How to Act on Reality TV – by John Wilson
The meta-movie that opens us the doors of the New York Reality TV School: not acting but real
20 – 25 | 2015 | Documentary | Identity | Observational | USA
The story of How to Act on Reality TV, short doc by filmmaker John Wilson, has started when a dog groomer asked Robert Galinksy — who now defines himself as “excetutive facilitator” — for advice on becoming a reality TV star. Full of this new awareness mixed up with a generous dose of ego Robert Galinsky started in 2008 the New York Reality TV School in Avenue C, inside an unassuming storefront.
The director’s camera bring us through the first day of a workshop with some new students of Galinksy’s school. First rule of the school is to never act but always be spontaneous and real. The purpose Galinsky what to achieve is “to open the portfolio of yourself” and “to teach you how to be more than real.” A perfect reality show’s machine. As in a reality inside this bizarre mix of students we find “the legally blind singer,” “the male-revu dancer” and “the homeless guy that lives by the zoo.”
In something more than 20 minutes Wilson creates an odd cocktail of discomfort and vulnerability with a big dose of awkwardness. He underlines that grotesque stranger-than-fiction situations that are typical of reality shows. An hilarious but gentle portrait of real people, doing real things that you can’t believe are real.
How to Act on Reality TV is a meta-movie about truth and identity.
