Art has an extraordinary ability to connect people, and director Laura Patterson is on a mission to make it accessible to everyone through her groundbreaking new project, Arthouse. This unscripted TV show allows real people to meet real artists and acquire art without breaking the bank, sidestepping the intimidation often associated with traditional galleries.

With over 25 years of experience directing popular shows like Unsolved Mysteries and House Hunters, Laura’s career path has been shaped by her upbringing in a family devoted to the performing arts. This background has given her a profound understanding of storytelling, especially in conveying complex narratives in the unscripted genre. In our chat, she highlights the emotional depth of these real-life stories and the art of approaching them with a delicate touch.

In line with Laura’s mission, Arthouse aims to change how we see art in our lives, whether you’re a homeowner or a renter. By blending her extensive experience in storytelling with a commitment to making art accessible, Laura is reshaping the way we engage with art and fostering a greater appreciation for the narratives behind it. Her insights into indie TV and the importance of accessibility in the arts make Arthouse not just a show but a movement aimed at demystifying the art world, ensuring that everyone, regardless of their financial status, has access to the arts. 

To learn more about Arthouse, support its mission, or nominate your favorite artist for future episodes, please visit Arthouse on Indiegogo. 

For more information, please visit https://notrealart.com/laura-patterson-arthouse

The Not Real Art podcast is intended for creative audiences only.

The Not Real Art Podcast celebrates creativity and creative culture worldwide.

It contains material that is fresh, fun and inspiring and is not suitable for boring old art snobs.

Now let's get started and enjoy the show.

Greetings and salutations, my creative brothers and sisters.

Welcome to Not Real Art, the podcast where we talk to the world's most creative people.

I am your host.

Faithful, trusty, loyal, tireless, relentless host.

Sourdough coming at you from Crew West Studio in Los Angeles.

How are you people?

Thank you for being here.

We so appreciate you and your loyalty.

We do this for you and so it means a lot to be here together.

Man, do we have a great show for you today.

We have, I think, our very first TV director.

Yes, Laura Patterson is in the house.

Laura is a seasoned veteran entertainment professional who's been a television director for 25 years or so.

She was 23 years old when she got inducted into the Directors Guild.

She's been directing shows and series like Unsolved Mysteries and House Hunters for decades.

And she's on the show today to not even talk about.

To not only talk about her experience and her journey as a television director, but she's also here to talk about her exciting new project, Art House, that you might have heard me talk about.

And so she is the director for Art House and we are thrilled to have her on the team and want.

To get into that in a minute.

But before I do, I want to.

Encourage you, as I always do, to.

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Art around the world.

Our first Fridays online gallery exhibition drops.

The first Friday of every month and.

We have incredible artists and shows there for you to check out.

So please check out First Fridays as well.

Okay, before I get into this, I need to, as I always do, thank our physical sponsor, Arterial.

Arterial allows us to ask you guys to support our show and support our content for a tax benefit.

You could go to naralart.com or arterial.org to make a tax deductible donation of any size.

And we really appreciate your support because we try to keep it free, people.

We try to keep it Advertising free.

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Etc.

So your support helps us do all that.

So thank you very much ahead of time and thank you, Arterial, for being our fiscal sponsor.

Speaking of arterial, Arterial is also the fiscal sponsor of Art House, which means that from our indiegogo campaign and from any efforts to support the show that any patron or donor can get a tax deduction for their support of the show.

So we're doing a indiegogo crowdfunding campaign right now for Art House.

You can go to art house tv show.com to check it out.

Of course, there'll be links in the.

In the show notes, but Arturial is the fiscal sponsor of Art House, and so anybody that supports Art House also gets the tax deduction.

And so we're thrilled for that.

Thank you, arterial.

Our guest today, the one and only Laura Patterson, is a seasoned television director with years and years of experience, over 25 years of experience here in Hollywood making TV shows for HGTV, for NBC, for companies like Pytown Productions.

She's made shows many, many seasons and hundreds of episodes of House Hunters, a show I know that you have heard of because it's hugely popular.

If you haven't seen it, check it out because it's classic, classic show.

And.

And she's here today to talk about.

Her new project, Art House.

And we are thrilled to have Laura as Arnard House.

I have enjoyed working her with her so much.

She's fantastic, Brings a smile to every day.

And even when things get stressful, she's smiling and not sweating.

And she's a real pro.

She can handle it.

I've seen her on the front lines in the trenches, and it can get dangerous, scary and hot and heavy out there.

And she's always calm, cool, collected.

And I'm just so grateful that she signed on and attached herself to our Art House project.

And so she's here to talk about her career, her trajectory.

She's also here to talk about the Art House project with me, which is an exciting new project that we're doing.

And we want to shoot our pilot in Chicago this August.

And that's the plan, featuring our new host, Carmen Acosta.

So by all means, please, if you want to contribute and support the crowdfunding campaign, please consider doing that today.

But without further ado, let's get into this conversation I had with the one and only Laura Patterson.

Laura Patterson, welcome to the show.

Thank you, Scott.

Happy to be here.

Oh, My goodness, I'm so glad you're, like, classing up the joint because I think you're our first television director on the show.

Oh, very cool.

Well, it is very cool.

Very cool for us.

I mean, you know, it's.

I think we've had writers and I think we've had actors, but we've never had a director.

All right, that's so cool.

So.

So, I mean, I would love to direct tv.

Like, that sounds like a really cool career.

Like, where do I start?

Laura Patterson, how did you start?

Should I do what you did?

Yeah, I always start as an unpaid intern.

Right.

That's the first step, buying the donuts.

Right, right.

So.

And if you're good at buying donuts, then you get a chance to keep moving up.

So no complaints.

Buying donuts with no complaints.

There you go.

So, yeah.

So I think for me, I think I grew up kind of with a Hollywood background.

Both my parents acted for a living, and so I grew up around it.

So I think it was kind of a natural progression in a way.

But the acting part never appealed to me, so I was like, all right, well, what can I do behind the scenes?

You know, I knew that wasn't for me, but of course, now it skipped a generation.

And my daughter's an actor and I'm really proud of her because it takes such perseverance in an insecure business to keep your center, you know, But I really, you know, realized, like, a lot of people think, oh, it's easy to do, and it takes such skill and such determination.

