lorenzo’s Italian Cuisine on Dixie Highway and started filming.
Curious to see why the cable company primarily geared towards teenagers was filming at a fancy restaurant like Lorenzo’s, I grabbed my camera and notebook and took off.
Sure enough, upon arrival I found three camera operators circling around a young girl, who I later learned was Katarina Rea of Clarkston, She was trying to eat a meal with another woman.
As the camera operators worked to capture every possible angle, a producer instructed the wait staff on the timing of food delivery and setup several reenactments until the moment was properly filmed.
When the cameras were briefly turned off, I approached a producer about getting a moment of Rea’s time. I was told I could not speak to her or write a story about her unless I got permission from MTV.
I discovered the crew was filming one of eight possible episodes for a series called ‘Tiara Girls? that would chronicle the daily lives of teenagers preparing for beauty pageants.
Unbeknownst to me at the time, the show was not necessarily going to be produced, so the production team was apprehensive about media coverage before they knew if the show would air.
Two weeks ago, the show was given a green light for production and I was able to sit down and talk with Rea about her experiences. In the six weeks MTV tailed her, Rea visited several locations throughout Clarkston. Whether or not she wanted to, her presence caused a stir in several locations
I sat down with employees from the four local businesses MTV visited during their stay in Clarkston: Lorenzo’s Italian Cuisine, ImageSun Tanning, Mr. B’s and Ruby Tuesdays.
Heather Karl, manager of ImageSun Tanning, said Katarina is a regular customer and the two are on friendly terms with one another. Rea let Karl know ahead of time she planned on coming in, but that she wouldn’t be alone.
Despite being a few hours behind schedule, Karl said the MTV crew was very nice and made an effort to keep her updated. Karl laughed slightly as she recalled her first encounter with reality TV.
‘They had to tape record her five times coming in… and there were three people with cameras in my face and behind me,? Karl said.
She added that she was asked to repeat a sales pitch to Rea three times on camera.
Karl also mentioned how the crew walked around and videotaped everything, including a wall display for extended periods of time.
‘While she was in the tanning bed, they taped all the rooms, which was kind of weird to me… and one guy tape-recorded the lotions,? Karl said.
Karl said she was not a fan of MTV or reality TV before the visit, and she is not going to start now. But she did say she would watch the episode even if she is only on screen for 30 seconds. Her only major concern seemed to be her bosses watching the show.
‘I know corporate is going to watch it, all the big people who control my job, so I better have done it good,? she joked.
Lorenzo said he had very short notice to prepare for the crew’s visit, and everyone ended up staying for nearly three hours. He said he did not mind the crew’s presence in his restaurant, but being caught off guard he asked them to wait and allow him to decorate the tables for dinner even though it was lunch time.
Not wanting his other customers to wonder why only one table was decorated, Lorenzo decided to layout dinner arrangements on every table, and the MTV crew volunteered to help.
‘I had to make it look good in the dining room with table clothes and they helped me set it up,? Lorenzo said. ‘Usually we are closed between three and four to do that.?
Besides the initial shock, Lorenzo said the rest of the visit seemed natural to him and there were only minor disturbances to his normal business.
‘I couldn’t put the music on… I don’t know. It doesn’t make good background,? he said.
‘It was kind of bad,? he said, remarking that he did not want his regular customers to get treated unfairly because of one special guest. No customers complained though.
Nicole Mendez, a wait staff member at Mr. B’s, seemed surprised I was even interested in hearing about what happened there.
‘This is kind of funny… I didn’t think The Clarkston News would be doing a story on MTV being here,? she said.
Mendez said Rea and her parents had lunch there but everything was relatively uneventful. The crew came in at a slow time, and Mendez said she found the whole situation almost comical.
‘The allure of that, three cameras for just a girl and her mom having lunch seemed a bit much,? Mendez said.
‘They made me wait to clear the plates and things like that when I normally would have done that so her dad could talk… so it is somewhat staged, I’d say,? Mendez said.
Mendez admitted reality TV shows are a guilty pleasure of hers, but she was not surprised to see that they are controlled in some manner. Even though she may appear on ‘Tiara Girls,? Mendez said she is not really interested in the premise.
‘I’m not into teenage angst, that’s not my thing,? she said. ‘They cut so much that I can’t even imagine that I’ll even be on the radar.?
One place that did make special arrangements for Rea’s visit was Ruby Tuesday’s.
Rea’s friend Katie Townsend works at the restaurant so she was able to give them advanced notice of the visit. Though Townsend made sure she was not working the day of their visit and was there as a customer.
Lindsey Goerss works as a server at Ruby Tuesday’s and was working the day they showed up.
‘We tried to clear out a section of the restaurant so there wasn’t as much around them because they had the camera people,? Goerss said.
As a result, Goerss said the other sections of the restaurant became busier to compensate, and eventually they had to start seating people in the closed off area.
Besides a little overcrowding, Goerss said there was nothing special about the filming taking place. She said she did not observe any repetitive staging or dramatic events, and people lost interest.
‘At first everyone was like ‘Oh, MTV is here!? but it wasn’t all that exciting. It’s a bunch of people with cameras… nothing really special,? she said.
When asked if she would watch ‘Tiara Girls,? Goerss said, ‘Maybe, just because it was filmed here.?
Like most of the business people MTV came into contact with, Goerss said she does not put a lot of thought into what goes into a reality show, and everyone seemed skeptical of how much ‘reality? is being captured.
‘It’s kind of funny to see the drama throughout but I’m sure most of it is staged,? Goerss said.
I admit my initial expectations were proven wonrg after talking to local workers. I expected MTV’s presence to cause more disturbances that they did and I thought more people would take an interest. Reality TV shows are commonplace now, and most people seem to be so desenstized to them that they no longer capture interest they way they once did. While Mendez doubts she will show up on MTV’s radar, it seems MTV was barely a blip on ours.