By Valerie Milano

MTV

HOLLYWOOD (Hollywood Today) –1/18/10– ‘Reality television’ may soon have a whole new look. Our general view of reality tv is a somewhat formatted, somewhat scripted, competition sort of series. MTV has a new version of ‘reality’ which will be a more honest and authentic view of real life. More documentary-like, the feel will be as though we are peeking into the story. Inspired by an HBO movie, “Room 335” by filmmaker Andrew Jenks, Brent Haynes, development executive for MTV felt they could create a series from a very unique point of view.

Andrew Jenks created “Room 335” by moving into an assisted living facility at the age of 19 to see and feel what it is actually like to live as a senior citizen in our country. By living in the situation we get a front row seat to many new and different situations. Haynes stated, “We felt we could do something where each week he would immerse himself into a different world, sometimes an obscure world, sometimes a world that we think we know. But by the end of the episode, we realize we really didn’t, and it sort of changes our perception on what we thought this was about going in, and we see it all through his eyes. Jenks is fully immersed in it and he’s shaping each episode in front of and behind the camera, so again, it’s a purely creator-driven show.”

Andrew Jenks recognized his calling as a storyteller when he was a bored child. His family travelled quite a bit to foreign countries, and not being surrounded by others speaking English, he would video tape his brother or himself and tell stories. Jenks found his voice reporting on what was happening to real people and what they were doing to make this world a better place. Departing from some of the filmmakers who inspired him, Frederick Wiseman and DA Pennebaker to name a few, Jenks puts himself in the film because of his personal interest in the subjects. In Jenks’s words, “It’s just about trying to really get to know the subjects on a deeper level, and I think being behind the camera creates a wall where you can’t really get to know them as friends.” “I’m really interested in who they are and what they’re trying to do. So it’s really more of a trust thing, I think, than anything else which is why I think it’s appropriate for me to be in it also.”

In the movie, “Room 335” Jenks moved into the facility for 30 days, but for the 24 minute series he will focus 7-8 days exploring the life of a specific person, getting to know them and challenging their lifestyle. In one episode we find him spending time and with a rapper who came from Bayside Brooklyn, a man from a tough world, having done 10 years in jail. We get to know this person better throughout the show and our viewpoint is changed by the end as we witness he is really trying to be a good example and wants a better life for his son.