So I actually have a very positive view of actors, you know, even though there is the other stereotypes.

Right.

And right.

I mean, the stereotype is, as most stereotypes are, you know, very reductive and simplistic.

I mean, there's always.

Can be a tinge of truth to them from time to time.

Sure.

But I'm related to an actor as well and.

Oh, you are.

I can tell.

I know exactly what we're talking about.

Yep, yep.

But that stamina to pick yourself up every time, because it's really just a.

A life of rejection, being an actor.

And how to sustain that.

But it's also a life of doing what you love to do.

Like, I think any careers that are driven by passion are the best, you know, and being creative, like, I feel so fortunate to have a creative career.

And same for my daughter.

Like, it, you know, it brings her joy.

So then she's willing to kind of do the trade offs of what that means.

Well, if you're an artist, you're an artist, right.

And you can't help that.

And you have to, you know, create.

You have to express yourself.

You have to try to find your passion or find that medium that you're passionate about.

And.

And sometimes doesn't mean you're going to be, you know, rich.

Doesn't mean you're going to be famous.

In fact, you may never be rich or famous, but at least your soul is being fed because you're doing what you're supposed to be doing.

100.

Yeah.

Well, so.

Okay, so.

But you did.

We did kind of gloss over something you said.

And I mean, all this talk about actors.

But you said your parents were actors.

Yes.

So my mom was kind of part of that really glamorous time in the 40s and 50s, you know, where Hollywood was a small town and she knew everybody.

And back then it was so much easier because you would.

A studio would sign you under contract and then just give you movies to do.

So my mother, you know, has a resume or had a resume of over like 60 movies.

You know, she was like one of the queen of B movies, if you know what that means.

Back in the day, that there was always the big picture and then the smaller picture, you know, because before television, that was the entertainment of the day.

So she was, you know, in everything from westerns to film noirs.

And, you know, and she jokes that she was in a lot of great actors, worst movies.

What a great line.

But.

But she.

Probably the movie she's most known for is a film noir called Nocturne for anybody that kind of loves that time period.

So I have a lobby card up in my house, you know, of that movie and everything.

So it's very cool.

And, you know, I grew up watching.

She taught me to level movies.

And back when I was growing up, they were on every Saturday or Sunday afternoon.

You could find them on the stations, you know, so I grew up with a real love for that.

And she had a fascinating social life.

I mean, she dated Jimmy Stewart and Frank Sinatra and all kind of all of that at the same time.

You know, I recently was looking up stuff on ancestry.com and I could follow her life through the gossip columns of who she's dating.

You know, it was a very interesting way to kind of piece together.

You know, I knew parts of her life.

And then she met a struggling actor named Herbert Patterson, and who is more of a theater actor.

He was living in New York.

I Think she was going back and forth between LA and New York and then they met and fell in love.

But, you know, once they had me, then my dad felt he had to get the regular job, you know, so he sold insurance and he hated it, you know, and for my mom too.

Once you hit your 30s, it's not as easy for, you know, when you're young and beautiful and all of that.

So career wise, they weren't in the middle of it when I was growing up, but it certainly influenced their lives, you know, in a big way.

So.

And it even dates back.

Like I'm like third generation Californian, which is even unusual.

Like, they were born in California, my grandparents were born in California.

And my mom's mom was part of the silent era, was she was a maxent of bathing Beauty.

It was like a way back when, you know.

So she did that for a little bit and I always wondered if it was a rumor.

And then by going through Ancestry.com, they have this thing called Newspapers.com and I found something about her and it was actually talking about her filing for divorce.

It was being put in the papers, but it said, former Max Senate Bathing Beauty.

I went, okay, so that's a real story too.

So that's kind of cool, you know, So I got to kind of.

I didn't.

She passed away.

So I never met my grandmother on my mom's side.

But isn't that an amazing phenomenon when you start to realize that your parents are human beings and, and are people too, and they have this whole life that you should know anything about, let alone being a famous starlet in the 40s and in the tabloids.

That's a whole nother level of notorious.

Whatever.

Yeah, I love it.

I love it so.

Well, goodness.

I mean, you then must have had a few kind of memories sort of running around on the set or being on set or going to work with mom or dad or something in terms of seeing, you know, the crew and the production and all of that stuff.

And maybe, you know, Frank Sinatra was handing you donuts from the, from the food craft table.

I don't know.

But I mean, talk about some of those experiences, because that's pretty cool.

Yeah.

As I said, my mom, by the time she had me, she wasn't working as much.

Or you could be a makeup girl.

Like, she never said, oh, you could be a director.

Because there were so few women directors.

Even when I joined the Directors Guild of America, you know, now about 30 years ago, it was like 9% directors, women directors, you know, And I remember thinking, well, it's going to get so much better.

And it did not for a very long time.

It only really shifted in about the last five years that I think it's now at like 34%.

And I could tell that that's real because it's.

Ava, my daughter has worked, I think, with more women directors than men directors.

So she thinks nothing of it, which is so awesome that it's just like it's now kind of balancing out.

But when I.

What's the diversity?

What's the diversity of the Guild too?

Not just based on gender, but based on ethnicity.

And yeah, there's all sorts of stumbling blocks, but, you know, in.

There's more women TV directors than film directors, and then there's even more women directors in unscripted television, which is where I really got my start.

My big break was a show called Unsolved Mysteries that, you know, it's a GGA and a SAG show, but it.

Was, you know, not as typical.

Like we were shooting film and, you know, we were doing these kind of dramatic recreations, which, you know, but it wasn't a full on scripted television show.

But that was an amazing opportunity for me to get to do that, you know, and I learned a lot.

And I was with that show for the whole nine year run that it was on NBC.

And I got to do that with my husband as well, which was kind of cool.

So he was a producer.

Fun fact.

How.

What was he doing?

What was that talk about that?

So there was a group of directors and a group of producers, and then they'd mix and match when we were assigned a story to do.

So he was one of the producers.

So sometimes we'd go on the road together and then sometimes, often more than not, we'd be separated out.

But it was really fun to get to share that experience with him.

And then when we had our daughter towards the end of the run, then we're like, well, we can't both be out of town at the same time.

So then we never worked together again.

