As a teenager, the 15-year-old daughter of
country singer Billy Ray Cyrus is prone to the same growing pains as
any of her peers.
But as a pop-culture phenom, she must also cope with paparazzi,
critics and a media glare that dissects her every move -- as when news
of a topless Vanity Fair photo spread (she was, in fact, covered with a
sheet) sparked headline-making controversy.
For Cyrus, it's a very dark but real mirror image of the fantastical
role that made her famous: Hannah Montana, a teen who leads a double
life as a rock star by night, and normal school girl by day?
"To say the tabloids are paying attention to her is a very kind way of
saying it," says Poryes, co-creator and executive of Disney Channel's
hugely popular Hannah Montana series. "It becomes like?Miley?
Cyrus bites her finger nails is news at 11. They don't give her a
break for being able to go through the aches and pains of being an
adolescent. Everyone has the right to go through being an adolescent.
They blow everything out of proportion and a little misstep becomes the
biggest tragedy that ever struck mankind. The challenge is to do our
best to make Miley feel that it's fine to make mistakes, You're not
going to be judged on set."
Poryes, a comedian-turned-sitcom writer, is attending the Banff World Television Festival this week.
The annual event, located in this Rocky Mountain ski town, unites
producers, writers and networks from around the globe to talk shop,
shake hands and begin the process of creating new shows. This year will
host more than 1,400 delegates from at least 24 countries.
Last year more than $680 million in deals were signed in Banff.
Poryes got his start working on some of the most popular shows of
the '80s (Who's the Boss?, Saved By the Bell, The Facts of Life),
before creating two of the Disney Channel's biggest hits: Montana and
That's So Raven.
