Netflix has been on a roll with reality shows like "Too Hot to Handle," "Love Is Blind," and "The Circle."
Its latest series, "Million Dollar Beach House," which premieres on Wednesday, takes an inside look at selling homes in New York's elite Hamptons real-estate market. The show's release at the end of a summer when some wealthy New Yorkers sought solace from the pandemic in those seaside communities potentially sets the stage for another hit.
"Million Dollar Beach House" is the latest in a slate of home-renovation and property series that Netflix has been working on. Brandon Riegg, vice president of non-fiction programming and comedy specials, told Business Insider earlier this year that Netflix planned to push further into the category in 2020 after getting its feet wet with shows like "Selling Sunset."
Similar to "Selling Sunset," the new Hamptons-based series follows a group of high-powered brokers at a firm, Nest Seekers International, during their work lives, which sometimes spill over into their personal lives.
Two producers on the show told Business Insider what it was like to develop the series with Netflix, which took more of a docu-style approach than the real-estate shows you'll find on cable TV.
"When you go through the experience, you can see why Netflix is Netflix," said Eddie Shapiro, executive producer on the show and founder of Nest Seekers, whose brokers have featured and starred in other shows like "Million Dollar Listing." "There's a true docu-experience that they look to have and that is something that definitely stood out."
Nick Rigg, who heads up unscripted at DiGa Studios, started talks with Shapiro about 18 months ago for a show that would lift the veil on the real-estate market in the Hamptons, an area that personally fascinated both producers.
"The Hamptons has some of the most exciting, most beautiful real estate in the country, possibly in the world," Shapiro said. "There are homes there that, if and when they ever get to market, they may be valued at a half a billion dollars, based on today's rates."Rigg, who's produced shows like "House Hunters International" and "Tiny House Nation," already had a relationship with Netflix and thought of the streamer while he and Shapiro were creating the concept. They then pitched the idea to Nathan Wolfe, Netflix's head of non-fiction coproductions, who shepherded in the show.
"Netflix felt like a natural home for it," Rigg said, "because the show is somewhat of a hybrid model of a show — it's not all a docu-soap and it's not all a heavily formatted show — it's somewhere between the two."
Rigg and Shapiro said the concept didn't change much from what was originally pitched, though the handful of Netflix execs working on it were very involved and supported the producers throughout the process.
The Netflix execs encouraged the Nest Seekers team to show the real-estate process as authentically as possible, even when it pushed the brokers, designers, and other cast members outside of their comfort zones.
"We live through a lens these days; everything is on social media," Shapiro said. "But, on the other hand ... discretion and privacy is important to us and sometimes to our clients. So it's a constant pull and push between this uncomfortable feeling of, 'I'm a private person. This is a private experience,' to the, 'Wait, this is also how the world is today.'"
The series shows the fails, attempts, and almost-wins in real estate, along with the successes. It also exposes some of the personal lives of the cast members, including one broker who was expecting his first child during filming, and was feeling the pressure to support his family.
When it came to casting, the Netflix team looked for a mix of personalities, including successful brokers and underdogs, Shapiro said.
Netflix's binge format, in which a full season is released simultaneously, also freed the production up to show the sales process more faithfully, Rigg said. Had "Million Dollar Beach House" been made for cable or broadcast TV, the show would've needed a real-estate transaction or definitive result to close out each episode. In reality, it can take a year or more to sell some high-end homes.
"We were able to be less worried about that, and therefore focus on the dynamics and drill down into how they're approaching each home," Rigg said. "I think it creates a more nuanced show ... Every home has a very unique story, a different story because we didn't have to follow any formula."
Shapiro, who has used entertainment to build brand recognition for his firm for the past decade, said he hopes 20 million to 30 million people will watch the show globally in its first few weeks. He said cameras are set to roll on season two shortly, if the show is successful.
"The feedback that I'm getting is that everyone at Netflix is very excited about the show," Shapiro said.
Disclosure: Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Business Insider's parent company, Axel Springer, is a Netflix board member.
Source: Business Insider