But we were kind of able to, the last year that the show was on, somehow manage having a daughter and still doing the show.

Then after she was born, we realized we both couldn't be traveling.

And because it was a dga show.

And I was making union money.

It was like, all right, you keep going, Laura.

And so he kind of became a Mr.

Mom.

And I continued to travel, like, throughout my career.

Kind of like your mom and dad, like.

Yeah, that's true.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Strong women.

Strong women.

I don't know anything about strong women.

Yeah, I think you do.

But.

It'S.

Besides your.

Your spouse.

The cream rises, no doubt.

Yes.

Well, that's phenomenal.

Just so for people that don't necessarily know, you know, we're talking about the Guild, the Directors Guild.

You know, a lot of people may.

Maybe they've heard of it, maybe they don't have it.

Maybe they know what it is, maybe they don't explain what the Guild is, why it is, and.

And the.

The, you know, the value proposition of the Guild, you know, not just today, but from yesterday.

Tell us that story a little bit.

So we understand you were in your 20s.

I mean, I think you were accepted in the Guild when you were 25.

Is that correct?

23, actually.

I was the youngest woman to join at the time.

Yeah, I'm pretty proud of that.

Yeah.

So.

It'S, you know, it's funny because people think of unions, like the coal miners union or something.

You know, I mean, they're all based on fair practices because, you know, even in the Hollywood industry, they were insane hours and demanding too much.

And so I think.

And I have so much respect for.

And so much appreciation for it because it set limits of minimum being paid and at some point set up the residual system that directors and actors have.

When you are on a union, one of the advantages is if you work on a TV show like, Believe it or not, to this day, I still get residuals from Unsolved Mysteries.

I mean, much smaller checks.

But the idea that, you know, and that's based on.

In our industry, it's kind of atypical to be working all the time.

You know, you're jumping from job to job with big spaces in the middle.

And so the concept of residuals was because the producers were making a profit off the show's airing, so that we would get a little piece of that profit to keep us afloat between jobs.

And that's really true about there being a necessary part of a business structure that the entertainment industry is.

So I feel very lucky about the advantages of having residuals.

You know.

You know, there's pensions and all of that that come from just kind of fair Treatment and then you had a place to go if it wasn't safe on the set and things like that.

I mean, I never had a situation fortunately where I had to do that.

Plus you get to see free movies at their theater.

So still take advantage of that as well.

Yeah.

So it sounds like what, what?

Well, a.

You said the word union.

So really what the guild is.

The Guild is a, is an organization meant to protect labor.

Right.

On a certain very base level.

But then that comes with being obviously advocacy, advocating.

You have an advocate, they're advocating for the, for the community, for the profession.

And then if they have to, they advocate for the individual members if something were to happen.

But then there are benefits and everyone's paying in on some level.

Right, Right.

Percentage of whatever the dollar you make or whatever.

And then that funds health care, you know, all those, you know, wonderful things to have if you can get them.

Yeah, it has an amazing health plan, you know, and it does not the same anymore.

But when my daughter was growing up, a lot of it was spouses and kids were free.

Now you have to pay something extra.

But still compared to what's out there, it's an incredible health plan.

And then, and practically anything when you were on network television was going to be now when cable started to come around and they were new and fledgling and we, you know, we don't have much money and we don't know how much money we're going to make then.

Most of those shows were non union, you know.

And so I started about 20 years ago, got a job offer for an HGTV show called Designer's Challenge.

But I had to make the decision of going non union.

But it was a year round salary and at the time my daughter was little, it was like, like kind of a steady job without being too demanding because I don't think I could have, you know, like Unsolved Mysteries was very intense in terms of hours and travel and everything.

So I was looking for a way to still be in my business but still be a mom.

So I.

So for the last 20 years I have not worked union, but I'm still very grateful for that opportunity.

But you're still a member or.

No, I'm still a member.

I still pay my dues.

Right, right.

I still get to go to the free screenings and things like that.

Just check the non union box on the job application or whatever.

Got you, got you.

Well, so the.

Okay, so the, so the union and I mean, I'm thinking about that, what you just said about those directors that came Together to organize and start the guild in the 30s or 40s, whenever it was.

I mean, what heroes to stand up against those studio bosses who were like kind of just basically mafia.

Yeah, in many ways it was a very.

Yeah, like the studio bosses, you know, it's the kind of typical storyline of they're going to take advantage in any way they can, you know.

Yeah.

And so it really was a hard fought battle to form the union.

And it's one of the strongest unions out there.

As a matter of fact, I don't think the DGA has ever gone on strike.

You know, they've always managed to negotiate and you know, but again, I appreciate what the writers and the actors went through to go on strike because there really were some unfair practices as the world of entertainment is changing in the way people watch TV and all of that.

You know, that there was fair battles to be had about fairness because the studios today are still always looking for the workarounds.

Right?

Of course, of course.

But yeah, they've really been a big part of, of the industry, you know, in a good way for sure.

My dad was an electrician who worked at U.S.

steel Company in Gary, Indiana for 30 years and he was part of the union.

He wasn't a, well, he wasn't a huge, you know, I mean he was definitely a union guy, but he was not like some.

What's the word I want?

He wasn't, he wasn't like an activist kind of person, you know, but, you know, but we had great health care.

We had great, you know, until you.

Could live a middle class life.

It was a very middle class life.

And so the unions are an important essential, some would argue and I would as well, kind of strategy and tactic for labor to, to, to.

I mean, you know, you, you, you, you know, not power in numbers.

Right.

And if they've got the money, then we got the numbers and you know, and then hopefully you get to some mutually agreeable kind of agreement.

But.

So, yeah, so I, I'm, I'm sold on, on the power of a, of a guild to, to, to advocate and to be that kind of, that force, I guess, multiplier.

But anyway, so all this great talk about unions, you know, you, you know, you gotta be pretty good at what you do to get into a union.

Right.

I mean like some unions obviously, you know, maybe are less difficult to get into in terms of the nature of the work, but presumably you've gotta be, you know, competent and maybe certified, maybe licensed, whatever it is.

And then you get into the union or the guild, because you've earned that now.

It's actually interesting because there's two ways to get in the dga, and one is a long, arduous process of you start as a second assistant director and work your way slowly up to a first, and you have to have 1,000 hours on a set and then as a director.

