This is the true story of one model, picked to live in a house and have his life taped, to find out what happens when a regular person is thrust into celebrity status.
In 1992, Eric Nies was just another struggling New York model/actor until he joined the cast of a new reality television show.
“I went to New York with some people that I knew and I started doing some modeling and some commercials,” Nies said. ” ‘The Real World’ just happened to be another casting.”
Having just finished its 13th season, “The Real World” has become one of MTV’s staple programs, but Nies, 32, said the show isn’t as glamorous as it may seem.
“You get paid very minimal money up front. You get about $4,000,” he said. “Because it’s cable, there’s no union in place, so you don’t get paid residuals or royalties. There’s millions of people out there that think all these kids on TV are millionaires but we don’t make any money.”
“So for the last five years, I’ve been thinking to myself, ‘What’s stopping all of us from getting together and doing our own show?’ ” Nies said.
Joined by “Real World” vets “Puck” Rainey (San Francisco), Jaime Murray (New Orleans), Ruthie Alcaide (Hawaii) and “Road Rules” vet Rachel Robinson (Campus Crawl), Nies made his own documentary, “The Road to Reality,” available through www.rockstardvd.com.
“The whole idea was we wanted to show the fans of the (“Real World”) what it’s like to be with the fans of the show,” he said. “So we went down to Miami with no money – this was the whole concept – and now that we’re pseudo-celebrities, let’s see how much money we can make just by booking clubs or giving massages on the beach.”
But Nies hasn’t completely turned against MTV. He’s rejoining other former housemates on another edition of “The Real World/Road Rules Challenge,” which was filmed in October. Nies has appeared on three versions of the “Challenge” so far; “The Road Rules All Stars,” “Battle of the Sexes” and he hosted “Battle of the Seasons.” But Nies said his involvement with MTV isn’t just for his own benefit.
“The only reason I’m doing these other projects is to bring awareness to Moment of Hope,” he said.
A Moment of Hope, a charity co-founded by Nies, helps kids share their ideas with other kids around the world. Nies said the goal of the charity is to inspire kids to make the world a better place.
“I feel its a responsibility of being a celebrity, being out there,” he said. “These are the kids making sure that you get a paycheck. You just want to give back to the fans.”
“My mom was a nursery school teacher, so I’ve always been around kids. I’ve always had this connection with young kids my whole life,” he said.
Nies has also been involved with a number of other charitable organizations, including Prevention First, an organization that helps prevent substance abuse, and the Pedro Zamora Fund, a foundation named after a San Francisco housemate who lost his life to AIDS.
Nies also took part in Voices of Inspiration, a documentary and concert that is dedicated to the healing power of music. Nies connected with four kids that lost their parents in the Sept. 11 attacks, all of whom have used music to “bring closure to the tragic event that happened in their life.”
In addition to these projects, Nies is also preparing for a potential second season of “Dance Fever,” an ABC Family Channel update of the old Merv Griffin show. He is also releasing a series of jump rope workout videos titled “RopeSport,” which bring his total number of videos to 10.
But despite his qualms over the payment of its stars, Nies said he knows he owes his fame to “The Real World.” He said when the filming was finally over he knew he had done something worthwhile.
“It was unbelievable,” he said. “In one day, we did interviews with every entertainment channel, every newspaper, every magazine – we even did interviews with The Wall Street Journal, and when The Wall Street Journal came in, I said, ‘OK, this is going to be big.’ “
