January 2004

Two Alumnae Take Part in New Reality Show, "The Apprentice"

Did Heidi Bressler, SPA/MS '97, get her slot on NBC’s new hit show, "The Apprentice" because she knew assistant location manager, Megan Leff, SOC/BA '96?

Nope. The two didn’t even know each other while students at AU. Bressler just happened to see a commercial one day advertising an open call for the show, so she went to see what it was all about. They liked her enough to call her back the following day, and next thing she knew, she was on her way to L.A. with 50 other finalists.

But Bressler was glad to learn she has a fellow AU alumna on the set with her while she’s competing against 15 other contestants for a $250,000 job working for Donald Trump.

Bressler, 30, who was selected from among 215,000 applicants to be on the show, got her master’s in Justice, Law, and Society at AU in 1997 and once worked at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. A senior account exec for Qwest Communications in Philadelphia, Bressler says she was thrilled to learn she was selected for the show but concerned about having to take six weeks off to take part in it.

"Then I thought I would never have this type of opportunity again," she says, so she decided to go for it. "I feel like I’ve known some of the contestants my whole life. I made some really great contacts and friends."

Leff, 29, who made the leap from advertising account manager at Ogilvy & Mather to production about a year ago, shares Bressler’s elation about working on the show. “I absolutely love it. I love being on location. I love being all over Manhattan, not in an office. I spent a lot of years under fluorescent lights, and I enjoy the freedom of this job, being on set. I love that you feel very involved in the creation of something… that every day you’re involved in something that’s going to be put on television.”

It doesn’t hurt that the show is doing well, adds Leff. "It’s got a lot of water cooler value, which is great." Mark Burnett Productions is one of the most exciting organizations for which she’s ever worked, she adds. “The people they hire, from camera to sound to production assistants, to producers to editors, are all excellent. I haven’t met one person who wasn’t devoted, fun, and different," says Leff, who describes TV production as “kind of a wacky business.”

"There’s nothing glamorous about the business, despite what people think. We work crazy hours – a six-day week with one day off, and the standard is a 12-hour day. But even though I couldn’t spend time with my friends and my boyfriend, I always felt excited to wake up and meet the crew the next day."

Leff says people in production on reality shows like "The Apprentice" do interact with the contestants, "but we don’t get overly involved in their lives, because we’re not a part of the show, we’re a part of what makes the show happen. On a reality show where the contestants are being filmed 24/7 you don’t have a huge opportunity to sit down and chat with them."

NBC’s “The Apprentice” Web site, http://www.nbc.com/nbc/The_Apprentice, reveals contestants "…endure rigorous selection as they are tested for their intelligence, chutzpah and street-smarts." Divided into two teams, the women vs. the men, contestants face the challenges of living together in close quarters (although they’re being put up in Trump Towers), and they “must complete sometimes humorous but always difficult job assignments and will be forced to think outside the box in order to outshine each other to get to the top.” Candidates who fail to complete their job assignments successfully meet face-to-face with Trump after each round of competition, and each week Trump fires one candidate from the losing team. As of the third show, Jan 22, Bressler is still in the game.

Bressler, who grew up in Wayne, N.J., is practically sworn to secrecy about details of her experience until the show is over. What she could say is that she’s having a ton of fun taking part in the show. “And I loved AU!” she adds.

“I’m still not used to being recognized everywhere I go. That is strange!” she says. “It is such a good feeling when strangers come up to you and tell you how much they love the show!”

Leff thinks the show's appeal lies in its ability to tap into several different televisions genres.
"A lot of reality shows are based on just drama or just a game, but this show’s about business, and it’s true to that. You don’t feel talked down to, and it’s not another dating show. It’s got the drama. It’s got a great balance of the game to be Mr. Trump’s apprentice, and the real people. They’re not actors by any stretch of the imagination. They’re all successful people following a dream."

"The Apprentice" premiered on January 8 with an estimated 25 million viewers and a higher rating for viewers ages 18-49 for any new series premier in more than a year. The show airs Wednesday nights at 8 p.m.(7 p.m. Central) on NBC.

-Melissa Reichley

Photo courtesy Scott Duncan/NBC