A new bus rolled into Tempe earlier this month—but judging by the nudity and sexual hijinks, it sure isn't the Neighborhood Flash.
A crew of MTV recruiters began a 20-week casting call for the fifth season of its irreverent reality dating show Next in Tempe earlier this month.
The show has been on the air since 2005 and challenges five sexually-charged contestants on a bus to entertain a date—impress the date and win; fail to stack up and hear the humiliating catch phrase: "Next!"
The show's producers are in search of "fun, outgoing, charismatic" people between the ages of 18 and 24 to audition for the program, said Casting Recruiter Michelle Borowski, a senior at Arizona State University.
Approximately 700 to 1200 people will be selected to shoot 70 episodes through the audition process and flown out to LA for shooting, all-expenses paid, Borowski said.
MTV rented a Community Space in the Fiesta Inn in Tempe, and will use it to conduct auditions and run operations through June.
Borowski and six other Casting Recruiters—two of which are also ASU students—have searched for potential contestants in local bars, malls and on the street.
But the 51,000 students on campus each day are the best target for recruiting, Borowski said.
"We'll call back someone [that] we recruited at a bar," Borowski said, "And they'll say 'I was hammered, I would never do that.'…People on campus are sober, usually."
Good-looking people have an inside track on being selected, Borowski said.
"It's all about whether they're easy on the eyes in the beginning. We set up interviews with cute people," Borowski said.
But she says good looks can only take a potential contestant so far, and the initial ten-minute interview on-camera narrows down the candidates for the show significantly.
"You can tell someone's personality from their first 10 seconds of tape," Borowski said.
Certain people transform more than others in front of the camera, Borowski said.
"You might think someone is this goodie two-shoes," Borowski said. "But it turns out they're one of the biggest freak-hoes out of all of them."
Although there are several factors that go into selecting participants, Borowski says energy is the most important quality in successful auditions.
"We like to cast crazy people," Borowski said, but added that MTV runs full background checks on all contestants as part of the audition process.
"Obviously we're not going to put sexual predators on the bus."
Next is the latest in a slew of Hollywood projects transplanted to the Valley, following MTV's Room Raiders, the CW series Hidden Palms and the full-length film The Kingdom starring Jamie Foxx, partly because of Arizona's film-production laws, Borowski said.
Through the Motion Picture Production Tax Incentives Program, enacted to stimulate film production in Arizona, film companies receive tax exemptions on purchased property, lodging and construction contracts related to in-state production, according to the Arizona Department of Commerce.
"It's cheaper than LA, that's for sure," Borowski said.
Next's presence on campus has sparked lots of excitement, said Casting Recruiter Cara Goldberg, who graduated from ASU last year.
"[Next is] everyone's guilty pleasure," Goldberg said.
Borowski and Goldberg scouted passers-by in front of Manzanita Hall Saturday, taking down contact information of promising candidates for the show.
When they approached freshman Manzanita resident Josh Wolf to audition, his sister encouraged him to get on the show.
"My sister loves [Next]," Wolf said. "She yelled at me. I had to try out."
Freshman Travis Strout said there was only one reason he signed up to audition for the show.
"I just want to be on TV," Strout said.
The team of casting recruiters will continue to scout new locations over the Next three months, including other residence halls, bars and even the Student Recreation Complex pool, Borowski said.
Often times, casting seems like more fun than work, Borowski said.
"This is like spring break for us," Borowski said.
Reach the reporter at: nathaniel.lipka@asu.edu.
