How do reality show producers decide which stories to focus on?

How do reality show producers decide which stories to focus on?

Mark Cronin (Founder & Producer) gives expert video advice on: Does reality TV use scripts?; What happens if the stories that emerge during a reality show shoot aren't interesting? and more...

When we're producing a reality television show that's a social experiment, we're watching characters interact with each other, get to know each other and overcome the obstacles and set pieces that are being thrown in their way. We have a department of people called the story department that are watching events unfold and following the characters and the friendships and all these little things. While we are shooting the reality show, we start figuring out what the final product is going to look like. Who is going to be the villain? It is obvious; usually you have cast it that way. There is always somebody that nobody is going to like and there is somebody who is the voice of reason or the force of good. Very early on we can figure out what is going to be the story of the reality show. Often it is good versus evil but sometimes it's friends overcoming difficulties with each other. Whatever the story is, we know about it in the field and we go with what is going to be the most compelling; what's going to take us through the most number of episodes, what is going to be interesting to the home audience. It is really a gut feeling all the time in reality television.