VH1, the middle-aged sister network of MTV, apparently went a little wild Thursday gathering footage at ASU for what is supposed to be a news documentary.
The music video network came to the University to film portions of a documentary on the soft-core porn empire Girls Gone Wild, whose parent company, Mantra Entertainment, reportedly sold 4.5 million videos from the series last year.
Two months ago, ASU granted VH1 permission to film on campus with the understanding that the network would be filming a "news shoot and some interviews with students," said ASU spokesman Keith Jennings.
However, according to communications junior Shanna Katz, VH1's student contact at ASU, VH1 was recruiting girls on campus Thursday who would "lift up their shirts and show their boobs" at a Girls Gone Wild taping Thursday night at the Tempe nightclub Graham Central Station.
A VH1 film crew also shot footage of female students who work at the nightclub wearing Girls Gone Wild tank tops and passing out fliers in front of the Memorial Union to promote the event.
"That's going beyond filming news interviews," Jennings said. "That was not what we had talked about [with VH1]."
Girls Gone Wild is currently on a 31-university tour that will end with one college female from each school winning a trip to Panama City, Fla., for spring break, said Randy Elam, the promotions director at Graham Central Station.
Elam added he expected between 1,500 and 2,000 people to show up to Thursday night's taping at the nightclub.
"This is going to be a PG-13 show," Elam said. "We'll probably have a wet T-shirt contest, but there won't be any nudity."
Avi Savar, a producer with VH1, said the network decided to film at ASU because Girls Gone Wild filmed portions of its "Dorm Room Fantasies" at the University in October 2001, and that the network wanted to "document ... what [students'] feelings are about [Girls Gone Wild] being back here."
Justin Taplin, a criminal justice senior and wide receiver on the ASU football team, said he didn't mind VH1, or Girls Gone Wild for that matter, filming on campus.
"It wouldn't give me a negative image of ASU," Taplin said. "I think it'll add a little spark to the school."
Amber, an interior design junior who refused to provide her last name, said that while she didn't mind donning a Girls Gone Wild tank top and passing out fliers for Graham Central Station, where she is a cocktail waitress, but she wouldn't be participating in the taping.
"Of course I'm not going to be on Girls Gone Wild," she said. "I'm just passing out fliers."
VH1 will follow Girls Gone Wild to Tucson today to film at the University of Arizona, Jennings said.
Savar said VH1's documentary would air March 10.
Reach the reporter at joe.watson@asu.edu.
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Shanna Katz, VH1's student contact at ASU, talks about VH1's role in the documentary. Size: 2.4 megs |
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Mechanical Engineering sophomore Mark Schmitz' opinion on Girls Gone Wild's effect on ASU. Size: 1.4 megs |
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All media credit: Ryan Eilders |
