People of Northwest Arkansas
The People of Northwest Arkansas is an award winning podcast celebrating the power of storytelling by providing a platform for individuals living in Northwest Arkansas to share their unique and inspiring life experiences. We believe that every person has a story worth telling, and through our podcast, we aim to amplify these voices through thoughtful interviews and engaging storytelling.
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People of Northwest Arkansas
House Hunters Producer Matt Eason's Journey to Northwest Arkansas
Matt Eason, Co-Executive Producer of HGTV's House Hunters, shares his recent move from California to Northwest Arkansas and offers behind-the-scenes insights about crafting compelling stories for one of television's longest-running reality shows.
@brockentertainment
@people_of_nwa
@matthewroberteason
https://www.buzzsprout.com/2241892/support
Danielle, how long have you been living in northwest Arkansas?
Speaker 2:let's see, I moved here in 2017 2017 okay, yeah, so it's like eight years, but eight, eight years, yeah. So I feel like I've lived here, like I may as well just be someone who's from here because I live longer. I've lived here longer than like most people that I meet.
Speaker 1:That's so wild. Yeah, I've lived here, if you don't count the year I went back to California. I've been here 20 years.
Speaker 2:Wow, so you're just basically from here.
Speaker 1:I'm basically from here now, although I still can claim that I lived in California longer, so that's all right. Our guest today, though he is the most recent resident here in Northwest Arkansas that we've had on the show. Oh, yes, yeah, he just moved here in July, not even here a year.
Speaker 3:His name is Matt Eason and he moved here from California, say hi, hey, matt hi, thanks for having me all right, huge fan of your podcast, oh my gosh yes, yeah.
Speaker 1:So Matt and I met we. He reached out to me on LinkedIn and was like hey, can we get together and have coffee and talk about podcasting? And I was like sure, not thinking like he was like this fan of our show, like he's like our number one fan, isn't that amazing? Yeah, like you talk about fangirling, that's fan. What would you call this? Just fanning?
Speaker 1:Stan he's our Stan yes, he is our Stan and I was really. I was actually pretty flattered because he wanted advice about podcasting and I was like wait, you're like a TV producer for HGTV and you want advice from us about podcasting. So I was very flattered by that, just so you know. I think I've already said that, but it was cool and I would say that you know, honestly, like for our listeners who are listening, I think this process has been fun. We've learned a lot. I talked a lot about how much Brock, our producer, has just poured into us, the things that we've learned from Arkansas podcasters, a conference that we've gone to, and just kind of learning a little bit as we go. And just even yesterday I was at a coffee shop with my husband and this girl I met and she was like oh, I'm thinking about starting a podcast and I'm like you should, you absolutely should.
Speaker 3:And she was like hey, can I get coffee with you? She worked at the coffee shop, and so Was that the same day.
Speaker 1:No, it wasn't the same day, but it was literally yesterday that this happened. But yeah, so tell us a little bit about yourself, matt, and especially our first question that we like to ask guests is what brought you to Northwest Arkansas? Why did you move here?
Speaker 3:Oh man. Okay, Well, my wife's family is from Hot Springs, so primarily family brought us to the area and but we started, and so we've, we've come to Hot Springs quite a bit over the years. We started kind of looking around different parts of the state thinking, you know, if we were to move to Arkansas, where would we want to be? And then we stumbled across the whole NWA area and just fell in love. So it was primarily family. But then, you know, after COVID, the company went remote so we could all work from anywhere, which opened up a lot of things. We were living in LA area, basically north of LA, in Ventura County, and so we just, you know, we came out here on a whirlwind weekend, visited the family, drove up here and went back to California, sold the house and moved here a couple months later.
Speaker 1:Oh my goodness, we just fell.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we just fell in love. We're like, let's, let's do it.
