Exporting 'reality' TV to China: Denver's Red Robot co-produces model search.

• Author: Caley, Nora
• Position: China Central Television

Tom Flanagan thinks China is ready for reality television. His entertainment and marketing agency, Red Robot, is working with China's largest broadcasting network to develop a fashion-model-search program called "True Beauty."

Flanagan, whose eight-person office is in LoDo, says this isn't the first modeling competition on China Central Television (CCTV), but it will be the first in which advertisers will shape the show's content.

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"This process is not unusual in America," he says. "But in China it is still a bit new."

The reality show will air for seven consecutive nights. The show will start with 25 aspiring models. After a first round of elimination, 12 of the young women will remain. They will live together and compete for the top prize, a modeling contract.

Flanagan says the advertisers, which are U.S. companies, want to make sure the show does not turn into an American Idol meets America's Top Model.

There will be no nasty judges or on-camera backstabbing. The judges will be Chinese businesspeople, photographers, model scouts and others. The contestants will compete not only on their modeling skills, but also be judged on their dedication to family and career.

"It's more about challenging this concept of beauty," Flanagan says. "The judges will talk about what it takes to be successful in life."

The TV project came about through networking. Red Robot was doing some work for a client based in Los Angeles. That client was talking to a wealthy family that owns a private-equity firm. The firm invests in a variety of companies, including Vision Model Management, a talent agency with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Brussels, and now, Beijing. The Beijing office needed a clever way to find models. Based on the Red Robot client's recommendation, the family decided to hire Red Robot, which was working with another Chinese show, "Golden Star Road."

"They asked us to redesign their logo," Flanagan says of "Golden Star Road," an entertainment program. He'll use "Golden Star...