Area youth audition for reality TV series
Westshore
Published Aug. 8, 2007

Anthony Weise of Fairview Park auditions for the CBS reality TV series "Kid Nation 2." (West Life photo by Larry Bennet)

Hundreds of children from the North Coast, seeking fame as the newest reality TV stars, auditioned for the CBS series “Kid Nation” Aug. 1 at Crocker Park.

Producers videotaped the first 400 kids, interviewing them to see how relaxed they were in front of television cameras.

The auditions were for “Kid Nation 2,” a potential sequel to a series that premieres next month. So if the first “Kid Nation” fails to attract a significant audience, the second season may never air.

“We had an amazing turnout – one of the biggest casting calls we’ve had,” said Sara Kotzman, senior marketing producer for WOIO-TV, the local CBS affiliate. “Families drove from Michigan, Pennsylvania – over 50 even camped out the night before in the parking garage. After 10 straight hours of auditioning, 396 children each had their own two-minute session. Applications and tapes are now on their way to the ‘Kid Nation’ producers in California.”

According to WOIO, almost 1,000 children came out for the auditions at Crocker Park.

The concept for “Kid Nation” sounds a lot like William Golding’s 1954 book “Lord of the Flies,” in which shipwrecked schoolchildren stranded on a tropical island attempt to govern themselves but sink into chaos.

Forty children are sent for 40 days to Bonanza City, N.M., a once-thriving but now deserted mining town, according to the CBS Web site. The children, ages 8 to 15, are told to build their own new world, pioneer-style.

“They will confront grown-up issues while coping with the classic childhood emotions of homesickness, peer pressure and the urge to break every rule,” the CBS Web site declares.

But according to “TV Week,” the first season was shot at the Bonanza Creek Movie Ranch, a privately owned town setting that has been used as the backdrop for several feature films. The ranch was built on the ruins of Bonanza City by various production companies.

There’s no word on where a second season might film.

Episodes end with a town meeting in which the kids vote for one child to receive a “gold star” worth $20,000.

The show premieres Sept. 19 at 8 p.m.

Auditions for the possible second season are being conducted across the country. About 500 applicants will be invited for follow-up interviews in coming weeks. Approximately 60 finalists will be invited to Los Angeles next month for interviews with the producers. Filming is expected to begin by December.

On the Net:

• CBS "Kid Nation" Web site
• "TV WEEK" article on "Kid Nation"
• Wikipedia article on "Kid Nation"
• WOIO video on casting call
• Crocker Park