Junior Christlo Gittens has his sights set on Hollywood after he was cast in October for a new television series, “Haunted Tactics,” set to debut next summer.

According to Gittens and the show’s director Brandon Pies, “Haunted Tactics” is a reality show about fame-seeking friends who put together a paranormal investigative team. Pies described the concept as “‘Entourage’ meets ghost hunters.”

Gittens, also a singer and dancer, said he was on his way to a meeting when he ran into Pies and was asked to audition for the show.

“Pies said, ‘You have the perfect look for this character that we have in mind for the show,’ and I said, ‘OK, I’m feeling it; I feel the vision that you’re going after,’” Gittens said.

Pies said Gittens’ personality caught his attention.

“(Christlo) is a very colorful character in real life,” Pies said. “He’s got a lot of personality, and he’s very exuberant and exciting; it’s just going to translate onto camera very well.”

Junior Katherine Preska said she could see Gittens on TV largely because of his sense of humor.

“Christlo definitely has an outgoing personality,” Preska said. “He seems very open-minded and versatile.”

Pies said his team will pitch “Haunted Tactics” to potential channels and media outlets once more details about the show are solidified. The show is still looking to fill lead roles before it films. “Haunted Tactics” is set to begin shooting between late January and early February in the Twin Cities.

“Once we have a full cast in place, we’re going to actually start approaching investors to get full investment capacity,” Pies said.

Because “Haunted Tactics” is an “adult show,” Pies said they’ll start streaming it online before going to the networks.

“We want to start shopping this out to more online streams,” Pies said. “This is an adult show. This is something you’d see more on Showtime or HBO. It’s a reality show, and we’re not cutting back on the reality.”

Just as Pies wants all footage to be as unfiltered as possible, he also wanted to search through all kinds of talent. Actors who auditioned were not required to be Screen Actors Guild members, contrary to other popular television show requirements.

“I like to have everybody have a chance. Christlo was just a random person. I didn’t know him,” Pies said. “’I said, ‘You know, I want to give him a chance. I want to have him read.’”

According to Pies, this method has allowed him to jumpstart several people’s acting careers.

“I do that with a lot of people,” Pies said. “I’ve started a lot of people’s acting careers that way, because as soon as they get done working on their first thing with me, then they start taking classes and researching it and doing more with it.”

Senior Annie Longfellow said she thinks this opportunity will help advance Gittens’ goals in a competitive field.

“I totally think it will help his career,” Longfellow said. “Based on what I’ve heard, that’s a really tough business to break into, so any opportunity is awesome.”

Junior Nick Willmarth said he would watch the show just to see Gittens on TV.

“I think it would be great to see him on TV,” Willmarth said. “Christlo would make the perfect reality star.”

As for Gittens, he’s fulfilling something he has dreamed about since a young age.

“I’ve always wanted to be on TV in some way or another,” Gittens said.

Kayla Bengtson can be reached at beng2004@stthomas.edu.