If you weren't accepted for the new season of "The Real World" or you haven't heard back about your "Survivor" application, there is still a chance you'll be able to share your life with an audience.
Gretchen Cook, a second-year graduate student at The University of Memphis, is looking to showcase a diverse group of students in her upcoming documentary, tentatively titled "Fast Times at Tiger High."
Initially, Cook wanted her film to focus on the lives of high school students. She later found, however, that a college campus is more likely to provide her with a wealth of interesting stories from all walks of life.
"There are a lot of people willing to expose themselves in front of a camera," Cook said.
This openness to share tales about school, family and working continues to become more and more popular thanks to the ever-expanding reality television craze.
"More people have that 'I'm going to be a movie star' kind of mentality," Cook said.
Recently, Cook began to advertise on the Facebook and has already received a good deal of feedback.
She has cast six students possessing both the movie star mentality and compelling stories for her film. She is still hoping to cast more.
The film is essentially a day in the life of students, Cook said. There will also be interviews with minor characters mixed in, in order to enrich the documentary overall.
Documentaries have always appealed to Cook, due to their ability to capture real people in real life situations. One of her filmmaking idols is D.A. Pennebaker, whose film "Don't Look Back" followed Bob Dylan during his 1965 tour in England and is still revered within the documentary genre.
Cameron Crowe is another director Cook admires. Although he is primarily known for films such as "Almost Famous" and "Say Anything," Crowe went undercover while making "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" in order to honestly portray high school students.
For Cook, this same honesty is a top priority while compiling her thesis project. David Appleby, a communications professor at The U of M, will be working closely with Cook throughout the filmmaking process.
"Now we're going over the concept," Appleby said. "Eventually we'll start looking at footage together."
While Cook refines the concept for "Fast Times at Tiger High," Appleby has nothing but positive thoughts about the film.
"We always have high hopes when a film begins," Appleby said.
This outlook is likely to carry over to the spring semester when shooting begins. After production has wrapped, the film may be entered in to several filmmaking contests on a national scale.
"Our purpose is to get films out there," Appleby said. "They are intended for an audience, not just a classroom."
If you are interested in being a part of Cook's documentary, she can be contacted at gmcook@memphis.edu.
