Reality gets twist in mall
Actors living in show suite
Attention, shoppers — you’re in for a dose of reality. Pilothouse Real Estate Inc. recently unveiled a sample of its new condominiums in Central City Shopping Centre in Surrey, B.C. — but the unveiling had a twist.
For the next few weeks, mall-goers will have a chance to watch what is being called the “world’s first real-time e-drama” as it unfolds in real life.
Three local actors will be spending more than a month living out a partially scripted life behind the see-through acrylic walls of the sample condominium suite, all in plain view of the public.
The show will also be streamed live over the Internet at waveliving.ca during mall hours.
The “Live at Wave” idea came as a marketing strategy that takes advantage of reality TV trends and social media to promote the construction of a new condominium development in Surrey — Rize Alliance Properties’ Wave highrise project. “The next six weeks are purely to show off the suite, just to show off to the public how it works, how people would live in it,” says Bill Morrison, president of Pilothouse and a big fan of the Survivor TV series.
Morrison thought the idea of a reality show would be a perfect way to showcase the modular fea-- tures of the condo design, such as configurable walls.
“You can see when you watch someone’s real life how they interact in a suite, and we thought that’s how we have to do it,” he says. “We have to show reality — live television.”
The show will be staffed by three full-time actors, a CBC scriptwriter and a live set complete with video and lighting production.
The actors will perform during mall hours and will be joined by other actors and TV personalities over the six-week period.
Jillian Harris, of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, will be making an appearance, but promoters are keeping a tight lid on other celebrity guest spots.
Shoppers can expect to see a lot of drama and interaction over the next six weeks, says Morrison.
For Jas Dhillon, one of the actors working on the project, the experience is a little different, to say the least.
“It’s hard to explain. It’s totally something you have to see for yourself — it’s kind of like living in a fish bowl,” she says.
The unveiling attracted quite a bit of attention from curious onlookers.
“It feels very much like Big Brother, but I hope they have fun in there because I don’t know if I would be able to do it,” says Leighton Fong, a shopper at the mall.