We just got off the phone with Elina Miller, the creator of the Brighton Beach reality show that’s drawing parallels to Jersey Shore, who confirmed that the planned series is bonafide.
Miller is working alongside Alina Dizik and Christine Mahin to produce the show, and they’re aiming to make more than just a Jersey Shore clone with swapped-out ethnicities. She said the show hopes to introduce Russian-Americans – and the intricacies of their culture – to a broader audience.
“While some of the stereotypes may have merit, I’m trying to show that [the community is] a lot more complex,” Miller said.
Miller described her “altruistic” goal as turning stereotypes on their head and “showing people that while there might be some things that they would expect, it’s about more than meets the eye.”
But the 25-year-old Russian-American realizes that it’s about entertainment, and the appealing elements of reality shows are cross-cultural.
“One thing that’s common across all cultures is the desire young people have to have fun, to unleash,” and Brighton Beach may not be different in that regard, she said.
The three creators are in talks with cable networks to air the show, but everything is contingent on casting. The group has partnered with vueplanet.com, a Russian-American social networking platform with more than 60,000 users, to host the casting application (BrightonBeachShow.com was a prototype and not intended to be the official page for casting).
Miller said they’ve already received scores of applications and have started sorting through them, and she’s got faith that they’ll nail the right mix of people to secure a popular television channel.
Surprisingly, despite the show’s name and subject manner only two of the three creators are Russian, and none have ever lived in Brighton Beach. Miller and Dizik were both raised in Chicago, where they met, among the city’s Russian community.
Miller is a Northwestern University graduate that has worked on reality shows – or “docu-series” as she prefers to call them – including Paranormal State. It’s there that she met Christine Mahin, who she said lends an American perspective to Brighton Beach, broadening its appeal. While in college, Mahin also produced a scripted reality show titled Sheehan Beach, which resembled MTV’s Laguna Beach but with Villanova students.
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[...] (An update to this story has been posted, including an interview with Brighton Beach show’s cr… [...]
this is going to be some funny shiiit. question is where are they going to live. there arent any decent houses in BB unless they fully gut it and renovate it. so which condo development will be the lucky winner and has space for a hot tub on a terrace with a decent view.
I think a nice condo in Oceana will do the trick…..
not a chance
Yeh, I'm with Local on this one, Never gonna happen!
Go Ned,
Gothamist quoted your article!
http://gothamist.com/2010/02/23/is_brighton_bea...
Reality shows like Jersey Shore and Real World have ceased to be reality shows and are now showcases for disfunctional behavior. Pack them all to Siberia.
http://www.forgotten-ny.com
a shame that it's not assisted reality which is not reality at all. all of these loser tv shows are full of fake douche bags who act like douche bags because they are on camera and are trying to be people they are not. besides, who gives a damn about these people? what are they doing for our lives? nothing, that's what. also, good luck filming stuff in rat infested brooklyn rip off condos
Has to be a condo. Condos are the public perception of “modern” Brighton Beach.
oh man. this would be epic.
I can't wait to watch this show.
tragic. i can see it now – take the worst qualities of italian american youth culture and african american ghetto youth culture, put them in a pot, let them simmer in vodka, potatoes and herring and viola!- brighton beach.
and the new catch phrase – yo son kid son blyat'! i can already feel a heavier backlash against the russians living brooklyn.
[...] seat with a firestorm of controversy over its perceived portrayal of Italian-Americans, Miller told Sheepshead Bites on Tuesday that her program won’t accentuate stereotypes of the Russian community: [...]
[...] seat with a firestorm of controversy over its perceived portrayal of Italian-Americans, Miller told Sheepshead Bites on Tuesday that her program won’t accentuate stereotypes of the Russian community: [...]
Up next… Bay Ridge Boyz! Taking bar-hopping to the xtreme!1!1!!!
[...] with a cast of Russian young people. Brighton Beach is home to a very large Russian population. Sheepshead Bites has confirmed the news after speaking with its creator, Elina [...]
haha did she really say the word altruistic? Is that why its in quotes? Haha thank god for college i guess. No one cares about this other than russians and locals, its not going to vomit all over the social psyche like jersey shore does. Seems like someones trying to cash in on someone elses awful idea. Sounds like all this girl does is rip off reality shows, wow, meta-loser.
I don't know if this is feasible. The Russians in Bk situation is a lot more political. I mean, are they even going to tackle the distinction between “Russian-Russians” and “Jewish-Russians”? OTB's and acclimated Russians? Or the reasons that most of us are here? These girls would have to do that for this to live up to the expectations of “showing the real culture”, because even the most “The-Situationey” guys out of us understand these distinctions. But it seems like those topics would be too serious/difficult for the audience of an MTV-type show.
