Chris Jones Film and TV alum gets into reality TV market by Brenda McDonald Reality television gets a Montana State University connection this fall when "Perfect 10 Undressed" is expected to hit the cable airwaves. Chris Jones, '95 MTA, is getting his first big break as a director with the series. The series tracks the daily life of a former professor, turned money manager, turned men's magazine publisher, Norman Zada. The title is a play on words based on Zada's magazine, Perfect 10. The "Undressed" part comes from the fact that the series is a behind-the-scenes look at the magazine and its owner. "His everyday life is not other people's everyday life," said Jones, a Jackson Hole, Wyo. native. Zada lives in a spectacular mansion tucked away in the Hollywood Hills, where beautiful women come and go as he conducts the business of his media holdings. Perfect 10 magazine features women who come by their beauty naturally, without cosmetic enhancements. Three episodes of the reality series are completed, while three more are in the editing stage, with hopes for a September airing on cable. Jones recently returned from two weeks in Prague, Czech Republic, where he filmed Zada's latest offering, "Perfect 10 Model Boxing." "It's a little hard to imagine beautiful women boxing," said Jones. The reality show is getting front and center coverage in Perfect 10 magazine's latest issue with a cover story, "The Making of the Perfect 10 Reality Show." This is all far removed from Jones' roots as a sound mixer. "At MSU I got into sound mixing by default. Nobody else wanted to do it," he said. "I learned it and became interested." Jones says that the MSU film and TV program produces students who are very competent and capable. "I had a very good background in the field when I arrived in Hollywood." Jones notes that sound mixing is a craft where no one really notices it when it's done correctly, but when it's done badly, everyone notices. As a sound mixer, Jones worked on the Emmys, the Academy Awards, the Grammy's, and E! Entertainment, among others. It was during this time that he crossed paths with Darren Ewing, a director who worked on the first season of the "Ozzy Osbourne Show." When Ewing became executive producer of "Perfect 10 Undressed," he thought of Jones for the director's job. "They were looking for a jack-of-all trades, someone who could step in and do sound and filming as well as direct," said Jones. "Directing is more difficult than I expected," Jones admitted. "Rather than just concen-trating on the sound aspect, I'm more aware of everything in the production as a whole." Reality TV is an exhausting process when it comes to putting the final product together. "There are thousands of hours of tape to select from for a 22-minute show," he said.