Less than 5% of Hollywood's film and television casting directors are African American.  It’s a statistic that hasn’t daunted Lamont Pete, one of the most powerful forces behind reality television programming.  As a casting director he has been responsible for some of the craziest, funniest, and most memorable reality characters from such hits as, Pussycat Dolls Presents.....Girlicious, The Real World, The Simple Life, Parental Control, Blind Date, and much more.

More recently Lamont has begun creating and producing reality television programming including the new MTV hit, Rock the Cradle, which is a competition based reality series that features the children of eight famous artists such as Bobby Brown and MC Hammer competing for a chance at stardom. 

Sixshot went behind-the-scenes with Lamont as he talked creating opportunities for diversity behind the camera, the real deal on reality television, why reality television cannot be blamed for a lack of quality television, the need for more positive programming, the casting couch, and more.

You’re MTV’s first male black casting director.  Being in the position that you are in do you feel a responsibili ty to try and present more avenues for diversity behind the camera?

I think my position opens more opportunities behind the camera.  It shows that you can put us in positions and we can go out and find what you need, and not be biased simply because we’re just looking to put our own people up.  The first rule of casting is that you have to identify with the demographic; you have to have a great eye for talent from every aspect of ethnicity; and you have to be magnetic to attract people to you and what you’re about.  So this gives an opportunity to say that as African-American people we also understand what America is looking for and how to make good television; and not just urban television.

You work on many reality shows yet most seem to be a bridge between the real and staged circumstances.  So how real are the shows and how much is it a producer or casting director manipulating things for a specific outcome?

Well you have to understand that you still have to hold on to the same elements of television as in reality.  You need your climatic point, you have to have antagonistic characters, and sometimes you need to coach things along in order to shape it to become what it needs to be.  There are shows that you turn on the camera and let it go.  The Real World, is one of those shows where there is no coaching but there process of casting is much more intense.  There are background checks, psychological sit downs with psychiatrists—so there’s a lot of components that go into making shows like The Real World.  For other shows I can’t really say it’s Jerry Spring-ish but there’s some coaching involved.  For the most part what you see is what you’re gonna get.

What do you think of the critics who say that reality TV has appealed to the lowest common denominator and diminished the overall quality of television?

It’s funny.  One of my favorite television shows is The Wire, and what that show does is it turns a mirror to society and shows them themselves.  I feel like that’s what reality television is—it is a mirror of who you are.  It’s not so much about the lowest common denominator but it is about the average American.  These issues and these problems we see on television are reflective of what people do.  We’re not pulling this stuff out of thin air.  Take a look at yourself if you want to have a different kind of image.  If you want The Cosby Show, well then life needs to reflect that.  So what I’ve been encouraged to do in a lot of cases is go and find the people that represent what America is about.

I remember when Jerry Springer was the worst of the worst and it’s a freak show—I’ll give it that, but a lot of those people are real people with these real issues.  I don’t compare what I do to Jerry Springer but I will say that these things happen.  So people have an issue with it because it’s a reflection of their environment and they don't want to be reminded of that

Recently you’ve been exploring of a role as a producer and creator of reality television programming.  I read that this change came about for you because you were tired of working on things that you weren’t passionate about or disagreed with—

I have a son and anybody who has kids you’re thinking to yourself how can I make sure that he has the right kind of direction?  A lot of times television can kind of go with what’s popular instead of guiding people toward things that might be more positive.  I feel that I have some great ideas and I’ve got some great people that show me support.  Randy Jackson from American Idol. is very supportive.  He actually got involved in helping me with Rock the Cradle.

I hear that you’re also pitching a show about automobiles-- 

The creators from Pimp my Ride, and I came up with a show where we go out into the community and we’re looking for people who should be given a car to help them continue to do what they do.  So it’s like Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, but the car edition.  For me it’s about creating good television.  The exciting thing about this show is the fact that it’s gonna really speak to the urban community and highlight people giving back to the community.  All they need is a nice car with some television screens in it.  [Laughs]

There’s pretty much a concept for everything you can virtually imagine on reality television.  So what do you think is the next frontier?

It is it’s own entity.  It will always be a reflection of life.  The next show could be about the presidential race.  I mean look at life and you will always find something that you can mimic.  As long as life exists there will never be a lack of ideas for reality television ‘cause that is what it is—it’s a reflection of reality.

The casting couch is a long time running joke but it does have serious implications in the industry.  So how real and prevalent is the casting couch?

I think it’s more so in the music video industry.  There isn’t really a whole lot of that happening as far as reality television goes, because it’s very serious.  When you’re dealing with networks you can get in trouble real quick, especially with me working with shows that are women driven.  So you have to remain professional.  I think that music videos tend to be a little bit less restricted to make certain innuendos.  I don’t approve of anything of that nature.  I don’t feel like a woman should ever put herself in a position where she feels like she needs to offer herself for a job.  It should be about the work and talent.  I think that you go a much longer way and people will give you more respect for that.

I don’t know how you’re gonna answer this next question because you’ve worked on way too many of them—but what’s your favorite reality television show to watch?

My favorite reality show is Cops.  [Laughs]  I love Cops.

It has everything--

It has everything—you hit the mark on that one!

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