'The actual reality show is the making of a reality show, which is nothing close to reality'

By April Phillips

Correspondent

VIRGINIA BEACH

When reality TV became all the rage about a decade ago, it turned the entertainment industry on its head. Ordinary people became stars as the cameras rolled, allowing viewers to eavesdrop on their lives and blurring the line between fact and fiction.

A Virginia Beach-based video production company, Rex Motion Media, is putting its own twist on the reality TV genre with a new program based around the tanning industry - "Tanner's Point."

Ethan Marten, a producer with Rex Motion Media, likens the show to "Seinfeld," "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "The Office."

Besides the fact that those are sitcoms and "Tanner's Point" has an element of reality TV, there's an even bigger difference - the story lines in "Tanner's Point" include promotion of the local tanning salon chain Sundays Blue Box.

What viewers will get with the new show are stories and characters that originate from the tanning salon chain, loosely scripted episodes that involve a fair amount of improvisation by some actors and some actual salon employees, and the occasional tweaking of the reality TV format when the "Tanner's Point" crew turns the cameras on itself.

"The last thing we want to be is an infomercial," said Norvell Rose, a five-time Regional Emmy Award winner who forms the core of the "Tanner's Point" team along with Marten, Sarah Pope and Tess Whitaker. "But we do want to make people want to go there. We built the character and

story lines early on, and the product lines grew out of the story lines."

Rose said product placement in other television shows may seem haphazard and distracting, while in "Tanner's Point" it arises organically from the story line and doesn't call attention to itself.

The crew wrapped up filming this month on the first four episodes, which are scheduled to air on Cox Channel 11 beginning March 15 at 10 p.m.

The story revolves around Dennis Ligon, owner of the 10 Sundays Blue Box tanning salons in Hampton Roads. The story follows him and various characters who hang around the salon while exploring the tanning lifestyle in Virginia Beach and surrounding communities.

Ligon said he thought reality shows such as "Sunset Tan" on the E! network had been disrespectful of the industry, so he wanted to do a show that focused on the positive aspects of tanning. As the show's star, it's Ligon's job to exude confidence and security. During one day of recent filming, he looked the part with his bronzed skin contrasting against his spiky highlighted hair and ultra-white teeth. He seemed at home on the set.

"There are seven story lines in the world that all art is created from," said Marten. "This is the 'hero's journey,' and Dennis is our hero."

Each episode ends with Ligon at one of his salons, bathing in the calming blue light of a tanning bed. Marten said the goal is to make "Tanner's Point" "a state of mind."

"This is about superficial beauty but with a much deeper subtext," Rose said. "Tanning itself is about putting on a veneer, a mystique that covers who you are, but what's interesting is what's going on beneath the surface - the confidence that a healthy lifestyle and self-esteem can create."

Marten added: "It's more than just girls bouncing around and guys chasing girls bouncing around."

Ligon is the principal financier of the project, Rose said, and each half-hour episode costs roughly $90,000. Channel 11, Cox Communications' Hampton Roads community channel, will be able to sell commercial time, he said.

While the producers are careful to be respectful of tanning culture, they aren't nearly so reverent about reality TV.

"This is an expanded-reality series," Marten said. "We're poking a friendly finger in the eye of the genre while hopefully elevating the medium."

He called "Tanner's Point" "a layered show."

"The actual reality show is the making of a reality show, which is nothing close to reality."

Rose said that, by episode four, "the cameras have turned around on the production. There's no such thing as pure reality TV."

The production team used a lot of local talent in the show, including people from Ligon's salons. Marten estimated they used a core crew of 15 and cast of 10.

"We're doing with our tight little budget what a crew of 50 should be doing. We're able to make this look like Hollywood. We've got actors with national credits right alongside locals."

Marten said there's a text messaging campaign in force that will alert Hampton Roads locals to opportunities to be extras in the future. With the first four episodes shot, the crew has high hopes for "Tanner's Point."

Marten said they're taking a short break from filming to plan and write, then shoot another four episodes. They'll repeat the process to wind up with 12 episodes.

"We hope to go national," Marten said. "We're including as many locations across Hampton Roads as possible so we can highlight this community, but people everywhere can relate to this show because there are so many layers."

April Phillips, apes1@cox.net