Disney's High School Musical film franchise has been seen by hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide. High School Musical (2006) and its sequels High School Musical 2 (2007) and High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008) spawned numerous stage productions in professional theaters and at schools multi-platinum CDs, best-selling DVDs, books, themed shows at some Disney Parks, a touring ice show, and concert tours.

Reality-based TV series

The film franchise also gave birth to a summer reality TV series - High School Musical: Get in the Picture. The franchise spin-off conducted a nationwide talent search and selected 12 finalists to undergo a summer music program to hone their talents and skills. The show debuted on ABC July 20, 2008 and was aired every Sunday and Monday (8pm-9pm, ET) for three weeks. Then the series continued Mondays through mid-September.

The finalists

The 12 finalists were: Stan Carrizosa (Winner), Tierney Chamberlain (2nd Place), Isaiah Smith (3rd Place), Christina Brown (4th Place), James Wolpert, TJ Wilkins, Shayna Goldstein, Bailey Purvis, Ether Saure, Anthony Acito, Christie Brooke, and Briana Vega.

Grand prize

The winner received an exclusive talent hold agreement with ABC and was awarded a record contract (2 singles) with Walt Disney Records. Stan Carrizosa literally "got in the picture" when he starred in a music video to "Just Getting Started", shown during the end credits of High School Musical 3. The other finalists who didn't win went into the Chorus. Members of the Chorus stayed on the show and were backup singers and dancers in the music video.

Production

Nick Lachey of the disbanded group 98 Degrees hosted the show. The Faculty was composed of Montre Burton, Jen Malenke, Tiana Brown, Regina Williams, Chris Prinzo, and Rob Adler. Tony Marsh and Jay Blumenfield, both of the reality TV series Here Come the Newlyweds were the executive producers. The Jay and Tony Show is Get in the Picture's production company.

Taping locations

The TV series was shoot at Murray High School in Murray, Utah. The high school was also the location where High School Musical's auditorium scene was taped. It was also a location of the film Take Down (1979) and Disney's made-for-TV films Read It and Weep and Minutemen (2008).

Murray High School is also the school of American Idol runner-up David Archuleta. Taping locations also included a Kmart store in Draper in Utah. The finale was shot at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.