BOATS: Jonathan Murray's Simple Life

The opening night of Based On A True Story (BOATS) is The Simple Life with producer Jonathan Murray in attendance and in conversation with Robert Greene. On December 2, 2003, the latest reality television gambit from the already-iconic innovators of the genre, Bunim/Murray Productions, premiered on Fox. The Simple Life followed heiress Paris Hilton and pop royalty Nicole Ritchie as they moved to Altus, Arkansas for a month to live with the Leding family, trading in their socialite standing for rural life. The show was a comedic sensation. This special screening with producer and Murray Center founder Jonathan Murray will include the first two episodes of the show, plus never-before-seen development materials, including screen tests with Hilton and Ritchie. The discussion will focus on the making of the show and how Hilton and Ritchie’s performances changed reality television - and documentary film, by extension - forever. How did Bunim/Murray produce the show? How does Murray feel about the show and this era of reality television all these years later? The performative mode of The Simple Life created a template later magnified by Murray’s Keeping Up with the Kardashians. Was the show a pandora’s box or the beginning of recognizing what reality television really is: a series of canny, self-aware performances?

More information about BOATS programming can be found here.

Please note that FREE tickets for the public will be at the Ragtag Box Office starting Wednesday, February 26 at 12PM.

Ragtag Cinema Free Ticket Policy:

No more than four free tickets will be given to one person.

A free ticket guarantees you a seat until 10 minutes before showtime and not after. If all tickets have been distributed and there are open seats at 10 till, we will start seating the theater from the waiting list (queue). Ticket holders will continue to be admitted at this time if seats are available. This policy allows us to start on time and give the audience a distraction-free experience.