St. Louis as a center of reality TV production? Yes, really!

Arch City · #1 Posted **Jan 8, 2013, 1:01 AM**

St. Louis as a center of reality TV production? Yes, really!
October 01, 2012 12:05 am • BY GAIL PENNINGTON • Post-Dispatch Television Critic •

One TV series after another, video entrepreneurs are turning St. Louis into Hollywood on the Mississippi.

Part of a crew from Coolfire Originals, including director of photography Dave Rutherford (center) and videographer Ryan Doris (right) set up lights before the start of an "MFF: Mom Friends Forever" shoot on Wednesday, July 11, 2012, in Creve Coeur. Photo by Erik M. Lunsford

From an office on North 10th Street, Coolfire Originals has landed reality shows on two cable networks, with a third debuting tonight. But the wave has barely started; by early 2013, Coolfire will have six unscripted series on the air nationally, with five of the six featuring St. Louis people and businesses.

“It’s mind-blowing,” says Jeff Keane, president and CEO of Coolfire. “I can’t think of any city outside of Los Angeles and New York that will be featured in so many shows.”

Coolfire’s first series, “Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s,” following “Miss Robbie” Montgomery and her restaurant family, is in its second season on Oprah Winfrey’s OWN, where it is the network’s biggest success story.

Tonight, Nickelodeon launches its new NickMom block on the Nick Jr. channel with “MFF: Mom Friends Forever,” featuring Creve Coeur moms and best friends Judi Diamond and Kate Frisina-White.

Already sold, but with no debut dates yet, are St. Louis-based shows that will air on the Style network, the Discovery Channel and Discovery Fit & Health. (Coolfire cannot discuss the subjects of the new shows until the networks release the information.) Coolfire also developed “Fast N’ Loud,” a Discovery Channel series about colorful Texas men who restore classic cars.

Coolfire produces “Sweetie Pie’s” with Los Angeles partners Pilgrim Productions, and Pilgrim shoots “Fast N’ Loud.” But Coolfire is solo on “MFF” and the three upcoming shows.

Tim Breitbach, Coolfire’s vice president of original programming, was on the set of “Mom Friends Forever” every day. “In the field or in post-production, this was our show,” he says. “We showed we can do the work. I think we also showed that we’re good people, good to work with. The networks get that.”

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Arch City · #2 Posted **Jan 8, 2013, 1:09 AM**

Not only is St. Louis seeing an uptick in Reality TV production for various networks, there are scripted network shows in production and planned, which are to be filmed in or centered around St. Louis for The Discovery and National Geographic channels.

The biggest for 2013 is the SciFi series, Defiance, coming April 15th, 2013 on the SyFy Channel. Centered around St. Louis and San Francisco, Defiance is the groundbreaking transmedia experience connecting a shooter MMO from Trion Worlds with a dramatic TV series from Syfy.

Other St. Louis-featured shows already on air are:
Welcome To Sweetie Pie’s (Reality), Oprah Winfrey Network
Mom Friends Forever (Reality), Nick, Jr./Nick Moms
The Soul Man (Scripted Comedy), TV Land

• Video Link

Evergrey · #3 Posted **Jan 8, 2013, 1:11 AM**

First it was the "world energy nerve center"... now it's "Hollywood on the Mississippi"... is there anything St. Louis can't do???

Arch City · #4 Posted **Jan 8, 2013, 1:20 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evergrey

First it was the "world energy nerve center"... now it's "Hollywood on the Mississippi"... is there anything St. Louis can't do???

Don't hate. Celebrate!

By the way, you check out some episodes of all shows on-line. Just go to the networks mentioned above webpages.

Centropolis · #5 Posted **Jan 8, 2013, 1:25 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evergrey

First it was the "world energy nerve center"... now it's "Hollywood on the Mississippi"... is there anything St. Louis can't do???

sounds like st louis is getting on your world energy nerve center nerves.

hater! : )

MolsonExport · #6 Posted **Jan 8, 2013, 2:17 AM**

so long as it is not the Arch Deluxe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arch_Deluxe

#7 Posted **Jan 8, 2013, 8:50 AM**

Thank goodness. I was getting bored with the other thousand reality t.v. shows about useless, rich stay-at-home moms. Hopefully this one will inject some new life into the genre.

In general I wish reality t.v. would die.

I am, however, looking forward to Defiance. Just hope the video game facet doesn't ruin it.

MolsonExport · #8 Posted **Jan 8, 2013, 12:46 PM**

All reality shows are the same schtick: What happens when you put people under pressure and in competition with each other?

