Jericho, NY, April 22, 2003 – With reality programs continuing to avalanche the airwaves, individuals who have been the big winners or whose personalities have captured the public’s imagination have received tremendous media attention. Real people have become instant celebrities after exposing their deepest selves on national television, forever altering their lives. The first documentary to detail the after-math of being on a reality show, THE AMC PROJECT: REALITY PEOPLE premieres Monday, June 16 (10:00 p.m. ET/PT) on AMC.
But what happens when the show is over? What happens to the old contestants that are systematically replaced by a new crop? What happens to the real lives of “Reality People” after we forget about them? If the American dream is to be rich and famous, what happens when people only achieve half of that equation: fame. THE AMC PROJECT: REALITY PEOPLE follows the post reality show journey taken by three individuals– Tonya Paoni (Big Brother 3), Chadwick Pelletier (Road Rules) and George Boswell (Big Brother 1) — who struggle to come to terms with their “fifteen minutes.”
A thought-provoking examination of the transforming experience of reality television, this one-hour documentary chronicles the lives of these “quasi-celebrities” as they face personal dramas including a broken marriage, economic hardships and Hollywood’s backlash.
The three reality TV veterans featured in THE AMC PROJECT: REALITY PEOPLE are:
TONYA PAONI (Big Brother 3)
A popular character from the third season of BIG BROTHER, Las Vegas resident Tonya Paoni is a mother of five. Now in the midst of an ugly divorce, Paoni is faced with daunting financial realities. Undaunted, she peels one more layer off her private life, when she poses for a special edition of Playboy magazine, featuring the women of reality TV.
CHADWICK PELLETIER (Road Rules)
A re-occurring face on many reality shows, including ROAD RULES and guest appearances on three other MTV reality shows, Chadwick Pelletier is determined to turn his image around. He was a pre-med student at Harvard, a black belt in Tae Kwan Do and tries to live his life as a good Christian. Originally from Colorado, Pelletier now lives in Beverly Hills with his wife Holly, a fellow ROAD RULES cast member. He maintains a physical therapy practice and is actively pursuing his career in Hollywood. However his goal to become the next great action-adventure star has been stinted as he struggles to overcome his reality show persona.
GEORGE BOSWELL (Big Brother 1)
A former roofer living in Rockford, IL, George Boswell is a father of three, striving to make his mark in the entertainment business. He is still, to date, one of the most popular and endearing reality stars, perhaps as a result of his “regular Joe” persona. His goal is to produce his own television show about wacky American festivals.
THE AMC PROJECT is a new monthly series, presenting unexpected and though-provoking viewpoints on various aspects of life in Hollywood from a variety of acclaimed filmmakers commissioned to create story-driven films ranging from a half-hour to two-hour explorations.
THE AMC PROJECT: REALITY PEOPLE is co-directed and co-produced by award-winning filmmaker Rick Velleu (MOMENT OF IMPACT) and Edward Rosenstein (THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MR. ALLEN). It is Executive Produced by Jessica Falcon and Tony Gerber.
AMC is a 24-hour, movie-based network dedicated to the American movie fan. The network, which reaches over 84,000,000 homes, offers a comprehensive library of popular movies and an increasingly visible, critically-acclaimed, slate of original programming that is a diverse, movie-based mix of original series, documentaries and specials. AMC has more than doubled its original programming over the past 3 years and garnered many of the industry’s highest honors, including seven Emmy