"Reporting from Times Square for MTV News, this is Christen Johnson. Goodnight." Chris looked at her Production Assistant for the time as she finished. "2 minutes, right?" She grabbed the hat on her head as another wind blast came by and threatened its safety.
"Dammit, Chris.." Mike, her Cameraman frowned. "You made the face again."
"Oh no.." Chris walked over to Mike and grabbed the monitor attached to his camera. "Show me."
Mike rewound the beta and showed Chris her finish, and sure enough, right after the 'good night', her eyebrows and nose wrinkled up in a curious expression. "Why do you do that? What are you thinking when you do it?"
Chris watched the tape carefully. "They can edit that out in post, it's getting too nasty out here for another take, you're already hearing wind on my mic. And I'm thinking 'thank god it's over.' You know I hate being on camera." She slid the lav cord out of her blouse and happily handed it over to Eddie, the Sound Engineer.
"You really gotta break that habit." Julia, her PA, came up and took the monitor away, storing it back on the camera.
"I know, I know." Chris sighed. "Or just get off camera. Which you know I'd rather do..."
"I know, Chris." Julia handed her the beta tape. "Mind running the footage over to Dave?"
"No problem...thanks." Chris put the tape in her bag. "Anything else I can do?"
"Just get that to Dave, make sure he knows where you want it." Julia was the best of PA's. Always aware who was doing what for who when. If there was anything Chris ever needed done, Julia had proven over the last 3 years, she could always find someone who could do it.
"Thanks." Chris waved goodbye to the rest of the crew and headed across the street, back towards her offices. She lit a cigarette and slowed down, enjoying the 10 minute walk to relax a bit and think. Her life had become an amazing ride lately, ever since she'd gone from being one of 250 Assistant Producers over at Dateline NBC to being only one of 4 full-time Segment Producers at MTV News. She loved producing television, loved telling a story...all except filming the on-camera throw-to's for the news, of course. Biographies had become her specialty over the past 3 years, her most recent being the story of John Taylor, formerly of Duran Duran. She'd spent the last 2 weeks with John and his family, cameras always discreetly in tow, talking to him, understanding him, Amanda, Atlanta. The end result, she hoped, would be a very poignant look at a man who had managed to rebuild his life when he'd lost it all, a very strong, very loving father, who proved that you really could start over again. Chris smiled wryly to herself. Or so the story would go. John definitely did seem to be extremely happy in his life, and drama worked well on MTV. If this piece was a good as she hoped she would be pitching her own 'Biography' show to MTV. A&E was all for her creating a sister show, she just hoped MTV would go for it. "Just have to have the show to make the pitch..." Chris muttered to herself. She'd been waiting for the right interview candidate to come along to make her pitch with. John had proven himself just the subject.
"And all because Maria was sick..." Chris thought to herself for the thousandth time. Her big break, the reason she made the jump to MTV, had come when Maria Schriever, on-camera correspondent for Dateline NBC, failed to show up, sick, one day. A story was breaking, someone had to get on camera, Chris had been writing the script anyway, so she just grabbed the mic out of instinct and started talking. The offer from MTV had come a week later, with one stipulation being that she always be considered on-camera talent, and appear at least once on screen in each segment of hers. So she introduced her pieces from a random location in NYC on-camera, and waited to renegotiate her contract without the on-camera bit. Which was where the pitch came in.
Chris threw her cigarette into the gutter and headed into the Viacom building, showing her badge to the security guard at the front desk. MTV studios had become quite the place to hang out over the last couple of years (can you say...Carson?), so security in the offices was suffocatingly tight. Chris bypassed the floor for her office, and headed up to the editing bays to find David.
2 Days later...
Chris watched herself on the monitor in her boss' office as he screened her piece. "This is running tonight?" He looked at her, eyebrow raised.
"Yes sir." She nodded solemnly.
"It's very good." Mike Riley had been Director of Programming at MTV for 4 years now, and had seen Chris' segments develop from fluff pieces to deep, emotional stories that could truly be considered works of art. "Your use of shadow and black and white in the interview portion was very emotional..."
