(Stassi, Brittany, me & Jax - Ignore Joao from Below Deck on the end)
Well folks! Here's my first official Bravo Con blog post. I have been taking detailed notes during Bravo Con so I can spill the tea with everyone. I wanted to write up the posts in order but due to unanticipated circumstances, I was unable to take notes during Get Sur'ved with Vanderpump Rules. We will get to that story in a moment. (disclaimer: most posts will be MUCH briefer than this)
Get Sur'ved was the all cast event with the Vanderpump Rules crew. It is the longest event at Bravo Con. Instead of the typical panel discussion, this segment premiered the first episode of the 7th season of Vanderpump Rules followed by a discussion with the whole crew, including the queen bee - Lisa Vanderpump.
The Queen Bee arriving to a standing ovation with her canine companion Puffy
The event was held in the Hammerstein Ballroom. Unlike other events I attended, they cleared the floor after the previous session. I strolled back from my quick lunch at Chipotle and planned on getting a great seat and reading my People magazine for the next hour until the event started. Instead I found myself in a group of about 30 people waiting to be let into the seating area. While I stood and listened in on the conversations around me, I noticed a guy about 10 feet away holding court with a group of "kids". This is how we middle aged women refer to the cute young instagrammable 20-somethings.
After 40 minutes(and a couple hundred people piling up behind us), security scanned our bracelets and let us in the seating area. As I headed toward the front of the room, I saw a row with a break in front of it to let people pass by. It was about 10 rows back from the stage, but you know I am all about the leg room so I sat down next to a woman I had briefly chatted with in the holding pen. There was a chair between me and the gentleman next to me. As I sat down, we made eye contact and I smiled. He said to me "I am trying to save this seat". I told him that typically isn't an issue from my experience - people are pretty nice at Bravo Con. He then informed me he was saving it for Beau. Of course, there was no last name needed. It could only be the one and only Beau Clark - finance' of Ms. Stassi Schroeder. I think I made a dorky comment like "Well, you will get no objections from me!" I think he thought I was teasing him because he began to protest "No, seriously, I want to keep a seat for Beau so he can come watch - I work on the show". That explained the bevy of young ladies hanging on his every word while we were smashed into the holding pen prior to the event.
Ladies (and possibly 1 or 2 gentlemen reading this), I was sitting next to an empty seat for Beau with one of the Executive Producers on Vanderpump Rules - Jeremiah Smith. Of course, I immediately kicked into reporter mode (#journalism). I jokingly asked him if he had the typical Hollywood story of starting in the mail room at CAA. (When I first moved to NYC my roommate was telling me about one of his classmates that was working in the mailroom and I was aghast - the guy had an MBA from Duke and he was working in the mailroom?!?! My roommate explained that is where many Hollywood Moguls get their start. (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hollywood-mailroom-secrets-caa-icm-uta-wme-257222) Jeremiah actually started in the mailroom at UCA. He then answered phones for a couple of years before landing a job in television. He confided in me that Beau was worried about coming out into the crowd because he had practically been mobbed earlier in the day. We chatted about how this whole thing must be surreal for Beau - he was just a regular guy with a regular job and then he starts dating Stassi and - BOOM - his world has been turned upside down.
At this point he calls Beau, "Dude, where are you? I'm sitting out here all by myself - well I have made a new friend" At this point I fan girl yell "Hi Beau!" Beau was in the green room with the cast and was going to watch from backstage.
When Jeremiah hangs up the phone, I immediately resume my interview because we only have 15 minutes until the premiere of the episode. Jeremiah has been on Vanderpump from the very beginning as well as working on a host of other shows on Bravo and other networks. One of his previous jobs was working in Reality TV development. I asked what were some of the craziest pitches he ever heard. He didn't give me specifics but he said when reality TV was in its infancy, the pitches were off the charts like "little people on a deserted island with 1 match and a package of bologna and they have to figure out how to get rescued". Actually he didn't say all of that. He said "little people on a deserted island" and I immediately started to think about how I would TOTALLY watch that. Towards the end of his 2 years in development he said the pitches were more mainstream - along the lines of "you should really meet me and my friends - we would be perfect for reality TV". I asked him if this season would be a turning point for Vanderpump since most of the cast was moving into adulthood - engagements, weddings, houses and possibly babies. He said it definitely was and I would see it in the first episode. (And I did)
As Executive producer, he is the man that does all the interviews during the confessionals. When you hear someone asking the cast questions, that is him! (it happens in Episode 1) I asked him if he has a relationship with any of the cast outside of work or if he has to keep it professional. He says it is a situation where they are co-workers (actually he is their boss) and they know each other very well, but he's not inviting them to his kids' birthday parties. (can you imagine that shit show?!?!) He says he could see a time after the show where he does hang out with some of them socially. (I think he and Beau are buddies). I said, I guess if you spend 12 hours with someone every day, you don't really want to see them for a drink after work even if they are your best friend and he agreed.