So you're usually working your way up slowly into finally hitting director.

But if a company hires you as a director, and that was my case, that my boss at the time wanted to promote me to director, and so I could go in just straight as a director and pay my dues.

I didn't have to do it the really hard way.

And I really admire the people that it takes.

It can take years to get to that point.

What you described is almost like a doctor doing their residency at a hospital.

Absolutely.

Model, but.

And that's great that you had that option to.

Well, you could go down the path A or path B to get into the guild.

But you know, what I was.

What I was getting to was this idea that when the per.

When a person hears the word electrician and says, oh, that he was in the, you know, electricians union or something, like, people kind of understand what electricians do.

I think, speaking.

And what I'm realizing is that we've had all this talk about the Director's Guild.

We've had all this talk about all these great shows that you've directed as director.

And now I'm realizing a lot of our listeners are probably scratching their heads going, okay, well, what does a director actually do?

Right, right.

We have all this talk of what are they directing?

Who are they directing?

What do we.

What does success look like?

So let's take three steps back and.

And define for conversation's sake today, in your own words, what is a director?

What does a director do?

Why is a director valuable?

And what Laura Patterson does, do you do every day?

Well, I think directors visually tell a story.

I mean, they have to figure out how to tell a story visually, you know, because, you know, and sometimes directors wrote their own script, but they have a script to work with.

But how do you tell that story effectively?

And like, you know, I'm a huge fan of Wicked.

Like, it just like what John Chu accomplished, you know, to just create this fantasy world just blows my mind.

And what I think is so interesting about directing, because it's.

With any creative industry, like, artists have different processes.

The Directors Guild, every year they have a director's guild who won for feature film, and they have their own Ceremony for that.

And the morning of they do like a roundtable discussion in their theater where the five nominated directors come and talk about and they show clips from all the nominated movies and have them talk about their process.

And I love going to those because I'm fascinated.

Like some don't want to rehearse at all and some are good after three takes and others do 40 takes or they rehearse for a week and that.

But they're all talented directors with academy nominated movies.

So there's no right or wrong way to do it.

It's just a different style.

Like Ridley Scott is known, he puts up five cameras.

Even if it's just one person sitting in a chair, he does multiple cameras and minimal takes.

And then somebody else will do it 40 different ways, right.

And try improving.

And some don't want any improving.

So the process is so individual.

But you know, in the world of moviemaking, it's like, who makes me feel like I love Cameron Crowe?

There's something about his movies like Almost Famous or Jerry Maguire.

Like there's just heart to those movies.

And so to me, for feature directors who I have great respect for, it's how are you telling that story to evoke whatever emotion, you know, love, fear, all of it.

But even in the unscripted, like with Unsolved Mysteries, you know, we were, it was a hard show to work on in terms of the material we're talking about.

I was interviewing parents whose children were missing or murdered.

And then I'd have to tell that story and how to tell that story.

So there was a lot of very heavy subject matter that we dealt with.

But also back then, which is hard to imagine, is that the Internet was just coming into being when that show was on.

So that 800 number really was this lifeline for solving stories.

And sometimes it was families that were torn apart because of the depression.

They were poor kids and all the siblings got separated out, you know, by social services and they're now trying to find each other or a guy would kill somebody and cross the and states didn't have easy ways to talk to each other.

Like it's such a given now.

So it was a very emotionally satisfying show to work on because I felt like we were making a difference.

That felt really good.

And I told myself early in my career that I never wanted to work on what I call mean spirited television.

You know, there are some shows that I think are kind of.

They look for the drama and look seeing the worst in people.

Like I'm not a big bachelor nation fan, get them drunk and make them look like a hot mess kind of feeling.

And I'm like, you know, I always wanted to work on shows that I could feel good about or things like that.

But it's then, like, I would be given a story, and then it's how do I visually tell that story, whether it's, you know, an Unsolved Mysteries, they ran about 15, 20 minutes.

So how to effectively tell that kind of story, you know.

And so a lot of my.

Most of my career has been dealing with real.

Telling real people stories, you know, something that happened to them or even when I went onto hgtv, I'm dealing with, you know, real people decorating a home or buying a home, you know, and I really enjoy that part of it, you know, so it's kind of also.

It's always a race against time from when your day starts.

You know, an average day is 10 to 12 hours.

That's, if you're lucky, that's a good day.

And how to get everything in.

In that day.

So.

So I think for me, that's the most stressful part of directing, is how to make the most of each day.

But I love the collaborative part of television.

I love my cruise.

I love having fun on a set, all of it.

So that part is really enjoyable.

You know, let's pause for a minute because you said the critical thing and the one word that strikes me as kind of vital in all of this, you said the word collaboration and this idea.

I mean, you're a director and you have vision.

You see in your head the emotions that you're trying to create for that story, for that show, whatever the case might be.

But you're not the cinematographer, you're not a photographer, director, be necessarily.

And you, you know, so.

So you've got to collaborate at least with that person, right?

And then God forbid there's a studio executive on set who's giving you, you know, notes, real time, and you got to deal with that.

Yeah, I mean, let.

If, God forbid, you know, executives are on the set micromanaging, overlooking, you know, your shoulder.

So you're collaborating not just with the writers in terms of telling their story, you're collaborating with the director of photography or cinematography to realize your vision because you don't have the expertise, right, to light a scene or to maybe.

I mean, you have probably a little bit of knowledge.

But I'm just saying, like, you're not really lighting the set and you're not running the camera, so you need to collaborate with those folks, right?

To get the look that you want, right?

And then.

And then, oh, by the way, let's not forget about talent, right?

Let's not forget about.

About, you know, getting the actor to do what you want to do.

And then, God forbid they don't agree with your vision.

Collaborating and reconciling those realities.

It truly is a team sport, isn't it?

It is.

And that's why I've always been attracted to television more so than film, because in film there's huge sets, but really about four people are running the show.

Right.

But in television, it's a smaller team of people that are all integral.

And I like that aspect of it.

It's funny, I got a job offer early on about taking a job at NBC, and I remember thinking to myself, well, do I want to be a network executive?

Like, you know, I was kind of thinking, if I start this, I work my way up a ladder.