Speaker 1:That's crazy. That was a quick turnaround. It's like my parents. They did the same thing. They came out here to visit with some family and they fell in love. They found a house they loved and they went home to my sisters and I while we were still living out of the house. We were like what is happening? Like well, you're moving to Arkansas like of all places.
Speaker 1:Now we are all here, of course. What is it like being a newbie in Northwest Arkansas? What are like your impressions as being kind of this, like new resident, you know cause you've only lived here for a few months?
Speaker 3:I mean, like what? Like six whole months? Yeah, that's crazy. You know, it's interesting.
Speaker 3:I mean, a lot of people that we've met are from elsewhere, which California is very much the same way. We all, I think, as Americans, just move around a lot, it seems, because everybody's from Texas or California. I've met all my neighbors, but I was talking to somebody about this the other day how one of the things that we fell in love with when we moved here was the people. You know how nice everyone is and genuine and welcoming everybody has been. That's been a shock that you know this flood of people that are moving from the West coast or whatever coast or wherever, have been so welcomed here. Everybody I've met has been so nice and welcoming. And so, you know, while we've met a lot of people that have also moved from elsewhere, the people that we've met that are from here have been really great and I feel like whatever vibe they have that like I've fell in love with, I'm trying to like drink the kool-aid on and be that you know like I drive slower.
Speaker 3:Now I like try to talk to the people behind the counter who want to talk to me. I'm like, oh wait, you don't just want to. I'm not supposed to just like brush you off and walk away. I'm like we're gonna have a conversation. Yeah, this is awesome. I love this. You know, I have, I feel, like, more friends in the last seven months that since I've been here than I had in like 15 years living in in la. It's, it's, yeah, it's actually been really cool everyone is a nice driver here.
Speaker 2:I had to sit in traffic, wait to meet, I mean comparatively, oh yeah, I guess comparatively to Dallas, comparatively to like LA. It came out as like the number one road rage city what Dallas?
Speaker 3:yeah, it's where she's from.
Speaker 2:It's scary there, and so I had to sit in traffic the other day and everyone just sat there. No one was trying to like cut you off or like I don't know.
Speaker 3:No one's angry, no one seems angry, they're just like kind of fine, just to yeah do the traffic and although 49 people on high on 49 drive pretty crazy yeah, that's me, I was like the freeway, like the craziest reserve for the freeway 100, because that's for sure oh my gosh, stop only when I'm alone.
Speaker 1:Okay, not with your children Not with my children.
Speaker 3:What kind of car do you drive? Oh, she's fancy schmancy now.
Speaker 2:Well, I got a BMW and I'm just saying that you don't feel when you hit the triple digit sometimes.
Speaker 1:That is true If you're in a BMW. I don't think my car can hit the my old Tahoe would shake if I went over 70.
Speaker 2:And then if I had to brake it would really shake, oh my gosh, she's not lying.
Speaker 1:I've experienced that in her Tahoe. She was like you need a new car.
Speaker 2:Why is it shaking?
Speaker 1:Yeah, what's going on? Are we going?
Speaker 2:to die. The wheels are going to fly off.
Speaker 1:I can't wait to get a new car. Yeah, I can't wait to get a new car. Yeah, no, I think it's funny that she's talking about the people on the road like not cutting, not being mad in traffic. I'm like I don't think I've become that person yet. I still get road rage. My kids can tell you about it. You stick a finger out. Yeah, just no, I don't stick a finger out, not when they're in the car Not when the kids are in the car.
Speaker 4:No California this summer, and my kids really experienced my like true California road rage.
Speaker 1:It was oh yeah. It's really kind of humbling and embarrassing. I mean, I was so my kids were like what just happened?
Speaker 2:you turn into a different person you're like I have a whole different personality when I go home and I'm
Speaker 4:pretty sure so just earmuffs.
Speaker 2:Okay, kids, they think it's hilarious Liam fixes my. Anyway, we're getting way off track so, matt, okay, you came from california and we have to talk about what you do for a living, because that's really fun. I guess because of covid you know everyone being able to work from home, you're able to do what you do, which is in entertainment television.
