Making the Cut

Crossroads Shoots Promos for Bravo's New Reality Competition Series at Hollywood Center Studios

Crossroads Television recently spent three days at Hollywood Center Studios and turned Stage 7 into a trendy hair salon. The occasion was a promotional campaign for Bravo's new reality competition series Shear Genius, which seeks to crown America's next great hair stylist. Crossroads creative director Glenn Lazzaro helmed the shoot, recording short, lively interviews with the show's contestants on a stylized, all-white salon set.

The key to the success of any reality show is getting viewers to identify with the contestants. That should be no problem for Sheer Genius. "The contestants are a very interesting bunch; they were made for the drama of a hair salon," explains Lazzaro. "A lot of them are very flamboyant and that makes for interesting watching."

Lazzaro, whose credits include work for ABC, ESPN, Lifetime and the Disney Channel among many others, has a genius for being able to capture the personality of his subjects in just a few frames of film. The trick, he says, is to get them to feel comfortable enough in front of the camera to really open up.

"Part of it is treating them like stars," says Crossroads Television executive producer Dean Winkler. "We get the best cinematographers, the best hair and make up people, the best lighting and the best wardrobe…and bringing them onto a lot like Hollywood Center Studios also helps."

"When you mount a large production on someone's behalf, it makes them feel important, cared about and special," adds Lazzaro. "And that's when the magic happens."

Logistics are also important. Lazzaro, who has created promotional campaigns for many reality series including the Bravo hits Project Runway and Top Design, notes that when the contestants arrive for the promo shoot, they have often just met, but are already extremely sensitive to one another's opinions.
"We don't want the whole cast on the set when we're shooting the interviews," Winkler notes. "Hollywood Center makes that very easy, because the green room is just down the hall from the stage and it's very comfy. It's close but removed enough to create privacy on the set."

Hosted by Jaclyn Smith, Shear Genius premieres on Bravo this spring.