But I realized that tv, I like that collaborative aspect of it, you know, and so that's something that I really appreciate.

Well, you know, there's a certain special someone in my life who works in television and, you know, AKA my wife.

And, you know, it's interesting, when she made a jump from film to television, the thing that really excited her about television was that she was.

She had to make tv.

She.

Shows had to be made and they had to be made on time.

Like, there was a lot of activity going on.

Like, movies might take one.

It might take several years to make a movie, right?

But.

But with television, you.

You've got a.

You've got eight episodes or 12 episodes or whatever it is, and they've got to get made.

And so the train is moving and you're either on or off.

Don't get run over.

And she loved the fact that you just have to be productive.

You have to get things done.

Yeah, I like that, too, very much.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So.

So you.

So, okay, so you, You.

You're a mom, you're a professional, you're passionate, you're called.

You're, you know, you're an artist or working in the faith in the space that you're kind of called to do.

You're juggling all these things.

Somewhere along the way, you get a call to.

To work on House Hunters for.

For Pie Town Productions, and ultimately HDTV is the kind of network distributor.

What was it about House Hunters that attracted you?

And did you.

Did you get on that show?

First season, second season?

Like, talk a little bit about House Hunters and your experience there because you've been there like 20 seasons now, right?

Yeah.

Well, I'm not on house hunters, but 20 years of doing HGTV.

So Piketown Productions is a unique company in that I love the fact that it's run by two women that are partners in life as well as, you know, in business.

And the first show I got offered, you know, of course it's a business of who, you know.

So a friend of mine that was a producer on Unsolved Mysteries named Stacy Schneider had moved over to Pytown Productions and was working on a show called Designer's Challenge, a home design show.

And so that was my.

And it was a year long commitment because those shows you were doing, design shows, there's a big space between when you start and finish because you got to finish the design.

And interestingly, it was after 911 that, you know, certain events in life after 911 the TV industry kind of took a big pause and there wasn't as much happening because everybody had this sense of uncertainty about spending money.

And so when I got offered this year long job and they said, well you won't be union, but it'll be a year of salary guaranteed, I thought, you know what?

I'm going to take the bird in the hand.

And I'm so glad I did.

And never thinking at the time that I'd be there over 20 years.

But back then that company was thriving, mainly providing content for HGTV.

At one point, 30% of all programming was produced by Pytown Productions.

So I moved around to different shows and then there was an opening on House Hunters that had been around, I want to say, maybe at least five years or so.

And I had actually did a pilot for them and they're like, while we're waiting for the pilot to pick up, we're going to put you on House Hunters.

And then that temporary situation, the pilot didn't get picked up and then I ended up staying.

And again, like it was a show that I felt good about to do that, you know, it always had a happy ending.

Like it's capturing a time in people's life that's a happy, happy memory of buying a home, you know.

And so I enjoyed that aspect of it.

And I love traveling.

I think I have a gypsy soul.

So it was traveling around the country and for the first two years we were also doing the international version and that was a blast.

Like I got one year, I got to go to Italy five times.

I was in heaven, right?

You know, and got to go to the Caribbean and places I had never been before.

So that was really a very cool thing, even though it was a grueling schedule, because any other show I worked on, if you travel to Europe, the next day would be like a scout day or a casting day.

And this was like 8am call the next day, you know, and you're like, so you were, you know, I was constantly, you know, turned around on time zones, but it was a really fun experience.

So.

And it's just this kind of iconic show.

I feel like 60 Minutes.

I don't know if it's ever going to really go away.

You know, it's just kind of part of our, you know, so it's fun to work on a show that people know and they go, oh, I love that show.

You know, and from all.

But I love all age ranges, young people to retired people, and all socioeconomic, appreciate the show.

And it really shows the American dream because you do get to see people in all shapes and sizes having that American dream to buy a home, you know, and, you know, I love that HGTV was kind of ahead of the curve in featuring gay couples, you know, buying a home.

And I worked with this gay couple in Chicago that wanted to adopt a baby.

And so they're saying, okay, well, where we put the nursery.

And I love that that was like just a normal conversation.

And I think that that does have an effect when people watch it, to realize how much we have the same, even if we don't look the same or.

Yeah, it's humanizing people, right?

Like, absolutely.

And because.

Because you're used, you're telling.

House Hunters is a very universal human kind of show because we.

If we haven't all bought a home, we all dream to buy a home and aspire to buy a home.

And so on some level, it's aspirational and escapism for people who are, you know, dreaming and aspiring.

But then the.

For the rest of us who have been, you know, blessed, fortunate, privileged, lucky enough to own a home, you know, we all know the pain and suffering that goes into choosing and finding a home that you love and can afford, right?

And so House Hunters does such a fantastic job of just telling those stories that we can all relate to, no matter our socioeconomic strata.

And.

And I think, you know, and it's just.

It's a simple show to make, too.

It's not like.

I mean, no offense, but, you know, I was watching.

I was on a plane the other day and I was watching one of Tom Cruise's Mission Impossible.

So I'm like, how do they even make this?

I Mean, it is just like off the charts bananas, you know, And.

And so with House Hunters, it's a fairly comparatively.

Right.

It's a very simple show to make.

You're shooting it in what, five days?

Ish.

Give or take.

And yet it's this human story.

And so it's just resonates.

And that's why it's been on the air for all these years.

Right?

Yeah.

I mean, it's a.

It's a formula, but it's a successful formula.

And in the early days, cable, when House center started, the budgets were really low, so it was an affordable show to do.

I'm used to working with small crews on that show, like four people, me and four people making it happen.

And we're just pulling up in regular cars.

And you know, obviously the equipment we use has changed over the years.

And we started on tape, you know, of course now everything's on a little card.

And you know, obviously we progressed with the times of technology, but the concept of the show is not changed that much.

It's funny, when I started on the show, it was more driven about the houses.

And then a network executive said, no, it needs to be more about the people.

And I like that we tell more of their stories than we used to.

And I think that is where people connect.

And it's funny, the rules keep changing based on our network executive.

But there was one that was like, oh, you need to do more lifestyle.

And I love that.

Like, so if I'm in Chicago, like, let's go kayaking on the Chicago River.

Let's go to the top of the Hancock building.

Let's getting them out in the world.

