Living on Camera(2)

   Plotting out the shooting schedule is an elaborate process: Depending on where the girls are going and whom they’ll be with,production will call ahead and clear the locations-restaurants,cafes,retail outlet-for the crews to come in.Once everything is set up,Lauren gets her shooting schedule e-mailed to her,usually the night before.If the idea of coordination your real life with a film crew sounds surreal,it’s even more so now that Lauren-thanks to The Hills – is too famous to have anything resembling a real life.Her schedule is packed with photo shoots,fashion shows,and red-carpet events like Dark Knight premiere.All that glitz seems perfect fodder for reality TV,but producers insist on keeping the celebrity side off camera.The series’s original premise is all about the relatable aspects of Lauren’s life,like dating,heartbreak,and friendship.

   The phenomenon of The Hills has gone beyond the weekly tabloid covers,the endless spoofs or even its place in the presidential campaign.(After Heidi endorsed John McCain,he joked that he never misses an episode of The Hills : Barack Obama promised David Letterman,”My fist act as president will be to stop the fighting between Lauren and Heide.”)”with Laurend Corad,a whole generation of women see themselves in her.”Say Tony DiSanto,MTV' exec VP of series programming and development,”It’s almost becoming like a novel at this point,like this generation’s A Tale of Two Cities or Oliver Twist ”

   Whether of not you equate drunken nights at hot clubs in L.A. to the classic literary works of Dickens,the show’s success is undeniable.And no one has reaped more benefits than Lauren.She’s already launched her own eponymous clothing line,which is sold in 500 boutiques across the country.Forbes estimated her 2007-08 income to be $1.5 million.

   If it were up to MTV, The Hills would keep rolling indefinitely, but Lauren is ready for a break.”Every season, I think it’s the last,” she admits,”Right now,I think this is the last season.”” I go though a phase when I’ve been filming where I wake up in the middle of the night and I think I’m being filmed,” says Lauren.”That’s when I have to take a vacation.” DiVello says he can see the show going at least on more season,but ideally,”I’d love to stay with it until Lauren gets married.”