"John has been through a lot, and looks much better for it than he should. I wanted to convey that somehow." Chris explained.
"I see." Mike sat back in his chair and looked at Chris. "I've heard you don't like being on camera. Is that true?"
Chris swallowed deeply and looked at Mike. If she answered this wrong.... "Well, I wouldn't say that I enjoy it, or seek it out. But if a story needs a voice, and mine is the best voice for that story, than so be it."
"You like all kinds of music, right?"
"Yes."
"What kinds of stories did you do for Dateline?"
And so the questions went on, rapid fire, like she was at a job interview. Until...
"Are you in a serious relationship?"
Chris, startled, looked at Mike. "Excuse me?"
Mike sighed. "Let me rephrase. Are you in any kind of relationship that would prevent you traveling for an extended period of time. Dog, cat, person, whatever."
"Oh." Chris laughed. "No, single."
Mike sat back one last time, looking Chris over. "You're, how old...23?"
"27" She replied, trying not to show her annoyance at being taken for younger. Up until she turned 24 or so, she'd always passed for older. This younger looking thing was not fun.
"You look younger."
"I know."
"So you really grew up with MTV...must be great to work here."
Chris nodded. "I couldn't think of anything I'd rather be doing. I was a teeny bopper, a groupie even, I know how our viewers feel."
"I have a promotion for you, Ms. Johnson, Executive Producer, congratulations. You proved with the John Taylor piece that you're fully capable of this show." Mike stood up and offered her his hand. "I'll send you the full show proposal via e-mail now. The show's fully staffed with crew and techs, we just needed talent and a producer. I'm very glad to have found both in one."
Chris grinned from ear-to-ear as she left Mike's office. Executive Producer. But what was this show, and what's this about talent...she hurried back to her office to check her e-mail. She quickly opened the e-mail from Mike, and pulled up the proposal.
"A Day in the Life Of" Behind the Scenes of the Rock Stars
Chris looked at the title, shook her head, and began to read. Halfway down the page she gasped, and hit the print button on her computer. The second the pages printed, she ran out of her office, in search of Julia.
"What" Julia didn't even look up from the paperwork on her desk as Chris flew in.
"I got a new show. You're not going to believe this." Chris' voice was solemn.
"Are you going to tell me, or do I have to guess." Julia stared at Chris, eyebrow raised.
Chris sat back, and crossed her legs, the epitome of Mike Riley. "We will be following one of the top bands around on tour for the next nine months. Every moment of their lives, from waking to sleeping, will be caught on film. Episodes will begin airing one week from the date the tour starts, with each episode to consist of one week on the road. The band members will have final approval on every episode, a final edit to be shown to them 24 hours in advance to air time, so any necessary adjustments can be made." Chris rolled her eyes. "So at least they're LETTING us turn MTV into Inside Edition."
Julia laughed. "You're over reacting, look at that show on ABC...Making the Band. It's doing really well. So are all the other reality-based shows."
"I know that's why we're doing this, Jules, it doesn't make it any more right, though." Chris ran her hands through her thick hair, pushing it behind her ears. "The fact that this band is going to let us do it makes it all the creepier. Why on earth would they agree."
"I'm sure they have their reasons," Julia snickered, "Starting with lots of green. So who's the band?"
Chris shook her head. "We don't find out until we sign the contracts and are sealed up tight."
"We?"
"I need an Assistant Producer, Jules. It's 9 months on tour. You've got to come with me. I can't imagine producing weekly shows on the road without you, it's going to be a nightmare as is." Chris smiled at Julia. "Mind the promotion?"
Julia grinned. "Not at all! So tell me, How's it going to work?" Julia asked. "We gonna have a truck, or what?"
"It's so incredibly planned out, here," Chris handed Julia the proposal. "It may not be so bad, but it sounds like a lot...1/2 hr a week, and we'll have SO much material to review, but...we'll see." Chris walked around the desk and hugged her friend tight. "It'll be an adventure, if nothing else."