Speaker 3:So tell us about that yep, I'm the co-executive producer for the tv show house hunters love that show hgtv it's. I think it started airing in 1999 what so here we are yeah, I was not working on the show in 1999. Okay, but yeah, so we produce between five and six episodes a week oh wow, presently, presently it changes occasionally, but yeah, it's an awesome show it's.
Speaker 3:You know, it's cool to work on a show that has been on TV for so long that people actually have heard of it, Because a lot of times you work on shows and people are like, oh, I want to look for that one.
Speaker 2:Oh no, I love House Hunters. House Hunters is one that's start watching it, though it turns into a binge.
Speaker 4:When it's on HD, it will just keep going, and then I get in the zone.
Speaker 2:And then I just want to. I think the exciting part of the show is what I think they should pick. Of course, that's the point of the show Almost never the way they edit it. Sometimes I feel like they really pitch you between two. He's like I know I edit it.
Speaker 3:That's exactly what I do, and I'm so happy to hear you say that you're flummoxed every time. Because that's one of the big goals.
Speaker 2:Always. I'm like. I feel like they gave us little clues that it's this one, but I bet they're going to pick that one. You this one, but I bet they're gonna pick that one. You know what? I mean like right now, the curveball. There's always like the curveball coming in and then, but sometimes it's not.
Speaker 1:But I uh this is why they make five to six episodes a week for people like you, oh no, and my mom loves to keep watching just keep watching.
Speaker 2:I'm a long-time fan. And do you? Do you work on domestic and international?
Speaker 3:we do only the domestic. Okay, so all the us episodes. I work kind of primarily on the story side of things, which means before they go out and shoot, we talk about what the story is going to be. The team goes out and shoots, it brings the footage back and then I work with the writers, my boss, to kind of to craft it from there that's into a story.
Speaker 3:So five days of footage or four or five days of footage into. You know the show that you see and you know piecing the story together. So at the beginning we're saying, okay, we, we cast some buyers that have a fascinating story. We want to hear more about their family or more about their conflict. Oh yeah, and let's, you know, let's try to get that, and then they bring that back and we, we piece the story into, into what you see.
Speaker 2:I love when the realtor is like uh, the third one, bear with me, Uh, it's a little above your price point.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And cause they'll be like. Yeah, and because they'll be like, and it's just like every person when they're looking for a house right you want everything, but you always have to sacrifice something you can't have your cake and eat it too. And so, yeah, I feel like there's always one person in the couple that's like the realist with the budget, and then they're the pragmatic, logical, and then there's the person that's like what money I just want to be, like in the city center, you know, and pay like half of what is reality.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I love when they take people like out what their actual budget is and they're like oh no, no, I don't think so.
Speaker 4:Or the person that's doing the budget is like this is great yeah.
Speaker 2:But then their wife or whatever is like uh-uh.
Speaker 1:All right. So how much of that is dramatized or is it just straight, you know, because there's like the rumors of reality TV of, like you know, certain parts of it are staged and certain parts of it are it feels pretty real to me just raw and real. But it sounds like what you described is they just go out and shoot and then it's real, I mean they.
Speaker 3:They are real buyers they do buy one of the homes, you know, and they just you know, they naturally kind of get into it. Some people are more vocal about it in front of the camera than others, but all of them have strong opinions right, you know, and my wife and I were just house hunting here and it was like did you get three?
Speaker 3:I hated myself for like yeah, we only looked at three. Um, I said that's all the people get in the world, so we had to pick one and we sat at a table in a restaurant and we drank orange juice. We had a decision in act four spiked with vodka yeah, yeah, yeah, hers was um, but like, the things coming out of my mouth were like oh my gosh, I hate myself. I am on the show right now because it's you know, it's real, it's like like I had the French door.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's it's amazing how like emotional some of the seemingly like cosmetic things about a home are to people. You know what I mean it's like. Yeah, I need that one story home, because grandma's house, like grandma's house, was everything to me growing up. Oh, so you got a one story. You know what I mean it's like.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I need that one story home because grandma's house, like grandma's house, was everything to me growing up.