And then sadly, with COVID we had to pivot.

And it was people like chopping tomatoes in their kitchen.

You know, we couldn't go out in the world like we used to, you know, so I kind of missed that.

Like, what fun stuff are we gonna do in a city to show off the city?

You know, like walk on Bourbon street in New Orleans and all of that.

But then.

So people also got.

And especially with House Centers International, you know, showing off.

Oh, that would be interesting to live in Barcelona or whatever, you know, so.

And some people said they've been influenced in moving based.

Like, I had a friend that saw a show on Asheville, North Carolina, and it just spoke to her and she ended up going there and checking it out and moving there, you know, so it.

And then I think that there is something, like, I always ask people, like, are you good at guessing which house they pick?

Because that's sort of the fun of the show.

But, you know, you learn that, like, life is a compromise.

Like you never get everything you want in a house.

Or probably that's true with all things in life.

Right.

So some of my realtors have talked about an 80, 20 rule.

Like, if you can get 80% of what's on your wish list, you're in, in good shape because you're never going to get a hundred, you know, so.

Yeah, that's what my wife said about marrying me.

Well, I got 80%.

That's pretty good anyway.

But, but that, I mean, but that's such a.

And this is such a good segue into your new project because you are.

You've taken on a new project and you're the director for this new unscripted home design show, part home design, part travel, called Art House.

Yes.

And it's about real people meeting real artists to buy real art without breaking the bank.

And what a cool project.

How, how do you feel about being on Art House?

Like, tell us about Art House.

I couldn't be more excited because as I said early in my career, I said I never want to work on mean spirited television.

I want to work on shows that, you know, bring something to people's lives, you know, and celebrating artists just feels good, you know, like, and it's interesting because when I started at hgtv, I knew nothing about interior design or real estate and then learned a ton.

And so arthouse is a new world for me too, you know, and I love learning about it.

And it's, it's really interesting how it sort of evolved into, you know, at first I'm like, well, we don't have to do the house owners format.

But then it sort of became realizing that formulas are there for a reason and they work right.

So then the idea of when it kind of morphed into.

Because like my first show, designer's challenge was a couple would meet with three designers to pick which designer should be designing a room in their house, you know, and, but like with House Hunter, some people will watch it and go, well, I would have picked house B instead of house A.

What's great is all three artists are getting exposure where people go, well, I love that artist's artwork.

Like, so all three artists, like, it's not, to me a winner take all kind of concept because art is so personal.

So it's just what this couple or a single person is choosing.

Another thing I love about the show that's kind of unique is that it can be anybody.

I Mean, obviously, a lot of times you think of homeowners who are couples, but what I love about the show is renters can do this show.

Like, my daughter's 29.

She just moved into an apartment she loves in Las Feliz area of Los Angeles.

And she cares greatly about what art she's putting on the walls.

You know, like, it doesn't mean you have to be able to afford an expensive home in order to start to fall in love with art and reflect your personality.

So.

So I love that the show can focus on renters as well as buyers that can, you know, that the show wants to do all price ranges.

You know, maybe, you know, a young single person that just is looking to spend like $500 on a piece of art and then it could be 5,000, you know, and to show the range of choices.

So I love that it again, it's like.

But it's again, getting to meet people and hear a little bit of their story and figure out why, you know, why they're looking for, what they're looking for.

Like, when we did a proof of concept video, it was with a young couple that was suspecting a baby.

And they had been.

They had recently bought a condo, had done a beautiful job remodeling it, and art was the final piece, which is often the case right then.

Now you want to know.

And they had one of those bedrooms with like 15 foot ceilings and a blank wall behind them, and they knew that they wanted art that spoke to them.

And I actually had lunch with Nishal yesterday.

One of our.

The person that we did the proof of concept video, and she like, just talked about how much the painting that they selected for their room, how much they love it, but that their.

Their little baby that was.

She was ready to give.

Like, she.

She went into labor a few weeks after we finished with her, and now this is like, you know, a one year old, but that she liked, like fixates on the art in the bedroom.

Like, she goes, I can tell that Sienna loves art too, you know, and it's just so cool, right?

You know, so again, I love kind of these chances to get to know people.

I mean, my, my favorite part about House Hunters is all the friends I've made over the years from different buyers.

And, you know, you spend time with them in a very intimate way when you're doing a show like this, you know, and especially for real people, it's one of those memories they never forget.

Like, it's, you know, so I love the idea that we're going to be, you know, helping people select art.

We're showcasing artists, and because I love travel, I love that we're going around the country, and, you know, I love cities with personality.

And even the art reflects the city, you know, from like a New Orleans to a Santa Fe to a Key west, you know.

And Chicago's a very vibrant art community as well.

Very eclectic.

Like, the amount of public art in this city is incredible.

And we had fun filming, like, all the cool murals and things, like the bean, all of it.

Like, art very much is a reflection of the city here, and every city has that.

And to expose some cities, you don't even realize, like, oh, Toledo, Ohio, has some really great art.

I never thought about that.

You know, I think that's a great feature of the show as well, because then everybody.

It's very relatable.

Well, and that's so true.

And, you know, art house.

And we've talked about this a lot over the years, haven't we?

But this idea that we want to shine a light on artists that never really get that kind of platform.

Right?

So, yeah, we're not really.

We're not going to New York or Miami or L.

A.

We were going to Chicago, which is.

Probably the biggest city that we might go to, but.

But we want to go to Toledo, as you said.

We want to go to.

To Wichita and to Madison and to Santa Fe or not.

Well, Santa Fe, but Albuquerque, you know, you know, these places that get overlooked.

It's, again, humanizing, right?

These artists, humanizing these people.

You know, the viewers will be able to see themselves in these young families, these young couples, older couples, whatever, and be related, build to relate to them, you know, and just kind of demystifying, humanizing artists and art buyers, but then also demystifying this process of like, oh, wait a minute.

I don't have to go to a fancy art gallery and spend a bunch of money.

No, no, no, no.

You can actually go to artist studios and you can meet the artists and you have a relationship directly with the artist.

You can buy art directly from the.

From the artist and save 50% in most cases, you know.

You know, versus buying in a gallery.

And so.

So, yeah, I feel.

I feel like.

