When reality TV goes bad:
Marc Brilleman, Reality Show Director, Arrested For False Imprisonment Of Contestants
APOPKA, Fla. — Police charged an aspiring reality show director with blocking four women _ half of a cast billed as ordinary girls hoping to become "princesses" _ from leaving the central Florida house where the show was being shot.
Marc Brilleman, 33, identified as the chief operating officer, director and writer of "Pauper to Princess," was arrested Saturday on a charge of false imprisonment.
According to the show's Web site, its concept was to build the eight women's self-esteem and help them grow physically, mentally and spiritually. As with many reality shows, the women lived in a house while the program was taped. Producers were trying to sell the show to a TV network.
Four of the women told investigators Brilleman blocked and locked a door when they tried to leave the house, where they had been since February and had been able to leave on weekends, said Jerome Miller, a commander for Apopka police northwest of Orlando.
Brilleman initially denied stopping the women when questioned by police, then said "they could not leave because they were being disciplined," Miller said. Brilleman also told them they could not leave because they were under contract, the police report said.