Hey LF,
It's not even the topic here but your comments might be some of the more illuminating I've heard in all the threads-gone-wrong on this website about Russians. I.e. even though it wasn't your point, you've made a really nice clear argument to combat all the people who keep referring to “the Russians” in stereotypical and monolithic ways…
“the Russians” is like saying “the Spanish” — maybe most of the people you are referring to can speak the same language, but besides that, there are lots of sub-groupings of people– people who are more recently arrived, more or less acculturated, people from different regions originally, people with different ethnic/religious/racial background (yes, racial, too– I have run across quite a few Russian-speaking people with Asian features who are “Russian” only by merit of the events of the last 100 years, not because they were “Russians” for centuries…)
I would love for someone to break down some of these distinctions as an amateur sociologist would (instead of from some nasty stereotyping-from-the-outside or 'rah rah, we're better than others'- from the inside way…)
[...] Elina Miller, the creator of the show, says that she wants to introduce Russian-Americans and the “intricacies of their culture” to a broader audience. By intricacies of their culture does she mean vodka-drinking and kalbasa-eating? Miller admits that some stereotypes may have merit, but says that she wants to show the more complex side of the Russian-American community. A casting call put on Russian-American social networking site vueplanet.com calls for videos of people who love to do what they do best – eat, drink, and PARTY. Sounds really complex to me. Here’s more: [...]
You are absolutely correct. The former USSR is a huge region and different people are here for different reasons. But, I personally would not get offended at the nasty stereotyping because I tend to agree that many many of the Russians here do exhibit them, across all the different subgroups. I am assuming the stereotypes revolve around being money-hungry, materialistic and alcoholics. These really are prevalent in the Russian community, unfortunately. To break down the distinctions would no doubt include some of the stereotyping, even maybe an explanation for why the stereotypes are legitimate. But certainly, to bring it back to the context of the show, if you put a third Jewish Russians, a third Russian Russians and a third Asian Russians in the same house, there would be (my assumption) tension in the house and even situations (no pun) that would not be self-explanatory. Although members of all three groups would show the stereotypes
)
[...] You can read the whole story here. [...]
they will most likely live in OCEANA… those bullshit lego blocks that they put up as condo's which walls are literally paper-thin.. u can knock on the 1st floor and hear it on the 8th.. LOL neways it looks like a nice lil community but they would definately have to combine 2 apt's or atleast have a nice PENTHOUSE APT.. or the other choice would most likely be manhattan beach..
look below NOT A CHANCE
NY post had this story today – “Russian-American version of 'Jersey Shore' planned”
htp://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/meet_brooklyn_8iMblsfXiWjR28fu1zbSsN
Is the NY Post still in business? Damn!
A letter to Brighton Beach producer, Elina Miller – get the Russians right, unlike MTV's shit job of Italian-Americans in Jersey Shore.
http://glamourcow.com/2010/03/dear-elina-miller...
A letter to Brighton Beach producer, Elina Miller – get the Russians right, unlike MTV's shit job of Italian-Americans in Jersey Shore.
http://glamourcow.com/2010/03/dear-elina-miller...
omgg….. if they live in oceana, i”ll just dieee…. i live across the street from oceana!!!! im russian!
and followed by Gerritsen beach rats…
Check out the New Brighton Beach Casting of Russian Prince
http://vimeo.com/9916245
http://vimeo.com/9916245
http://vimeo.com/9916245
http://vimeo.com/9916245
http://vimeo.com/9916245
this kids a monkey. how is this reality some kid from canada got a nas or biggie cd and thinks hes a gangster. im sure all the russian kids up there live in bad parts of town and are real tough guys. hes playing it up for the camera thats not real if your going to represent a community make sure its real and not some fake punk. if this kid makes it on the show and it actually starts filming in the area hes gonna come across the wrong person and get his head taken off.
Your just a gooof bro don't be mad cause your a loser and I hope I run into the wrong person who takes my head off also. If you ever see me though guy please try and take my head off.
Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry
i love internet tough guys especially from another country. you have no idea who i am or what i do but i watched that video and that kid is a monkey. dont get me wrong i laughed a couple times but still a monkey.
Bro I geeeevvveee who you are and what you do…put a 9in ur mouth and we will see who's the monkey. Like I said when I come there you can come visit me and bring your girl too…. We see how though you really are bro.
Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry
Yo, bro. local, bro, watch your back, bro. Just watch it, bro.
Cause if you don't, this dumb monkey might end up trying to hump you like an over-eager dog. Bro.
Bro.
lol. which movie or song are you trying to quote. your like a kid from wisconsin with a rap cd. funny.
yo bro relax bro i was just kidding bro no dont pee on my leg bro
So, if I understand this correctly…. that Prince guy posted his own video on SB under a screen name that was likely intended to make the readers think that he's actually from the show, figuring everyone'd love him. Predictably, we just saw a giant ass so we said so, and now he's mad? I hope he is the last in his bloodline. Viva La Evolución!
Check this guy out his the next best thing move over the situation new kid in town!..this is his Casting Video:
http://vimeo.com/9929825
Check this guy out his the next best thing move over the situation new kid in town!..this is his Casting Video:
http://vimeo.com/9929825
[...] infamous Brighton Beach show, whose existence we originally uncovered back in February, is extending their casting deadline and updated some rules, according to their Facebook [...]
Good post overall. Enjoyed reading it.
Thank you for this post. I am new to your blog and get really very nice. I will keep visiting your blog.
Yes
Brighton Beach’s Jersey Shore Not A Hoax