Looking to score?

This Saturday, the auditions will begin for “Score,” a reality dating game show hosted by three senior film studies majors and UCSB alumi. Creator of the show Shaun McHugh said he, along with Russell Dougherty, Kim Rocco-Shields and graduate Nick Asjuan, are holding the first of many auditions for their new reality dating series and hope to begin filming by the first weekend of Winter Quarter.

McHugh said he first had the idea for a reality dating show with Isla Vista as a backdrop about six months ago.

” I became interested in the whole phenomenon of reality dating games. I wanted to know how real they were, how much directors interfere or don’t interfere. So I was actually a part of three different dating shows, ‘Blind Date,’ ‘Fifth Wheel’ and ‘Taildaters,'” he said. “I live in I.V. and I think there’s a lot more drama going on right here in our dating scene than when I was doing these shows in L.A.”

McHugh said he found the directors of these shows to encourage specific situations, but that the whole show isn’t manipulated.

“[Directors] kind of egged us on,” he said. “It’s almost like male or female prostitution. They’ll ask if I like this girl and if I say, ‘yeah, she’s kind of cute,’ they’ll say, ‘why don’t you tell her what you think about her.’ Stuff like that, where they’re not telling you what to do, but encouraging.”

For this localized reality dating show, McHugh said he envisions taking two girls or two guys to a party in I.V. and setting them loose. Their objective is to score as many points as possible while at the party. There are various ways to earn points, for example a girl kissing another guy gets 50 points, girl kissing a girl gets 75 points, getting a phone number earns 25 points and a girl slapping a guy gets 50 points for standing up for herself. At the end of the evening, whichever of the two contestants has the most points earns a prize and moves to the next week with a new challenger.

“The point system really pushes people to do what they want to do in these types of interactions,” he said. “I want to analyze people and their interactions in this type of setting.”

Each contestant is going to wear a wireless microphone and cameras will be following 20 to 30 feet behind. McHugh said his dad is an attorney and is drafting release forms for anyone aired on the show.

“I spoke with Eye Entertainment about the possibility of airing the show with them, but at first we’ll just be airing on local public access TV,” he said. “We are hoping to air the first [episode] the third week of Winter Quarter.”

McHugh said they are looking for a wide range of people to audition.

“I’m not necessarily looking for sluts, but people who aren’t afraid to just be themselves,” he said. “We’re looking for someone who is fun, energetic and full of life.”

If anyone would like to audition they can contact McHugh and his crew by e-mailing them at SCOREinIV@aol.com.

“If it’s going to work anywhere, it’s going to work in I.V.,” McHugh said.