Student stars in 'Porter Ridge'

As she walked around the junkyard, IU senior Kayla Wood wore shiny, reflective aviators and dark leather cowboy boots adorned with stitched crucifixes and flowers.

Hand-painted signs reading, “No smoking, Jesus at work,” and “When you can’t breathe, nothing else matters” rested against the dismantled vehicles, lined in rows as far as the eye could see.

This is where Wood spent her summer, filming the first season of Discovery Channel’s new reality television show, “Porter Ridge.”

“I kept asking myself, ‘Why would people want to do a reality show about us?’” she said.

The show focuses on a go-to junkyard in Spencer, Ind., Country Auto Parts, owned by Spencer native  Terry Porter, who said he rarely wears a shirt.

Wood, the junkyard’s office secretary, is joined by regular characters, such as grizzly bear trainer Jeff “The Bear Man” Watson, dramatizing the operation of the rural small business.

“I think the show is trying to portray people as rednecks,” Wood said. “It stereotypes people in Indiana.”

Wood said the cast faced negative backlash from the local community because of the show’s portrayal of the town’s residents.

Subtitles were used regularly to communicate the characters’ distinctive accents.

Since the show premiered on Aug. 13, Wood has driven from her apartment in Bloomington to the shop at least every Saturday for the show’s publicity events.

“I get messages telling me that I have to be an actress,” Wood said. “But that’s not true. I’ve lived in Spencer my entire life, and I love it more than anything.”

The first episode featured Porter salting his freshly cut watermelon slices while teaching Wood how to properly answer the office phones. The show also includes junkyard drag races and regular weapon demonstrations.

Wood is the show’s sole female cast member.

“I didn’t know her a whole lot until I decided I needed to get some business in here,” Porter said. “We had a guy drive all the way from Ohio just to see Kayla.”
Wood laughed at the joke as she opened the office’s refrigerator and grabbed a Coca-Cola.

Porter said business is still slow, despite increased attention from the media.
“We haven’t gotten rich yet,” he said. “I’m still as broke as I was last week.”
The cameras and film crew left Spencer last month, but Wood is still balancing classes with her newfound local-celebrity status.

Filming for “Porter Ridge” was her first on-camera experience.

“If you were sweating, someone would come wipe you down,” she said. “Last winter when we did some test shots, it was freezing outside, and I was in jeans and a tank top.”

She said two little girls showed up to her house wanting their own pair of cowboy boots signed.

“Little things like that are what make this experience so special,” she said.
Wood could not comment on the show’s exact filming process.
Wood said she embraces her country roots, but she said they don’t completely define her.

“I love living in Indiana and all the people here,” she said. “But I’m definitely not a redneck.”

In contrast with her tomboy portrayal on the show, she said she feels more like a girly-girl.

Wood started gymnastics in the second grade and competed at a national level with the Owen Valley High School cheer team.

Indiana University was her first choice for college, having grown up in the area.

“I grew up right down the road from Country Auto,” Wood said. “My girlfriends and I used to ride our four-wheelers up and down the ridge before we even got our licenses.”

While working part-time at The Tap in Bloomington this semester, she said she hopes to graduate from IU in December with a degree in public health.

“As far as the show goes, we hope for another season,” she said. “But right now the most important thing is getting my degree.”

Representatives at Gurney Productions in Los Angeles declined to comment on the possibility of a second season for “Porter Ridge.”

Wood plans to complete an internship at Cook Medical, a medical device manufacturer in Bloomington.

“Working for a family-oriented company is my ideal job,” she said.

Being back on campus is her escape, a place where getting recognized or bothered isn’t a worry for her, she said.

“I was in class, and my instructor had us all go around the room and say something unique about ourselves,” Wood said. “I just told them my neighbor trains grizzly bears.”

Follow reporter Matthew Bloom on Twitter @matthew_bloom.