Speaking with the Monster of Confidence - Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 24

(Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 23 - March 16, 2026)

If this is your first time reading any of this series, or you’ve missed, skipped, or fallen asleep reading previous posts, I’d like to provide a brief recap if you don’t have time to start at the beginning.

I buy and fix up old homes in the Berchador region of the South Carolina Lowcountry. My niche has been condemned and abandoned houses that some have compared to properties Nicole Curtis was taking on in her hit series Rehab Addict on HGTV and the DIY Network. In 2012 I wrote an article about her on this blog, and she read it before leaving a comment.

In September 2013, a Director of Original Programming and Development representing these networks invited me to send in an introductory video. These five or six minutes of amateurism made a good enough impression that the networks wanted to send people down to meet my family and me. They never said what it was for and I didn’t care because it was cool and fun and I was too flattered to ask a lot of questions. I just hoped to keep learning more about the world of television because it was all foreign to me, exciting and intriguing.

The actual day for the big visit would be settled after I spoke with the Minneapolis production company. Along with being eager to meet and work with a film team dispatched by the popular home improvement networks, it simply meant a lot to have them willing to invest time, attention, and resources on me for something the director called a “test reel.”

My wife Diann had been willing to speculate more than me, and her logic sounded reasonable. She thought the programming lead might be scouting for prospective shows, maybe for projects based around their rising star, Nicole Curtis. Maybe Team Rehab Addict was coming our way, to a warm weather site that would allow them to sidestep an upcoming Minnesota winter? Or was I being considered to be the featured homeowner explaining my hopes and plans for my next renovation?

It all sounded exciting, but I also wondered if I might be in the cross hairs for something else, maybe a network contest with other DIYers or perhaps part of an assembled crew assigned to a house with potential. Those sounded amazing too and I felt like I could really rock and roll on those sorts of opportunities.

I didn’t need to ask a lot of questions. I just wanted to experience more of this entertainment industry.

*

Although the director for HGTV/DIY in Manhattan described what
she wanted to produce as a “test reel” and wanted it done next week, the man representing the Minnesota production company was working off another set of plans.

They were unavailable next week. Instead, this guy wanted to come November 7^th and 8^th, closer to two weeks out to get footage for what he called the “sizzle reel.”

I told him I’d leave both days open.  

He seemed friendly enough, but more than excitement matching the director in New York, the overriding impression this fella gave off was monstrous confidence; sureness I found enviable. He was unwavering on what he and his company could do, proud of producing Rehab Addict. Their brief history was full of success. They had the recipe to the “secret sauce.” That was why the network was sending them to South Carolina.

We discussed my upcoming project and it’s closing on November 15^th, the week after his crew would come meet and film me.  

Then this monster of confidence asked me something like, “Do you think we could see it, inside?”

“Before I actually own it?” I asked.

That’s what he was hoping for. He mentioned walking the house with me, filming me talking about my plans for the redo.

I explained how I’d only been in it once, and then said something like, “I’ll get in there after we close. That’s when I’ll measure and draw it out. Then I’ll use that to start reworking it on paper.” I wanted him to temper his expectations and added, “Until then, there’s a lot I don’t know.” The house and before layouts were still on my horizon. There was so much to learn and understand.

Still, the MoC really wanted me to see if we could get in when they came down. So, I assured him that I’d call my realtor, explain the situation, and see if we could score some early access.

Before we ended the call, the Minnesota producer explained how he would not actually be coming, but that I would be in capable hands. Finally, this man asked for our home address, then advised me to be on the lookout for a package from them. He mentioned how they’d be DVDs he wanted me to watch before his people came to meet me in November.

And with that, the call ended. I had a date to mark on the calendar that I could now share with my wife and some marching orders to put me in motion. 

(Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 24 - Coming Soon)