Since its announcement back in May, the producers received hundreds of videos from eligible teens before widdling down the crop to a final three (Janine, Nicole and Sanna) who were flown out to LA for a Bravo-style reality competition for the role. For judges, they’ve brought in the show’s writers, Sarah Kucserka and Veronica Becker along with Gossip Girl executive producer Bob Levy.
This series has the golden trinity of pillars in place—Distribution: Teen.com, Major Sponsor: Johnson & Johnson’s Carefree brand, and Professional Content: Alloy Entertainment. Having these three means it will most likely make this show a monetary success whether or not anyone actually likes it. You could even argue there’s a fourth pillar, with the series’ tie-in to the popular teen-mystery novels by author Kate Brian.
My only real gripe here is a familiar one—no embeddable episodes. Teen.com is the only place anyone can watch the series, and its subpar video player isn’t exactly social media friendly. What’s worse is this is the prequel series, the casting call, to the actual scripted drama. Why not open that up wide and hook a wider audience than the 500,000 or so visitors a month to the site?
As for who wins the part on Private, my money is on Nicole. Whoever it is, they’ve already been chosen and have been shooting the series this summer.
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