Speaker 3:Oh so you got a one story. You know what I mean? No, I'm just saying like as an example they're hard to find.
Speaker 1:As an example, like you know, yeah, people get really into that.
Speaker 3:You know, they really have like deep reasons for like wanting um a kitchen island yeah, for example it's like. Well, I want my kids around me all the time.
Speaker 4:You know what?
Speaker 3:I mean, so everybody has that. So yeah, it's real.
Speaker 1:So where did you buy? Here in Northwest Arkansas, we are in beautiful Bella.
Speaker 3:Vista. Oh, that's nice. You might be our first guest from Bella Vista. Really, have we had another guest man? Yeah, it's beautiful.
Speaker 2:We, it's beautiful we have. I can't even think I can't remember. All right, no, you're right. What were your because, staying true to the, to the show, what are your non-negotiables like? What was your little checklist like? Yeah have this hmm, and was it hard to find yes, it was, we had to have trees.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay, that's why you went to belavista absolutely that's why we came to arkansas.
Speaker 3:Yeah, like it's green, I mean it will. It was summertime, but yeah so green, yeah, and coming from like the desert, we just are in love with the green and the. You know the. So we had to have trees, no matter where it was. We looked all over and what else. I mean it's little things like the number of bedrooms for guests and for, you know, the kids and stuff like that, and well, we kind of we ended up narrowing it down to bella vista because we liked this, we like the trails right so it's things like that and we like being able to get on our bikes or walk and go somewhere cool, like you picked the perfect place for all that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean that that was the one of the draws to northwest arkansas was how and you know, I hear people say this all the time it's like so many amenities are so close and it's great to be able to go out your door and walk or bike or whatever, and be in the forest or in the square on a bike yeah, and for sure that the proximity to things was a huge, was a huge part of the search, for sure oh yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 1:So, as you've done this, show from how how long have you been working for on house owners?
Speaker 3:since 2011 2011 okay, wow, yeah, all right okay what'd you do before that?
Speaker 1:how did you kind of get into this world?
Speaker 3:well, in what let's see. When we were first married, I was started out in la kind of acting, which is embarrassing to say, but then I got married and it was like this isn't gonna work, and so I started looking for production jobs. I got a job as a production assistant for the company that I still work for oh wow and yeah, and started, you know, behind the front desk getting coffee, doing all the production assistant stuff. But we were having our first kid pretty quickly after that and my wife like prayed.
Speaker 3:Basically she's like I'm praying for three promotions for him before the baby is born. Wow, and I ended up with four.
Speaker 2:Whoa.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it was, like, you know, not of my own doing, it was just it was awesome.
Speaker 2:Prayers answered plus one. Yeah, exactly, it's the plus one Boom.
Speaker 3:And exactly the plus. And so, yeah, I started as a PA and then I was an associate producer or a transcriber associate producer and then, within six months of starting out as the PA, I was a staff writer on one of the design shows at the time.
Speaker 2:That is so cool, that is really cool A renovation show.
Speaker 3:It was cool. Yeah, it was, I mean, definitely like a blessing, a God thing, I think. And so, yeah, that's how it started and I just have stayed. It's a cool niche. I love architecture, I love homes, I love real estate, so to me it's a fascinating niche, yeah, so it's been fun. So I've worked on a lot of design shows, a lot of renovation type shows, and then food network type stuff.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 3:And Moonlight did a few movies writing and, and, and assistant ADing, second ADing, so I've always kind of been around the entertainment world in some way. And then 2011 started on house hunters.
