Is there any reality in the reality show?
How far can the reality show makers venture to win the ratings and promote their product? We can recall the Big Donor Show presented by Dutch TV. People of tolerant and free Holland accused the show of being cynical and non ethical. A terminally ill woman called Lisa suffering from brain cancer was to choose who of the three people in need of kidney transplantation would receive her organ. The producers of the show insisted that the project was important for the social life, because it attracted attention to the problem of waiting list for transplantation and the limited number of organ donors. Later the terminally ill woman appeared to be an actress, and the whole show turned out to be a hoax. Anyway, the show producers have reached their aim – the society learned a lot about donors and donorship.
Drug addiction is no less important and no less covered up problem. That’s why the World League Mind Free of Drugs has decided to break this silence. Dr. Life reality show will be shot by a group of TV professionals from Moscow. They were deeply interested in the project even in its research stage, so they were given carte blanche. The creative team consisting of 3 people (creative producer, director and cameraman) arrived in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, where the League’s headquarter is situated. Their plane landed late at night, and they immediately went to the League’s President’s country house. After they got acquainted with Prof. Nazaraliev, they immediately started to work on the concept of the future show.
“Fragile souls of drug addicts are to be the focus of attention. The lens of TV cameras are to be focused on the patients histories, their case reports and their rehabilitation,” Prof. Jenishbek Nazaraliev, the ideologue of the reality show, says.
To make further comparisons with the fake-project Big Donor Show, Dr. Life producers plan to rely on true and sometimes painful moments of real life. So the viewers are sure to experience catharsis.
Andrey Ershov, the project’s creative producer, says: “The finale of each stage should bring relief to the viewers preparing them for the new difficulties.”
On the second day of the visit to Bishkek, the team explored the shooting area. It’s the addiction clinic situated in the village of Besh Kungey, not far from Bishkek, and a camp site of yurts (nomads’ tents) called Ak Tengir (The Light Space) at Issyk Kul coast. Also they witnessed several stages of the unique method of treatment used in Medical Center Nazaraliev. In their turn, the film makers carefully analyzed all force majeure factors, including human factor and natural factor.
Andrey Ershov says: “There are no actors in our show; there is no chance to shoot another double. Everything will be real; all events will take place in real-time mode. During the reality show drug addicts will have to fight for their own lives and help other people to do so. Our team is going to shoot this way of people’s resisting their own addictions.”
According to preliminary data, the shooting team will include over 20 professionals from Moscow. The total amount of people involved in the show production is more than 50. The project is potentially scandalous, but it’s necessary from medical point of view. It is sure to evoke a wide response. But it’s not the main aim of the show makers and initiators from the World League Mind Free of Drugs. The matter is that it will help drug addicts from different countries recognize their addiction and see a vivid example of how it’s possible to overcome it. There’s nothing common with the Big Donor Show. There is only truth, only raw and ultimate reality.
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