Julia hugged her friend back. "No doubt..."
*********************************************
2 Weeks Later.
Chris met Julia in Mike's office for the final meeting before heading off on tour. They were finally going to find out who they were going to be spending all of this time with...all they'd been told was that it was a 'perfect fit.' According to Mike, anyway, who was a bit creepy, so who knew...
"I bet its someone weird, like Eminem." Julia whispered to Chris as they waited for Mike.
"I hope not, I'd like it to at least be someone we could be friends with." Chris bit the inside of her lip. "Like Tori Amos, or Sarah McLachlan...ooh, or Tina Turner," she laughed, as they both started throwing names out, like they'd been doing every day for the last 2 weeks.
They'd spent nearly every day of the last 2 weeks together, becoming closer friends in 2 weeks than they had in 3 years. They'd gone shopping for the necessities they'd need spending for 9 months on the road, cruised the web checking out upcoming tour dates trying to guess who they could possibly be touring with, and done some overall girl bonding. They each had an absolute dream celebrity to be spending the next 9 months with. Julia's was Aaron Carter, he was some up and coming kid act she fancied...she thought having a little brother for 9 months would be ideal. Chris, who already had a little brother, had decided on Tara McLean. A younger sister would be ideal for her.
Neither women had considered singers they would be attracted to. They'd discussed this a week ago, the consequences of getting involved with the subject of a show. And it was not an option. Especially when they'd be living in such close quarters, filming their lives. Not even an option. They both assumed Mike had considered the same thing, and never thought for an instant he would have exactly the opposite in mind.
A knock on the door brought them out of their chatter. "This Mike Riley's office?"
Chris looked over the man standing in the doorway. Filling the doorway, might be a more appropriate description. Six foot something, dark hair, deep blue eyes, killer body, my god... "Yes, we're waiting for him now." She kept her voice and eyes steady, fighting her urge to look him up and down like a cheap whore.
"Care to join us?" Julia grinned at the man and waved to the couch. "He should be here any minute."
"Kevin!" Mike Riley's form appeared in the doorway behind the larger man, pushing him into the office. "Sorry you beat me here, come on in."
Chris and Julia watched Kevin make his way to the couch and sit down, sharing a look between the two of them that said only one thing. Sweet jesus, who was this man. Mike, meanwhile, had settled in his chair and was watching the two ladies ogle Kevin.
"I see you've met already, then?" Mike asked with a grin.
Chris and Julia both blushed beet red as they turned back to Mike, "No, actually..."
"Well, let me explain then. This is Kevin Richardson, he's one of the Backstreet Boys."
Both Chris and Julia's faces visibly fell as they realized what Mike was telling them.
"You're going to be spending the next 9 months on the Backstreet Boys tour." He finished up, looking at them both with a grin. "And it looks like you're going to enjoy yourselves."
Chris stood up. "Mike, can I talk to you outside for a minute?"
"Sure." He followed her outside the room, and closed the door behind them.
"Are you INSANE?" Chris hissed at Mike. "You want Julia and me. Two SINGLE women in our 20's, to spend nine months on tour with a boy band followed by crazy fans...didn't one of them get hurt by a fan not long ago? Oh, yeah, I'd love to Mike, but this isn't in my contract."
Mike grabbed Chris' arm. "You're the one who's insane, don't you see that's why it had to be you two? We catch you, a girl close to their FAN's age, on camera interacting with the boys, we show them as human. Normal guys hanging out with a girl. It wouldn't work if it was a male host....teenies want to see the guys with girls, you know that."
"This was unfair, Mike, you should have warned me."
"I don't see how it's different than being with any other group."
"You know exactly how it's different, Mike, and don't play dumb with me." Chris shook her head. "I do not like the idea of being followed by screams everywhere I go for the next 9 months. It has got to be awful to be one of them, no life, no secrecy, bodyguards everywhere...I don't want that. I don't want that for me, Mike, that's why I don't want to be on camera.""
