Rollergirls-hopefully better than that Austin Real World tripe

[Livia]

Reality TV lands here again:

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/st...=et51&hbx=e_du

Rock 'n' Rollergirls: A&E to air roller derby reality series in January

Some of Austin's favorite alternative ladies on skates will soon be regulars on national cable television.

Austin production company Action Figure teamed up with MTV's "Laguna Beach" producer Gary Auerbach to create 13 one-hour episodes of "Rollergirls," a reality show about the Texas Roller Derby's Lonestar Rollergirls, who compete in a knock-down, drag-out roller-skating contest in Austin.

"Rollergirls" will premiere on the A&E Television Network at 9 p.m. Central on Jan. 2.

The first episode of "Rollergirls," seen from the perspective of rookie rollergirl Venus Envy, introduces the duality between the rollergirls' superhero personas on the track and their daily lives.

"We wanted to show how powerful these women are, some of them teachers, lawyers and students by day, all of them hellions by night," says Mark Miks, director and principal at Action Figure.

"We employed techniques learned from Gary Auerbach's 'Laguna Beach' and kept the cameras farther away from the subjects, utilizing the longer end of the lens for beauty and keeping the performances natural and real."

A skater-owned and operated league, Lonestar Rollergirls had six production companies vying for broadcast rights of the project, but chose Action Figure and Auerbach's Go Go Luckey Productions.

"Action Figure delivered a pitch tape that blew our minds," says Chola, team captain for the Lonestar Rollergirls team Putas Del Fuego.

"It was raw and rough and so dead on. They delivered the real Texas Roller Derby on screen, not a glamorized version of us. They just got it."

According to an estimate from the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau, the 13 episodes on A&E will carry a media value of about $665,000 -- a monster figure for the all-volunteer league.

"With the A&E show, we're hoping to get exposure of the sport and how it empowers the girls," says Stuart Thomajan, a financial backer of the league.

[gldstwmn]

This should be pretty interesting. I'm also glad to see I'm not the only person who thinks The Real World is losing it's edge.

[Livia]

The Austin edition was the worst one ever! So much potential...it's a shame all they could do was get drunk every night at a bar that served minors just for the TV exposure.

That's exactly why I avoid 6th St. Nothing but obnoxious drunk amateurs, just like them...

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by Livia

The Austin edition was the worst one ever! So much potential...it's a shame all they could do was get drunk every night at a bar that served minors just for the TV exposure.

That's exactly why I avoid 6th St. Nothing but obnoxious drunk amateurs, just like them...

They were minors? I also thought that they must have compensated Danny handsomely for his injury.

[Livia]

Nehemiah was only 19, not sure about the others.

A lot of bars on 6th St. will serve minors. They know they won't get caught unless the TABC is doing a well-publicized sting operation...The same guy owns both the Chuggin' Monkey and Dizzy Rooster.