Speaker 1:That's awesome For those that are listening, and AD is an assistant oh yes, oh, some people might be like wait what? What's an ad? Well, I'm surprised you didn't say pa too for a production assistant yeah man, I've lived that rough life.
Speaker 2:I know it is rough you have no idea, I believe you, I believe you.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I remember one time I had to go get a biscotti. It was hilarious, I had to drive like one biscotti. Yes, I had to drive I had to drive across town. It's like the classic la story, right, I had to drive across town, through traffic, go to the specific place, buy one single kind of biscotti, put it in my car and drive it to like a mansion in bel air was it from air one?
Speaker 2:because all I keep saying is a 20 strawberry. Have you seen that?
Speaker 3:no, what is that?
Speaker 2:Well, it's reminding me of that, because you got one biscotti right. Was it like in this little dish?
Speaker 3:No, it was just a random biscotti. But it was just a normal from like a coffee shop.
Speaker 1:It was really random biscotti, but very specific.
Speaker 2:Being like I'm just craving one biscotti, or being that extra.
Speaker 1:I mean, rich is one thing, but like being that extra, like it's a little much yeah I mean when I worked with uh, with talent, you know just different and whether it was film or just even like concerts and things like that, sometimes you know their requests were outlandish you're like okay, I'm gonna fill your green, and then you'd fill their green room with all this like fancy schmancy, like food and drink, and they wouldn't drink or eat any of it.
Speaker 1:Oh, and you're just like, uh, but I worked with college students at the time doing concerts and so they were like, can we, can we have this? And I was like, yeah, take it. Like, take it back to your dorms, do whatever you want with it. They're like yes I don't have to eat in the cafeteria.
Speaker 2:I brought up the air one because I don't know if that's how you say it I have no idea what you're talking about either it's like this famous place grocery store in la that's super expensive, like I always see, like the. This is what hayley bieber gets her. What's her smoothie order at air one or whatever, and they have, a excuse me, a japanese strawberry for one strawberry. It comes in, this little domed dish. And it's $19.
Speaker 1:Of course it is. I know it's LA right. Just for one bite right, we need to go and get that strawberry sometime Meanwhile in District 9, you know.
Speaker 2:I love all the Hunger Games references. When people post videos like that, they're like we're in the wrong district yeah, well are we, though? I don't know we're not, but it's funny well, I'm sorry you had to get that one biscotti, but it brought you to where you are today.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, it's paying the dues, yeah exactly.
Speaker 1:It is paying the dues. So you worked your way up to staff writer and you moonlight as a screenwriter. Is that right? I do, yeah is there anything? That we may have heard of that you've worked on, no, no well, no, I'm just kidding, I don't know.
Speaker 3:I mean, I've written some like off off bra, off off off broadway action movies, one that's called no, they're actually pretty cool.
Speaker 1:Are you?
Speaker 3:proud of them. You know what it's fair there's some projects I've worked on that? No, for me, screenwriting is a thing I'm learning. So I've been fortunate to connect with people that, as I'm learning, they've actually taken what I've written and made it so that it actually has been made. But it's you know, screenwriting is such so it's similar to reality TV in some ways, but it's so different too. So it's just a discipline that I'm learning. I'm new to it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah, I get that. I think about some of the projects I did when I first started out and as a voice actor and I think I've come a long way I'm so glad I was surrounded myself with other voice actors. That kind of like helped me along the way. Like I'm pretty sure when I started out I took some political ads and I don't I was so young I don't even remember really like knowing what I was. I was like Ron Burgundy, I. I was like Ron Burgundy. I was like, okay, let me just read the. I didn't even like think about what I was doing at first you're doing political ads.
Speaker 1:Do you know if you believed in what you were saying?
Speaker 2:no, I told you it was Ron Burgundy. I don't even know what I read, I just read it. I just read it he will read whatever's on the teleprompter that is true, I know.
Speaker 1:Oh, my goodness okay.
Speaker 2:So are your kids? