You’ve seen our videos here on LongLongHoneymoon.com. Now you can see us in your living room! (A scary thought, no?) Kristy and I will make a national TV appearance on HGTV‘s annual RV show…
During the filming of the show, a TV crew followed us (and two other RVing couples) as we toured “America’s Largest RV Show” in Hershey, Pennsylvania. At this event, RV manufacturers from around the country bring out their latest and greatest rigs for the public to view.
The weather was quite ghastly — torrential rain showers for most of the day — but we had a lot of fun. We enjoyed participating in the production of a TV show, and we also saw some fabulous RVs.
It turns out that shooting a TV show is not terribly different than shooting a video blog. With a TV show, there’s just MORE of everything. More crew, more equipment, and more time to edit. I must confess that I really enjoyed having someone else handle the camerawork for a change!
The premise of the show had us shopping for a larger RV. We looked at a little bit of everything, from hard shell pop-up campers, to huge 5th wheels, to Class A motorhomes. One of the most impressive was a Country Coach motorhome that won “Best in Show.” The “Veranda” model has an actual veranda porch that extends from the side of the rig! It’s an amazing coach.
“But you guys are Airstreamers, right?”
Yes, we love Airstreams, but we had no silver twinkies to browse at the Hershey event. (Note to Airstream: if you guys had sent a 30-foot Classic Limited to the show, guess what we would have chosen! :D)
It’s a little surreal to see yourself on national TV, especially when the recording was originally made six months ago. We haven’t yet seen a final cut of the show, so we are as curious as anyone to discover how it all goes.
Quite honestly, what I remember about the shoot was how ragged out I felt. We were camping in California at the time of filming, so we had to board a plane for Pennsylvania. After flying across the country to Philadelphia, we drove from Philly to Hershey. We arrived in Hershey the night before the shoot, grabbed a little sleep, and then worked ALL DAY LONG the following day. My brain was turning to mush. This “talking on TV” stuff is harder than it looks!
I remember thinking that Kristy did a great job on the show. Let’s face it: WOMEN often have a better intuition of how different RV designs and floorplans will work in real life. MEN (like me) often just look for the cool factor (“Hey! Check out this paint job!”) and a comfy chair. Kristy appreciates actual liveability, and I suspect that will come across in the TV show.
Ahhh nice.. but we will miss it sorry… will have it taped for us..
… off on a adventure right now and so won’t be able to view it currently…
While your getting used to being in front of the camera…
I know Sean and Kristie will do great… its the start of their new adventure in RV’n. Next up the Silver Screen.. and you will have to pay for them to come give a talk at your club rally… (smile)
I am sure by now that they have a manager… don’t they… well next up to join the actors union group.. Airstream is going to be loving this… no doubt…
Behind the camera things have happen …. and now that your “discovered…” smile… we expect to see great things from the both of you… but, life will change.. so be careful what you wish for… you can never go back… the demand is high and the time short… (while it appears fun to others.. you know how much work it is .. the director said that you appeard to be having fun on the site set… now that you have had a tast of it… hmmm… what you think… on to bigger things?? next up a part in a movie??? acting tutor… makeup… ) from behind the camer to in front of it… ahhh sweet… can you imagine how it all started and got to where you are now… go figure…
hey what are friends for…
My only advise… these two sayings…
remeber always … Actors at first enjoy the honor of triumph, a tumultuous parade. The actors rides in a triumphal chariot, the enthused public walking before them. …And a director.. stood behind the actor holding a golden oscar high… and whispering in the actors ear a warning: …that all glory is fleeting”
tempist fugit ((”Irretrievable time is flying”)… points out that time passes rapidly and relentlessly.
Sean Kristie.. break a leg… ( good luck saying in the industry)
Happy trails… the adventurer contenues… I got to get back to work… C U
73’s and 88’s to Kristie
Ok… AK here we come…My favorite Locations director made all the arrangements… she is soooo good… and what deals they have too Sean… its their 50th you know.. what a photo op… both in front and behind the camera (shhhh I am not telling anyone here that we are going… as then it would be a three ring C… kinda like in the movie twister… which way is bill going… they want to go too)
oh did I mention I was driving the rig.. hmmm though I said that..
Nooo Nooo Nooo… I’m the driver.. see the one with the keys.. drives the vehicle… I’m driving… you pax… you pay both ways.. too bad… grin…
Shortly their after I checked into the medics for multi bruses.. seems the other half didn’t find that amusing…(why is it only Kristie is laughing)
what a deal they have
Summer Specials
Round Trip Driver Goes Free!
Valid for travel from May 1, 2009 – September 30, 2009
The licensed driver of a passenger vehicle will be allowed to travel FREE when accompanying a drivable vehicle on a “mirror image” round trip itinerary on the Alaska Marine Highway System. The Driver goes Free discount cannot be combined with any other passenger discount or promotional fare. All travel must commence between May 1, 2009 and September 30, 2009. Tickets may be purchased through our online reservations system, by calling 800-642-0066 or visit your local ferry terminal.
Other conditions may apply, for full details see the offer rules.
it would be great if the group on the RV net might put togeather a travel adventure that could be filmed for any upcoming shows… with hooks on your blog posted to show ‘em what they missed.. who knows… might even see Old Al up their on a hunting trip.. arranged by the Gov… driven by Ken, and directed by Chaney… (smile) You know how them hunting trips went with Dick C down on the texas ranch.. I think the last guy is recovering just fine… LOL
Seriously though… If one could be put togeather… just think of the photo ops… it would be like WB travel adventures all over again… with new video historical documentation… and here is a thoght… why not invite all the rest of the camera geeks to come along also… and make it into one big travel adventure movie… each brining their teck abilites and equipment to add to the whole… why I’ll bet even Ford, AS and others would want to sponsor that… and then see if HGTV wants to put it on the TV… oh ya.. not to mention others… .
But, be careful.. you don’t want it too big… but, I would imagine that it would make the news.. and bring out all the political management to meet the group as it moved around… what fun… big time.. news at 11 daily kinda thing.
Already one of the national TV groups have asked… for support…
I would imagine the Gov up their is going to pull out all the stops… you will see things you never will again in native and historical events… this would add to the mix too…
Oh ya your going to the island of Dr. Marooo for a year .. I forgot… oh well… LOL
Happy trails.. the adventure contenues.. still working today… 16 hrs.
GMAs, sorry to hear you will miss the show, but no worries. I think that HGTV will rebroadcast it at some point. Also, it sounds like you have some adventures going yourself!
Ah, those 16-hour workdays… I am often amazed by how much work is involved in the creation of entertainment. And it all goes by so fast on the screen. Sometimes Kristy and I will be watching TV, I’ll see a cool shot and say, “They probably spent three hours setting up that 10-second shot.” If people only knew!
You raise a great point about a manager or agent. That is on my “to do” list this year. Any advice?
We’ve talked with the folks at RV.net about doing a full TV show. At this point, the catch has been the economy. Financing a new TV show is a tall order in this climate, so Kristy and I keep on doing our video blogs and building our site. Really, I totally enjoy what we do and how we do it. I just wish we had more resources so we could be more creative.
Also, with more resources we could deliver a lot more entertainment. Sometimes I am the bottleneck, because fresh video depends on me doing the editing! I enjoy doing it, but my plate is pretty full.
I love the idea of the Alaska trip! We will check it out. This does seem like a special year to be there.
Just saw the show on hgtv and was intrigued by your story so I had to check out your site. I’m addicted. I’ll be following you all now and look forward to browsing thru the videos.
Thanks and welcome to our website! We have some fun stuff planned for this spring, including a journey up the Eastern Seaboard. Stay tuned!
Have been following you for a year now on RVnet and just saw you on the HGTV special. Great job! You two are certainly an inspiration!
Thank you, VaVet!
We’ve had a great time so far, and I’m excited about the adventures that lie ahead. This spring we’ll be heading north, so we will have lots of fresh material to post!
Congrats on the show. Looks like most of it is online – http://www.hgtv.com/videos/fifth-wheel-rvs/34304.html
Did you guys buy a fifth wheel or one of the magic toyhaulers that can be towed by a minivan;?
Caught the show last night. You guys looked great but I’m afraid Chi-Lan came across as somewhat of a dolt RV-wise. I’m sure she just reads what the writers hand her…
Seemed like kind of a waste of your talents to hand you the towables segment. Apparently your desire to expand somewhat from the Silver Bullet was interpreted as “Hey…a retro 18′ Shasta would be perfect for these guys!” by HGTV. I’m surprised they didn’t try to cram you into a teardrop!
Ironic the two mfg. that got the most coverage are now in bankruptcy. I feel bad for the folks down the valley (I live in Portland) who really did make nice stuff, but maybe they should have considered the masses a bit more – not everyone can/will/should spend $500k on an RV.
Keep up the good work – love your vids!
Thanks Scott! Yes, a good portion of the RV 2009 show is online. And if anyone missed the full show, I think HGTV will rebroadcast it on April 3.
We are still camping with our Airstream! Really, for the type of RVing we do (always on the move), the Airstream has worked out well. Sure, we’d like a little more space…but who wouldn’t? 😉
If we were staying in one spot for a while, I would go 5th Wheel. The amount of space they offer is impressive.
LOL Dave…
With regard to our segments, I hope HGTV was happy with the way it all went. We really did our best, and the production company was really good. We enjoyed working with everyone and learned a lot.
That said, I think I refrained from being my usual hammy self on the show. First of all, it wasn’t my show to host. And secondly, I’m not sure that HGTV wanted me sticking my nose into the camera, etc. If you watch a lot of HGTV (and we do) there’s a consistency in tone and visual presentation to their shows that is highly successful. Our role was to shop, so we shopped!
You are right about Monaco and Country Coach. They built beautiful RVs (the CC Veranda was stunning) and I’m sorry to see them on the bankruptcy ropes. The industry has had the roughest of times lately, and hopefully the rebound begins this spring.
Thanks for your comments. We plan to do a lot of traveling (and videoing) in April and May.
Yep.. your about right… we figure for the production an hour for each min of show. … and that doesn’t include the script or mo-alog time..
Who me… naw… I don’t have any real adventures going on right now… LOLL
Well as to agents, I will ask around and see what /who is the best for your area…
Hmmm yes you need to be able to send the video through the media.. to a home base.. of sorts .. which then can edit it and send you back a silent transfer.. … and post it for you… if your doing all the work youself .. your going to be one busy boy when you start to expand into more informative adventures…. Of course you can train Kristie in the art of sound collection, mixer and sound editing.. but that then fills her plate…
I am suprised that you and the others that produce video adventures for the RV groups (I have seen 3 now on the RV net that produce the travel logs..) have not tried to set up a common editor studio place… i.e where you and they send your work and can get it edited and sent back… to you… heck the TV stations do it…now… and I would think you all could come to some sort of agrement saving both time and money.. while producing a first rate edited production. You all should have a teleconferance and see what it would take to set up a studio…for your application.
Their are commercial studios that do exactly that for you… that is the way the big guys do it too…but, you need a good editor which you and he have ESPN so to speak… which thinks like you and you him… once you find him/her… then you can send your video and sounds and they will edit it .. put it togeather and send it back for approval… then its .. only add the front and rear trailer of credits and your good to go… simple huh… but, as you say.. all it takes is money… Good place to solicit for your productions is a college person going to school ….. like USC or one of the others that specialize in those areas… most upcoming video-ugher-fers.. (gofers) usually start in that area… and work their way up… once they get good at it…
We have a whole trailer loaded with electronics that the primary editors are located in.. they take the real time stuff and start processing it on site.. but more for the stills and locations… i.e you shoot one scene… you don’t want the next one where the guy is truned around or the sun is shining from the other side… people start picking up on that when its supposed to all be the same..moment… so we have people called stand in’s… where the actor was.. they stay… so the actor can go REST or what ever they do… then when were ready to shoot again the stand in is replaced with the actor.. these editors then confirm the last fraim of the shot and once everyone is lined up… someone yells Action… and were off to the races filming… easy huh… no you don’t get a stand in.. sorry.. once you get a star on your door.. the actors union then says you can get a stand in… grin… expensive yes.. but, in our case necessary…
You know I’ll be their are a lot of people now reading your site which also are thinking… hey I can do that too… you might want to reflect on your experiances and some of the real time problems you have had… if you want to help ’em out…
You bet AK is going to be the place to be this summer… its too bad that the RV industry is not making the most of it… the oppertunity is ripe… they should try and get all of you free lance people on the same boat… and then get the best of the best to edit it out… and produce a travel adventure… of course featureing their brand of RV shown rocking down the road…with happy campers inside… well…. ok people who know each other inside… or people who don’t want to know each other inside once the get home… whatever…
Hmmm guess HGTV was reading the mail… as I just got a transfer of the production… through the studio… so I sat down with a viewer and reviewd the takes on the RV’s.
You all were against a real person who has had some acting school. Indeed if you look at the way Chi-Lan Lieus’ mannor, body language and grace… she has had lots of practice from what I see. (right down to the outfit… who picked Kristies one… ??) She also has command of the verbage. ( go back and watch the trailers you will see she uses both body language and physical expression…. verbage that is a cut above the normal person. auummm , wow, ya and some of the other repeated words like that…. do define the manor and grace and effective lang… as protrayed.. She comes off as simple.. yet delicate with knowledge of what she speaks… programed expressions…etc…hands, expression, position and lighting just right… again it appears she has been well trained… and schooled at grace, expression and body language… .from what I see…
Probably also has a lot of support writers to help her get it right…
As to AS.. I didnt’ see any… ahhhhh they are not going to like you talking 5th wheel… and the AS people are VERY protective of the metal monsters. You may find that your not as well like among them anymore… when they see this… grin…
Heck you didn’t even walk into a airstream.. then again.. when your in the high priced town car or cad…elete home away from home… going to a VW is not …. aaaaa going to work.. poooo… People like the high end.. but that is why the word lookielou was made up… most have a beer budget and a champain taste…
However, one thing that can be said for the AS is that its about the lightest trailer out their.. so mileage is a given…
Toy haulers are making a big inroads on the RV’s .. being a dual purpose vehicle we are seeing a lot of them on the back lot showing up… however, most family’s are looking for something to haul the mail.. as well as camping in… so it fits the needs of the people… something to be said about that.. however, they are heavy and you won’t be making the gas mileage you would in a AS…
A most interesting series… good camera work… impressed
GMAs,
If necessary, we’ll hitch our Airstream and move to LA (maybe park it next to MM’s rig in Malibu!)… But we need an agent plugging away on our behalf from a business standpoint so I can be creative.
Can I do the business stuff? Yes, but it’s at the expense of the creative.
Can I do the creative stuff? Yes, at the expense of the business.
I think the right agent could help us make the most of these opportunities.
As for your editing solution, I love it! I agree that we need some sort of seamless upload/edit/download solution that removes me as the bottleneck. But these things take money, and so far we have financed pretty much EVERYTHING ourselves. The Long Long Honeymoon is a product of my company Walkabout Production Group — and that’s it.
We need some corporate partners to step up and contribute, and we can build something mainstream. Otherwise we will continue to bootstrap.
And BTW, we love our Airstream, we love pretty much all Airstreams…and if Airstream had put a frickin’ Airstream at the RV show then you better believe we would’ve been all over it! 😉
But alas, there were ZERO Airstreams at “the largest RV show in America”… not a single one. So we had to browse whatever was on hand. HGTV wanted us to browse 5th Wheels, Toy Haulers, etc…. so we complied.
As far as the RV 2009 show goes, we were simply guests… not the hosts. Our job was to walk inside RVs and rattle off whatever thoughts popped into our heads… Kristy and I didn’t have writers or pre-prepared lines to deliver. If you ever watch any other HGTV material, you sort of know what to expect of hosts vis-a-vis guests. If we had started acting like hosts instead of guests, I don’t know what would’ve happened…but it probably would’ve been edited out. Seriously… when you step far outside the boundaries of what is expected, people start to look at you funny.
HGTV knows what it’s doing… it’s a very successful network. So we did the best we could do in our roles, and hopefully it all worked.
I’m thinking that this spring we may do our own RV video show pilot the way we’d like to do it. But first we need sponsors to kick in some $$$ to make a little magic happen. As the old saying goes, “fast, good, & cheap — pick any two.”