The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

MTV Follows LAHS Junior Justin Standow for Television Show ‘MADE’

MTV is back on campus with cameras rolling after hosting auditions for its show “MADE” in March. Today and tomorrow a cameraperson will follow junior Justin Standow as he goes about his daily routine.

As the cameraperson described it, today’s footage is “like a pilot” and will be used by MTV executives to decide whether to feature Justin in a full-length episode of MADE.

“I just go through my normal day,” Justin said. “They’re going to view the footage and decide from there.”

According to its website, MADE is “about making dreams come true.” Each episode follows the life of a high school student as he or she tries to achieve a goal, whether that goal is to become a beauty queen or football player.

Story continues below advertisement

The camera at LAHS will be tracing Justin as he becomes a “ladies’ man.”

“If you know me, I’m really shy, around girls especially,” Justin said. “[I want to be] a more open person, willing to speak in public.”

After his March audition, Justin spent a long time waiting and made many phone calls before he was confirmed as a candidate for the show. Before hearing back from MTV, Justin had to wait for two weeks.

“The first week I was thinking about it a lot,” Justin said. “After that week everyday people would tell me, [especially] my aunt, ‘Don’t get too excited because you never know if you’re going to make it.'”

At the end of two weeks, Justin received a phone call which meant he was still being considered. However, this meant he had to wait for yet another week.

“That was during spring break,” Justin said. “My whole spring break I was waiting for the call, and then I got an email.”

That email told him he was a candidate for the show and that a cameraperson would document his life for two days. So today, Tuesday, April 27 Justin was hooked up to a microphone and the cameras started rolling.

“The night before I was excited, but when the actual camera was on me at first I was nervous, because I’m not used to people paying attention to me,” Justin said. “And cameras do attract attention. But now I’m fine with it.”

Although MADE strives to be as candid as possible, the spotlight garnered its fair share of attention from passersby.

“Some people just want to get the attention and act as if they know me and wave at the camera,” Justin said.

Students who missed their chance at sneaking into a scene (and ruining the shot, the cameraperson added) can try again tomorrow, when the camera will still be filming.

The next chance for students to be “that kid whose face you can’t see in the background,” however, is up to the executives from MTV. If they like the footage, a full camera crew will be back in a few months to follow Justin over the course of his transformation.

Until then, however, Justin must wait some more.

Leave a Comment
More to Discover

Comments (0)

All The Talon Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • 2012 | May 1, 2010 at 2:00 pm

    You GO JUSTIN! I hope our 5th period P.E. class gets to be on TV…

    Reply