Maryam Rahimi

When did you come up with the idea for Lake Shore?

In early April we saw a casting call in L.A. for a Persian spin-off of Jersey Shore. We thought, you know, we should do something like this in Toronto. So we posted something up on Craig’s List just to gauge a response, to see the demand for it and there was a huge response for it; hundreds of emails. Then the Globe and Mail contacted me to do an interview and it sort of just took off from there. We began to refine the concept, gave it more creative direction and this is what we ended up with: Lake Shore.

So who’s we?

My team is George Tsioutsioulas, Raluca Ene and Neda Niaki. It was actually Neda who initially approach me with the idea of doing Lake Shore. I remember it was a Friday night, I was tired and she was like, just let me post the casting call and we’ll take it from there. If she hadn’t done that this show would never have happened  because I certainly wasn’t going to go posting stuff on Craig’s list at midnight on a Friday night after a long week at work. My friends have been really great too; there have been many nights where we’ve just sat around and brainstormed. Wine often helps [laughing]; after a glass or two it’s like you have verbal diarrhea.

Right now, people can go to www.Lake-Shore.ca to vote for the favourite finalist. How much influence will the voting have over who makes the cast?

Voting is going on until September 2. We’re going to use the votes as an indication of what people wanna see on TV and on the show. Ultimately it’s my decision and the rest of the crew’s. We work with our fans and our audience – we’re making a show for them; we’re not making a show for me. So, the voting influences our decision big time. If someone gets 12000 hits and someone else who I may have initially really liked only gets 6000 hits that’s something we’re going to investigate and take into consideration. The whole voting process also isn’t fair at times, especially if our finalists have a lot of press surrounding them or are themselves promoters for nightclubs etc. In that case, if you get a gazillion votes, that’s not necessarily going to guarantee you a spot on the show. It’s 50-50. 50% from voting and 50% from us.

Do you have a network yet?

I know, it’s weird, we have this huge following but kinda left the network part on the back burner for a while. It’s easy though because with such a huge fan base, the facebook pages, twitter, the hype around cast members etc., we basically have networks and broadcasting companies biding for Lake Shore. It’s sort of a reversal of how these things normally go down. I can’t name names because we are in negotiation with a few major networks but I know that we’ll be making a huge deal very soon.

Are you afraid that Lake Shore will be hindered by the Canadian television industry and the low success rate of original, Canadian productions?

The film and television industry in Canada is definitely “safe”. We don’t approach the hot waters, we don’t do anything outrageous. This show [Lake Shore] is going to dive into the hot waters. There’s going to be a lot of people hating on it, there’s going to be a lot of people loving it. Am I scared that it won’t make it in Canada because of the huge competition we have form the US? No. We’re not just making a Canadian television show. Lake Shore is going to be international. We’re going to broadcast it in as many countries as possible – we’re already working on Japan, England and the US right now as other broadcasting countries. I’m commercial; I’m very mainstream. I’m not afraid to touch on subjects that Canadians tend not to put out there in public. I’m in your face and so is Lake Shore. Listen at the end of the day, I’m in the business of entertainment and that’s what I’m going to do.

What’s a typical episode for season one?

What sticks out for me is the scenario. Keep in mind everyone in the house is going to be different. They aren’t all going to be clubbing juice heads like in Jersey Shore. So apart from all the usual drama that ensues when people with strong personalities, who are looking to get famous, get put in a house together with a camera crew – there’s going to be the clash of backgrounds, culture and values as well. It’s going to be like 8, under 30, UN leaders in a house together.

How much will what’s going on in the real world permeate the Lake Shore house?

It’s not going to be a bubble. What sets this show apart from all the other reality shows out there is the interactive, engaging aspect of it. Even if you think of something like The Hills or The Hills after show, it’s supposed to be “reality tv” right, but production, cast, filming – that all came way before anyone even knew about it. We don’t even have a cast and yet the finalists are all gaining fame and popularity before even being casted. They are living in the city. They aren’t just nobodies; they are people that we know, our friends, our family members, even. Everyone in Toronto is interacting with Lake Shore, already. That’s going to continue once we go on air.

You’ve launched the show in an unconventional way. Why?

It honestly just sort of happened like this. I’m only 25 years old, I know I’m not going to make it big in the industry right here and now so I knew I had to be bold and take risks. This is my first television production. I had to pitch the idea from scratch, with no cast, no network – just an idea. I’m doing all the legwork, we’re getting the hype, we’re trying to involve as many people as possible, we’re going out there to get financiers. Nothing in this whole process has been handed to me. Nothing was a given. But, you know what, who says that has to be a bad thing? Look how far we’ve come in a few months since auditions. It’s incredible. I’m actually getting to prove people wrong. I’m so so happy to see all the hard work actually materializing into something that we can all be excited about.

The Web is definitely going to play a huge part in the show. Let’s face it, who even watches TV anymore? If you want to really be involved in what’s going on in 2010, you need to have a strong presence online. You need to be engaged with your audience and you can’t really do that in the traditional way of making TV. I’m very well connected with my demographics – I understand them, I used to party with them. I know exactly how to communicate with them and how to use that communication to build a show like this and make it successful. As long as the show is running we will at all times be engaged with our audience. We’ll have our twitter, our facebook etc. I think as the show goes on we’ll have our fans more and more involved in the production of the show. We want to give a platform to the audience as well.

I think that’s brilliant. It’s almost as though Lake Shore is going to be next level reality TV. Right?

Yes. As my director says, “it’s like a bad accident you can’t look away from”. That’s what reality television is. It also connects to people on many different levels. It taps into the viewers voyeuristic instincts and what we’ve done with social networking is to expand those impulses into a wider circle, to allow a larger community to be heard – not just the housemates. Lake Shore is going to give a voice to the people of Toronto.

Was there anything that surprised you from the auditions in Toronto?

To be honest, nothing really surprised me. To be fair though, I have high expectations. I only expect perfection – the fact that the auditions met my expectations is more than good enough for me. I’m extremely happy with our top 25. They are outrageous, lovely people – they are exactly what I want for the show. Now, it’s just up to the public to decide who THEY want for the show.

Special thanks to Maryam Rahimi for sitting down to chat with Eurotrash and the girls over at Clutch PR for setting up the interview.

Photo credits: Laurian Ene.

Check out www.Lake-Shore.ca to vote for your favourite cast member until September 2.

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