"I KNOW that, Chris, can't you see that's why you have to do this story? You understand how their life isn't all sunshine and roses going into this. You know there's more to it. Let me tell you something about the Backstreet Boys, I'll go one at a time." Mike was talking quickly now, clearly angry at Chris' reaction to the assignment.
Chris stared at Mike. "Ok..."
"There's Brian Littrell. He's currently engaged to be married to a woman he's been dating for the past few years. There are hate sites dedicated to her on the Internet. He had a heart operation a few years back...went back on tour so fast afterwards, there were oxygen tanks backstage for when he came offstage. Then there's Howie, he lost his sister last year. Very sad, very public...he's said that he doesn't think he's even had time to grieve, with the band and all. AJ...once he became famous, his long lost father showed up, suddenly wanting his son back. Nick's mom wrote a tell-all book about him, and rumors are still flying about his ex-girlfriend beating him. Want more?" Mike glared at Chris.
"No...I understand..." she cringed. That was horrible...
"It is HELL to be one of them, Chris. They do not have easy lives. You can see this, you don't want to go through it. Nobody would. That's why this show is going to work so well. I want you to live it, and I want you to show the world how it is. No filters, no flash, they have final approval, you know that. But the truth. It can only be good for the world to see what these guys really go through."
Chris nodded, defeated. Mike was right. The life of a Backstreet Boy.....this was going to be one hell of a 5 months. She followed Mike back into his office, and her future.
*********************************************
The Next Day...
The car pulled up outside the hotel in Orlando. Chris got out, shading her eyes. "My god, all the sun, I'm going to melt."
Julia laughed and handed Chris her sunglasses. "Here. We're leaving here tomorrow anyway, you'll live for 12 hours."
Chris stumbled into the hotel behind Julia, squinting in the 'evil' sunlight. They quickly checked in and headed up to their rooms to shower. "You're meeting at 9 for dinner, right?" Julia asked.
Double checking in her Palm Pilot, Chris nodded.
"Let me just take a shower and change, I'll call your room in a few." Julia disappeared into her room.
Chris unlocked her room and set her bags down on the bed, looking around, her head still spinning a little from all that had happened over the last few weeks. And the last 24 hours had been a whirlwind. After meeting Kevin in Mike's offices, they'd headed straight for Chris' PC to absorb as much information about the Backstreet Boys as humanly possible in 3 hours, scouring MTV's archives for video footage and LEXIS/NEXIS for any and every article they could get their hands on. After that, all packed luggage and the 2 production buses and a tour bus were sent off, since they FINALLY knew where they were going (Orlando for a day, then to California for the tour start). Chris had also explained to Julia the reasoning Mike had given her for giving her this assignment, and had to agree it was solid. Who better than show the world the Backstreet Boys than two of their fans all grown up, so to speak. And who better to profile than a group who really did have to deal with their fame every second of every day. Chris pulled a white and blue crinkle cotton sundress out of her bag and laid it out on the bed. Digging a bit further into another bag, she added a pair of navy sandals, and sat down on the bed, pulling her shoes and socks off.
She grabbed the remote and flipped on the tv, turning it to CNN Headline News, like she always did when in a hotel room. Leaving the tv on, she headed into the bathroom to get ready for the night.
Chris came out of the bathroom 20 minutes later to hear someone pounding on her door. She ran over and opened it quickly, startling Julia on the other side. "You ok??" She asked breathlessly.
"I'm fine! You're the one who wouldn't answer your phone, cell, or door," Julia walked past Chris into the room, glaring at the tv, which was rather loud. "Couldn't hear me over this, huh."
Chris smiled meekly and twirled for Julia. "How do I look?"
"Perfect, business girly casual." Julia smiled. "I'll be meeting our crew downstairs at 9:30. You'll have exactly one hour off camera with the guys before I show up, and it's on from then, ok? Cameras are being installed on the tour bus, in their rooms and the like now."
Chris nodded. Being an active participant in this on-camera drama was going to be strange. "I'll see you in a bit then." She grabbed her purse and headed out to meet the rest of the Backstreet Boys.
******************************************************
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