Stories from a Social Entrepreneur: My Brother is Seth Green's Next Pet Project

(Tristan)

For better or for worse, my brothers and I lead charmed lives. We've all been in very unique situations--both good and bad. This time it is my brother Tristan's turn to have something unique happen to him: He's been selected to play the role of the protagonist in Seth Green's new interactive reality experiment "ControlTV." It is a show that allows the audience to control my brother's every decision for six weeks. He will be 'on air' for eighteen hours a day, seven days a week. The show will stream on the Internet.

(Me and Tristan)

My brother has never had any aspirations to be an actor. He's never strived to be in the spotlight, which is something especially unusual for someone living in Los Angeles. His friend convinced him to try out for the show, and by chance (or likely because of his charisma and good-looks) he's been selected as the protagonist for this experimental show that Seth Green has cooked up. He turned 25 a few days ago and has been living in Los Angeles for about two years now. I try to persuade him on a regular basis that New York City is the better place to live of the two cities, especially because he's always wanted to go into finance. It was extremely difficult for him to decide to take this opportunity. We spent hours going back and forth with eachother evaluating the nitty-gritty pros and cons.

(Josh and Tristan)

It will be an interesting road ahead for him and I'm eager to see him walk it. I just hope he can stay sane. I can't imagine what it would be like to be filmed eighteen hours a day, seven days a week, for six weeks--and not even be able to make decisions for myself. I suspect he'll be just fine, though. Tristan has never been an automaton and won't take orders lying down. He can be very persuasive when he wants to be. I'm confident that his efficacious personality will bend the audience's will to his own desires. It's so exciting to hear about his photo shoots, the famous people he's meeting, and the places he's being interviewed. I have been on pins and needles all week anxiously awaiting his phone calls and gchat messages to hear his latest updates.

I think what I am more excited about than anything (dork that I am) is that this experiment could be studied for years to come by media scholars. Audiences and media producers alike have long been fascinated by the idea of total invasion of someone's life. For the first time we will get to see "EdTV" or "Truman Show" in practice, not just in theory. Will the audience be engaged? Will my brother crack? Will media start shifting to web-based content rather than television viewing? Is interactive media viewing the way of the future? Will this start a new era of reality telivision?

These are just some questions that come to my mind. We'll just have to wait and see...