Because, you know, we were talking about house hunters being kind of a universal, relatable, kind of human story, you know, cultural reality.

You know, you and I, the other day, we were talking about the antique roadshow.

We were talking about tiny desk concerts.

Like these shows sort of tap into some, like, basic human kind of reality.

Everybody loves music, which is why Tiny Desk concerts so good.

And everybody inherited that dish from Great Grandma.

They're not sure that is worth anything.

And so they're going to go to the Antique Roadshow and check it out.

And with Art House, you know, we wanted to resonate and communicate with this basic truth, which is that art isn't a luxury.

Right.

Art is for everyone.

And you deserve art too.

And you can have art too.

And so hopefully a show like Art House begins to tap into that and sort of democratize.

Right?

Yeah, because.

And you really introduced me to that when we first started talking about this project because I was one of those typical people that would go to Home Goods to buy my art.

Right.

Like, okay, I'll go to Home Goods, you know, and I never thought about reaching out to artists directly.

And I think most people, I think really that I think it'll affect all communities of.

I can just go look on a.

You know, because a lot, you can learn a lot about an artist even from just looking at their website.

But there's even something like when our couple on the Proof of Concept video got to meet Link Thalen in person, there was a deeper connection to the art.

So now there's.

Art has more meaning to them, you know, so there is something I think that anybody would enjoy really getting to meet and get to know the artists, you know, every year.

But I love going to Laguna beach for pageants of the Masters.

I don't know if you're familiar with that, but.

Oh yes.

And there's.

So it's kind of a live art show, but that there's.

They have, you know, artists there and they're sitting there and you're chatting with them.

You know, there is something about meeting an artist that makes you feel more connected to their work.

And as you said, compared to a gallery, it's a win, win for the artist and the buyer to go directly to the artist.

Yeah.

And it's.

And it's no slight against galleries.

Galleries have overhead, it's expensive.

I used to be involved in a gallery for about 10 years.

I mean it is a lot of work.

Right.

So they earn their money to be sure.

Sure.

But the problem is there are way more artists than there are galleries.

Sure.

And the galleries, it's a tough game, it's a tough business for all kinds of reasons.

The so called art gallery model doesn't serve 99% of artists, you know, or, or maybe less and, or more.

You know, it's.

It's a very rarefied kind of thing for a gallery to represent an artist or an artist to represent, be represented by gallery.

So a show like Art House, right, is one attempt at trying to provide a different model, a different platform.

Right.

To help amplify artists and their work and help connect artists and their work with.

With real folks who would like to learn and know and, and have been left out of the equation as well on some level.

And, and, and so, so, yeah, I mean, in the Proof of Concept video that, that we did together last year in Chicago with Nisha Nishal, that, that moment where they walk into the room and see Link's painting on the wall, I mean, the look of joy and delight was completely sincere and honest.

I mean, we were capturing it in real time.

Like it was like they had not seen it.

We had kept them away.

Right?

And then.

So we get that moment of truth when they walk in.

And, and that is the joy, right, the feel good, human moment of finding that piece of art that just puts.

Speaks to you, that you love.

And we want to take that into communities and cities and towns across the country, right?

Yeah.

And for Link to get to witness it too, because he even talked about, you know, he usually isn't there when that art is being hung and when they kind of see it for the first time.

So it was meaningful to him as well as to them.

But their reaction was really authentic, you know, And I think again, because they met Link and that he was there to share that moment with them, you know, because it's just like on the design shows, you know, it's.

It's so rewarding when, when the designer.

Is walking around with their clients and.

Seeing the transformation of their home that, you know, it's.

It's still a transformation when you add art.

It just, it just does, you know, it's simple as that is.

And I think a lot of people too, I know when I started on home design shows, I didn't even know what my taste was.

And then I started to pay attention and then became like, I guess I'm kind of traditional.

And I like.

Here's what I like and don't like.

And I think with a lot of people with art that they'll discover what their taste is too, by going through this process that they hadn't really thought of it before.

They thought, well, it's a blue room.

I'll get this blue painting and be done with it.

Right?

And what they gravitate towards and that, you know, it will.

They'll have a deep appreciation for art in general, you know, and you've been such A supporter of the arts throughout your career, Scott, that I know that your heart is mainly motivated for these artists to be more celebrated.

And I do think that the show accomplishes that, and that's a really good feeling, you know, and thank you for that.

Yeah, that means a lot.

Yeah.

So I'm very excited about this project because I feel like it's one of those simple ideas, but.

But sometimes those simple ideas work the best, you know, like, that people can relate to it.

And there's also that feeling of, oh, you want to see how it turns out at the end.

And, you know, and all of that.

That, you know, like, it really makes for a very fun half hour.

And.

Yeah.

And, you know, so it's.

Yeah, it's.

It's a really great concept.

And when I've shared our video or even talk to people about it, they go, oh, that's a great idea.

Well, it's an idea.

It's an idea.

It feels like an idea that.

Whose time has come.

Right?

Like, it's the right time for a show like this.

And the origin story is one you've heard many times.

But during the pandemic, when Chef's Table came on Netflix and I saw Chef's Table, and I thought, oh, goodness, like, we should do this for visual art.

But then I, of course, learned that it cost millions of dollars to make one episode of Chef's Table.

And it's gorgeous to watch, but not very democratic and not very, you know, easy to make.

And yet then I was like, wait a minute.

But you have this, you know, you have hgtv, and you have that kind of formulaic approach to telling stories like House Hunters that totally works and resonates and is that I love.

I've watched House Hunters.

I don't have any.

Hundreds of episodes I've watched of House Hunters over the years.

You know, so it's like, okay, how do you take the DNA of a show like Chef's Table and then the DNA of a show like House Hunters and fuse them together and, you know, that is how we got to art house, you know, and obviously giving credit where credit's due.

And ideas only an idea unless you can execute on it.

When our mutual friend Wendy Marabella was smart enough, nice enough, generous enough to connect you and I, and then we were able to have the talent, the experience in you in particular, to be able to execute on this.

And then you've built this amazing team with Dana and Brian and Stacy and on and on.

Right.

It's just.

I just feel so lucky and grateful that Wendy put us together because Art House wouldn't be where it is today without your good work.

Thank you.