Nothing real about contrived situations. It is all about drama.

kool maudit · #9 Posted **Jan 8, 2013, 12:47 PM**

but it's ST. LOUIS drama now.

montréaliste · #10 Posted **Jan 8, 2013, 2:18 PM**

Well the good thing about this is that if local producers and craftspeople get to do their stuff, they can then set up better infrastructure and tell stories from the inside if they turn to fiction as opposed to getting Hollywood to portray them in a crooked mirror. Not a great fan of Reality TV, also kinda disappointed in the trash NatGeo puts out, but I noticed a coupla shows on PBS that mimic the genre in a better, less contrived way, IMO.

Anyways, this is good for StLouis!

Arch City · #11 Posted **Jan 9, 2013, 12:44 AM**

^Great comment!

While no city on the Mississippi River seems to be hitting TV and film production as hard as St. Louis at this time – exception probably New Orleans - this bodes well for St. Louis because it allows Hollywood - as well as the TV networks - to see that there is some production talent in St. Louis.

The small talent pool that existed in St. Louis has already led to a bigger talent pool because of Coolfire Media. Coolfire's presence has led to more jobs as well as more exposure for St. Louis in the TV and film industries.

If the State of Misery (Missouri) would contribute more to supporting the TV/Film industry like it supports other industries in the State, I think St. Louis could grow into a respectable TV and film center.

#12 Posted **Jan 9, 2013, 2:05 AM**

^ good points. on that note, i haven't heard anything about jennifer lynch's new project lately. she was adamant about filming "A Fall From Grace" in Saint Louis, but was working on getting some credits. in the meantime she was shooting scenes over in IL. apparently they're more proactive than MO about supporting locally produced films. surprise, surprise.

Arch City · #13 Posted **Jan 9, 2013, 4:44 AM**

Below is a link to an interview Jennifer Lynch did regarding her film and about shooting it in the St. Louis area. I think it comes out May 2013.

CANNES Q&A: Jennifer Lynch Explores Her Fears in Market Title 'A Fall From Grace'

Did you have some connection to St. Louis? We don’t see many films set there.

"My connection to that city is very strange in that I had none prior to this. But I really felt a kinship with it. It’s as affluent as it is impoverished and seedy — and that’s sort of like me! [laughs] I can look pretty clean, but I’m fairly impoverished and seedy. Much like I felt about India, St. Louis is like the universe’s art department already showed up: that place is ready to shoot. Maybe I’m just jaded and I’ve seen so much of what’s been shot out already in other cities. But St. Louis just has a real sense of visual ghosts and of genuine hard work and years of the rise and the fall of the economy — it’s just really fascinating, so I’m tickled pink to get to capture it."

The Trailer.

• Video Link

Arch City · #14 Posted **Jan 9, 2013, 5:01 AM**

These billboards went up in St. Louis and on LA's Sunset Strip.

Both Cedric and Neicy have roots in St. Louis.

Centropolis · #15 Posted **Jan 9, 2013, 5:15 AM**

i had no idea that david lynch had a daughter. glad that she thinks st louis was creepy enough for her vision!

Arch City · #16 Posted **Jan 9, 2013, 5:54 AM**

The success of Welcome To Sweetie Pie's on OWN has caused long lines at two of the three Sweetie Pie's restaurants. This was a good day at the newest location in Grand Center, but the line was still too long for me to get some lunch. There were multiple buses on this afternoon and they were from Chicago.

I had Chinese instead.

Note: The building next to Sweetie Pie's is the old Palladium Jazz Hall. There is a campaign to have it saved and renovated.

Arch City · #17 Posted **Jan 9, 2013, 5:59 AM**

Here's a Reality TV casting call video from last September 2012. I'm eager to see what this spawns.

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min-chi-cbus · #18 Posted **Jan 9, 2013, 5:38 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arch City

The success of Welcome To Sweetie Pie's on OWN has caused long lines at two of the three Sweetie Pie's restaurants. This was a good day at the newest location in Grand Center, but the line was still too long for me to get some lunch. There were multiple buses on this afternoon and they were from Chicago.

I had Chinese instead.

Note: The building next to Sweetie Pie's is the old Palladium Jazz Hall. There is a campaign to have it saved and renovated.

It looks like the Bloods gang likes to eat lunch together! (everyone has red hats -- and yes, I know St. Louis has the Cardinals, but c'mon!)

Arch City · #19 Posted **Jan 9, 2013, 5:45 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by min-chi-cbus

It looks like the Bloods gang likes to eat lunch together! (everyone has red hats -- and yes, I know St. Louis has the Cardinals, but c'mon!)

That's an immature comment. And why did you repost all of those photos? Come on, dude.

Also, those people were from Chicago as stated in a previous post. They got off the buses (five of them) and immediately got in line. Perhaps they were traveling to or from another place then stopped in St. Louis to get some vitals, I don't know, but the buses were marked with Chicago area codes and livery.

MolsonExport · #20 Posted **Jan 9, 2013, 6:18 PM**

Re: Cedric The Entertainer. Is his (contrived) last name really The Entertainer?

As in: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPmruHc4S9Q