Shabooty Interview Series: Cris Abrego (VH1)

Cris Abrego is best introduced by his IMDB page. Can you say he’s the creator of Vh1′s: Flavor of Love, Surreal Life, Rock of Love (with and without the bus), I Love New York, I Love Money, etc. You’d think he was cupid, but I think he just really loves crazy people and making good television. I can put it to you this way, if I was a dollaraire, I just interviewed someone a million times more successful than I. We discussed everything from swine flu, to Howard Stern, to of course New York’s mother. I forget her name, but crazy and another c-word comes to mind.

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Shabooty: Hi Cris – Can you override the casting department at VH1, and get any girl or guy on a show?
Cris Abrego: Yeah, Mark Cronin and myself have final say. Well, there’s a lot of other parameters. People don’t realize this. We have a psych evaluation for each [potential] cast member. Some people don’t even make the cut. They get too crazy. The ones you see are the ones that passed psych eval.

How much does VH1 play into that casting process, verses just yourself and your partner Mark Cronin?
Mark and I find 100% of the cast and we make a pitch. The casting department goes around the country. Any given show’s first season (not established) 15,000-25,000 [people audition]. Mark will look at 200 out of that, and we nail it down to 50. We take 50 to VH1 and with VH1, we pick 25. We bring all 25, and of that, it’s cut down and only 16 to 18 make the show. That’s 14 weeks, the biggest part of our show… we take a lot of time into picking characters with the [vh1] casting department.

As far as the external casting, are there a lot of frauds online?
I get forwarded to me things like, “is this you guys?” [And I reply] “Nah, we’re not doing that.” That’s the power of the internet. Posting [a fraud listing, coupled with the] hunger of people trying to be on the show… We hit the ground running out there in the cities – having open casting calls.

Do you know Mark Jacobs, (not the designer), a reality TV director pal of mine – worked with him?
I don’t know him, but it’s sorta a small world [reality television]… I started first at Bunim/Murray Productions. I did eight seasons on MTV Road Rules and did MTV Real World for five years after that.

What celebrities do you hope to hook up with for future shows?
I don’t really have one that I’m after – always up for the idea. ‘From G’s and Gents’ with Jamie Foxx, I latched on to the idea. He had the idea – I don’t really have one particular celebrity, more attracted to the idea. The premise is what sells me. I love story telling, I read the Source [magazine] with Irv Gotti and thought, “holy shit, that’s a great story, imagine what this guy’s up against!” I went after him and reached out to him and he said no to me for a long time. It was a great story I wanted to go after – it is currently in the 2nd season. Celebrities comes to us looking for a project, especially in music now, [as music business isn't going too well], musicians are turning to TV, and it has become the place to go. Again, it comes down to the premise of show.

What shows are coming up? What can you announce?
We’ve been creating our own stars. Daisy De La Hoya (Daisy of Love), that’s our own show. 2nd Real Chance of Love… I Love Money, Megan Hauserman of Rock of Love is doing a show, “Megan wants a Millionaire,” and all 18 are millionaires on the show. That’s coming out — and couple more that I can’t talk about yet.

Speaking of, are you a multimillionaire?
Yeah, in the ball park – I’ve done well.

Is it true (Howard Stern always says it), Viacom doesn’t pay shit?
Haha – nah, we’ve had a lot success together, we program 120 hours of TV a year. Viacom has been a great partner for sure, especially at Vh1.

How did you meet Mark Cronin, your partner at 51 Minds Entertainment?
We were paired together by my agent at the time, but we just hit it off — Mark has a huge Howard Stern Show background, and I had the reality TV background at Bunim/Murray. I’m a huge Howard Stern fan, even to this day I listen on SiriusXM. Mark and I just hit it off and we did ‘The Surreal Life’ together. It was a perfect blend of what we’re both into – we both love comedy… it was the perfect comedy.

What do you think of Howard Stern?
I love him, I think the guy is a genius. I honestly… I consider myself late to game. I’ve been listening to Stern for eight years. I love Artie Lange. I’m pushing Mark to get to Artie Lange. I think that would be an incredible story as a reality show. I finished Artie’s book [Too Fat To Fish], two weeks ago, I told Mark to call Artie Lange.

Is Howard Stern the godfather of reality TV? That’s what Mike Walker of the National Enquirer says.
To some extent for sure, all of Howard’s bits and his approach, but as far as the TV business, the TV people just picked it up, and ran with it. The real the godfathers in my book are Bunim & Murray. BM are the godfathers of reality TV. They took documentary making and made it into half hour series’. They’ve been making TV and have now been on the air for over seventeen years for the same show.