And I love getting, you know, there's nothing better than working with friends.

Right.

And now you and I are friends working together, you know, but yeah, that when I first approached you, the idea of doing it in Chicago because I thought, you know, it's a great city to represent middle America but still be an art loving community.

And that I have crews that I've worked with for many years and people I trust.

And so it was so fun for us all to work on something new and different and try and capture some of that Chef's Table production quality, you know, but as I said, yeah, some shows are, you know, have bigger budgets than others.

But the great thing about the show is it's not just an HGTV show.

I think it could land on a variety of platforms that can be appreciated, you know, because unscripted television is always going to be a part of many networks from shows on, just like Chef's Table was part of Netflix and you know, even a PBS show or something like that, you know, that there's so many places that it can land, which is a good feeling that it doesn't just have to be in one lane either.

But you know, all the networks are looking for affordable shows that are going to capture people's attention.

Right.

And that's what I think we can offer them.

Absolutely, absolutely.

And.

And it's, it's such a.

It.

You said it.

I mean, it's a feel good show.

It's the right time for a show like this.

We've got the team together.

We can make the donuts, no problem.

The delicious donuts.

Serve them up with the sprinkles and the cream filled, whatever, and.

But now we just eat the money.

Yes, There we go.

Now we just need the money.

Yeah, just that little thing.

And which is why we're thrilled about our crowdfunding campaign.

And, and we encourage people to find us@arthouse tv show.com and please consider contributing to the show.

You can donate your community in town for 30 bucks.

You can come, you can nominate your town.

Maybe we'll come shoot a show there.

If you.

There's an artist that you know or love or if you're an artist, you can nominate yourself to be considered to be on the show for 30 bucks.

On the crowdfunding campaign, every donation, every dollar is tax deductible.

So that's a wonderful thing because of our fiscal sponsorship with Arterial.

So there's just so many different aspects to it.

And we're going to, you know, we're going to do one step at a time, crawl, walk, run.

We're raising money to fund our pilot episode that we're going to shoot in Chicago because we know and love Chicago, and we can go back to where we started.

There's a cost savings there.

And.

But we want to get our new host, Carmen Acosta, in front of the camera because of the proof of concept.

You know, yours truly sort of stood in for the host because we didn't have one.

We.

I always believed that the.

That the host should be a female.

And, you know, I had a certain kind of, some might say look or aesthetic or vibe, you know, and Carmen just embodies and personifies so many of those attributes that, at least in my mind, the ideal host, the expert, affable host would have.

And so now we're going to get Carmen in front of the camera so that she can take the wheel and drive as host.

And it's such an exciting time.

And we're going to be in production in August, which is phenomenal.

And.

But I mean, let's shout out to Carmen.

How great is Carmen?

Oh, I know.

And I think having an art curator is right on point for our artists because I think that our buyers, our art buyers are going to be looking for some guidance, you know, and so Carmen having an art background herself, but also, you know, we just recently got to go to one of her shows where she showcased 57 different artists.

It was a really cool show downtown.

So she gets that world.

And she also, you know, understands, like, what people are looking for in buying art.

I think that she's, you know, she's just as.

But a very accessible personality, too.

Like, I think she'll really connect because, like, for me, that's such an important aspect of, you know, making a TV show together that everybody's having a good time and everybody's feeling connected.

And it doesn't always look that way on sets.

Right.

But for me, like, setting a tone.

And so Carmen is like, you know, just, you know, like, smart and warm and talented and creative.

Like, I think she was an excellent choice for being our host.

And, you know, it just has just enough edge to make it interesting, too, you know, so.

So, yeah, so I'm very excited about getting to work with her and, you know, introducing her to our next lucky couple that's.

That's going to do the pilot with us.

So.

So, yeah, it's.

It's a great team and, you know, Everybody feels the same kind of passion about it, which is infectious.

That.

Well, that's the thing.

The team that we all sort of have come together with in large part because we share the same values, right?

Like, like there's, you know, like there's, you know, obviously a certain level of competency.

And by that I mean world class professional competency.

I mean, the team is world class.

The team is completely pro.

But it wouldn't matter if we didn't share the same values, like if we.

Didn'T really love the, the project.

I don't want anybody on this project that doesn't feel it the way I feel it the way you feel it the way, you know, and, and that's what's so great about everybody that's on this team.

And that's why we're so anxious to sort of get into production on this thing and get going.

Because, you know, we sort of captured lightning in a bottle.

Yeah, yeah, I agree.

Absolutely.

So.

And everybody's contributed to.

How about this or different ideas and that.

Back again to what I love about the collaborative aspect of, of television and that, you know, we can do a lot in five days, so.

Yes.

Yes, we.

Yes, we can.

Yes, we can.

Yes, we can.

Well, Laura Patterson, I am so grateful.

That you are the director of Art House.

A little, little project I've been working on for five years now.

Six years, and.

But meeting you and having you come onto the team was really the linchpin that got this ball rolling in such a powerful way.

And so I couldn't thank you.

I'm so grateful not just to call you my colleague, but call you my friend.

Yes.

You've put up with me and my nonsense for a couple, at least three.

Years now, I think.

So.

The fact that you're still around is, is a testament to you more than it is to me.

But I'm.

I'm thrilled.

I can't wait to get back to Chicago with you and Carmen and Brian and Dana and the team to.

To shoot this final episode or not.

Final first pilot episode complete.

Finally shoot the pilot.

Finally.

And it's going to be.

It's going to be a great.

It'll be a great week.

Yes.

Well, you said you set the bar for all of us, you know, and we appreciate it.

So.

Yeah, we're all excited.

Excellent.

Well, thank you for those kind words.

And I guess we'll wrap up today.

People have busy lives.

They want.

They want to get back to, you know, their, their dinner or whatever it is.

Well, anyone's still listening.

Thank you for speaking with us.

I thank you so much, Laura, for coming on.

You're welcome.

Thanks Scott.

Thanks for listening to the Not Real Art podcast.

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Not Real Art is produced by Crew West Studios in Los Angeles.

Our theme music was created by Ricky Peugeot and Desi Delauro from the band Parlor Social.

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Thanks again for listening to Not Real Art.

We'll be back soon with another inspiring episode celebrating creative culture and the artists who make it.