He started out as a field producer where he would actually be on location with them filming. They now have 3 crews that work full time on the show filming at different locations. I asked if it was hard to find places to film. He said there are 3 people whose full time job it is to scout locations for filming. They have to secure 20-30 different places per week to film. Vanderpump is lucky since they have all of the Lisa & Ken family of restaurants to film in and cast member apartments / houses. The 20-30 locations aren't all places of business - they have to contact most of the places they film. You can't just roll into a park while Katie and Stassi walk and set up a whole camera crew to catch their deep conversation while sitting on a bench and sipping their product placement drink of the week! Maybe that is why they do so much filming in the parking lot behind Sur? He said they try to find places that don't try to make money off them filming. I thought that was crazy because those places get such a bump in business just from being on the show. Half the restaurants I ate at in Charleston were featured on Southern Charm! He said that is how they pitch it to the businesses.
At this point we hear a roar from the crowd behind us - we look over and see Beau, Ken Todd and Randall Emmett (Lala's sugar daddy) enter the balcony.
Randall Emmett, Beau Clark and Ken Todd
As executive producer one of his key jobs is to pull together the story lines for the show. He and the field producers take very detailed notes and share those on a daily basis. They have to do this because they don't start editing until all the filming is complete. One big difference between Vanderpump (and most of the shows on Bravo) versus shows like The Batchelor or 90 Day Fiance' is the production team spends a lot of time building trust with the cast. If a cast member opens up to them and they use that information inappropriately it ruins the relationship and the person shuts down which doesn't make for good TV. This is very important as the cast members return from season to season. (And why on shows like 90 Day they always throw the characters under the bus - they are disposable - unless you are as thirsty as Darcy)
I asked him what was his favorite thing and least favorite thing about working on the show. He loves the creativity of working in reality TV. It is so much different than working on a scripted series where you have the writers input and the directors input. He doesn't love the long hours - when they are filming he doesn't get to see his kids as much as he wants to. He was very passionate about the people that hate on Katie on social media. He said that she is very sweet and genuine and for whatever reason, that doesn't always come across on the show. He said the trolling has taken an emotional toll on her over the years with the body shaming and hate that gets thrown her way. He did say that she is doing great these days. This led to us discussing what possesses someone to troll these folks. If you don't like Katie, don't look at her pictures! No need to make hateful comments. Its seriously horrible what people say to these people. I get sick when I read comments on reality people's social media.
He asked what I did for work. After my typical line "I work at Colgate - like the toothpaste" He told me his wife is very environmental and she has switched everyone in the family to bamboo toothbrushes. He also said she only buys toothpaste in metal tubes so it can be recycled. I could then proudly tell him that Colgate will be launching the first plastic recyclable toothpaste tube. I also told him we have bamboo toothbrushes - at least I think Tom's of Maine does.
As the lights were starting to go down, I asked him "Was it really about the pasta?" Jeremiah laughed and said, “yes it absolutely was just about the pasta”. No sex, no drugs - Lala took a bite of Raquel's pasta - it was only about the pasta. I asked if when he hears a line from one of the cast if he can get a sense if it will become Bravo Gold. He said he does have a pretty good sense and when he heard James say that line (for those Vanderpump illiterate: "It's not about the pasta Lala!") he knew that would be one of the lines of the season. (Its actually one of the quotes featured on the exterior of the BravoCon venue but of course I don't have a photo!). He said once they put that episode together, editing worked on it a bit more to cut down the time and when he watched one of the final cuts, the producers had left out that line due to time constraints. THANK GOD they put it back in! Otherwise, how would Bravo sell all that merch?
The lights went down and we watched the first episode. Do you know how uncomfortable it is to watch a show sitting next to someone that created it? I was so conscious of when I laughed, how loud I laughed, when I clapped and when I cheered. I wanted him to know I loved it but not come off like a total fan girl.
The cast had seen the first episode 2 days earlier so they knew what was coming. I had not let myself watch the trailer for the season yet since I knew I would be watching the entire episode. They introduce a new group of pretty young things - one with a surprising back story (audible gasp from the crowd). The new season looks exciting and I can't wait for it to start!
The episode ended along with the panel discussion. I asked Jeremiah if he was happy with the crowd's reaction. He was and asked me if I liked it. I told him I loved it, shook his hand and told him I had a lovely time chatting and hopefully I would see him tomorrow. (He is moderating a session with Stassi and Beau on Sunday afternoon.) Meeting Jeremiah was such a wonderful, unexpected experience. Many of you may be wondering why I didn't ask him more about the upcoming season. As we were saying our goodbyes, a cute young instagrammable 20-something walked by and recognized him. She asked him if he was with the group in Italy and if Beau and Stassi had found a wedding venue. Jeremiah replied "You will have to wait and see!".
There are some things that you learn with maturity and trying to get someone intimately involved in a Reality TV show to spill the tea is one of those things!
Signing off from Bravo Con!
Telling Stassi I sat with Jeremiah and we were saving a seat for Beau
Part of the crew during the Panel Discussion
The other part of the crew
Raquel (now a full time Sur employee) and Scheena's new man (she's in love y'all!)
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