Do you have a favorite “wack packer” (from The Howard Stern Show)?
I have a couple – Jeff the Drunk is one of my favorite, Beetlejuice is up there, and High Pitch Eric. I love the Wack Pack for sure. One of my favorite parts of Howard [Stern Show] are the interviews. They’ve been replaying old celebrity interviews this week on Sirius. Howard’s interviews are my favorite part, I’m entertained by them so easily. And any Artie Lange. I got in at the tail end of the Jackie Martling [era], but Artie is genius too.

How much of the daily Howard Stern Show do you and Mark Cronin listen to?
Just as much as I can when I’m in the car. The plus of Sirius is the replay. I end up missing some … probably three days a week, for sure. When I’m busier, it’s tougher on Sirius because I used to listen all the time in my office. I haven’t gotten the mobile part to get it going… between Mark and I, we listen the same – if I miss something big, he’ll fill me in and I’ll make a point to catch up and vice versa. We keep [each other] in the loop on the show.

Is being the producer of a reality show sort of like being “Baba Booey” (Gary Dell’Abate producer of the Howard Stern Show), in terms of having to deal with wacky people constantly?
Yeah for sure – we have a ton of personalities and you have to manage them. A reality producer is on set daily. The reason they make great TV is the same reason that they make great pains in the asses. And in Baba Booey’s case – why they’re great radio.

What did you study in school and where did you graduate from?
TV/Communications – emphasis on TV @ Cal State Fullerton.

What was and How did you get your big break?
For me, television is all I ever done. I started out in the news room in Palms Springs at a local news affiliate and came to LA and worked my way from the bottom. I always have been creating shows and pitching them. The big break and my first  show [that I created] was The Surreal Life. Pairing with Mark and having that break out show got some attention.

Can you retire now?
Technically.

Are you a flashy guy?
Nah, not at all, absolutely not… the complete opposite.

Why have all of the “I Love Money’s” been shot in Mexico? Is it cheaper to shoot there?
Definitely the production value is better. [In Mexico] we get out monies worth down there. Beautiful locations, tropical beaches. The different locations adds to the production value and look at the house. So it’s ‘looks’ and a little bit of everything.

Has the swine flu affected shooting?
Heh. No, we haven’t been down there, but nah, it hasn’t at all.

I am sure some of those personalities would be going crazy if they found out they were at risk for the swine flu.
Probably, I’m sure ‘The Entertainer’ would lose his mind.

Name a reality show – not star, but contestant, that you’ve become close friends with.
You know ‘White boy’? We’ve become real friends. Josh – I know when I start calling them by their real names [that we're becoming close friends]. Josh Gallander (White Boy), Irv Gotti… Gallander, Tiffany [Pollard (New York)] and I are good friends. Hoopz aka Nikki Alexander and I are good friends. There’s a hand full.

Do you have a favorite show that you’ve created?
One of the ones that still [resonates with me], is the first season of ‘Flavor of Love’. FoL 1 was so pure, and so much fun, it was cool. Flav is still up there for me.

How long does the pre-production take and how long does the actual shoot take?
Six months top to bottom. Pre-production to casting to filming to editing before it’s on the air – six month process.

Is it a bummer that there’s usually a six month turn around time from shoot to air with reality shows?
Yeah, a little bit, but it allows us to go into the edit and make it better, and have a lot of fun. A lot of comedy is in editorial, too.

What has been your biggest selling DVD?
I don’t even know. Probably the first season of Flavor of Love, after that, we stopped doing DVDs, now it’s Amazon and iTunes, but probably ‘Flavor of Love Season 1′.

What’s been the highest rated?
The 2nd season of Flavor of Love, the Finale. The finale of Flavor of Love 2 was the highest rated spot for VH1 and us.

Did you join the last writer’s strike?
No – not a member of WGA.

Do you like Los Angeles?
Love it, it’s my home. Born and raised there.

Is it a bunch of phonies?
It’s Hollywood. The people I know are good people.

What do you think of Paris Hilton?
I don’t know, I really enjoyed The Simple Life, but overall her MTV show, I have a tough time watching. I don’t think she’s overly comedic in that show. She’s okay…

Are you shocked at how many of your contestants leak sex tapes?
No – they probably think it’s part of the business.

Did you know about New York/Tiffany Pollard’s mother (Sister Patterson), before you cast Tiffany?
Not at all, and I know you’re going to ask, “is that really Tiffany’s mother?” Yes, it’s 100% really her.

Talk about a bonus!
Yeah, a bonus and I’d love to take credit for her antics. That’s 100% her — and she really is Tiffany’s mom.

THANKS CRIS!

You can find Cris Abrego at 51 Minds Entertainment and VH1. Photo credit: Vh1.com.

Permalink Posted in: celebs, comedy, howard stern, interview, jersey shore, los angeles, shabooty, shabooty exclusive, show, sirius, tv Comments(9) May 29, 2009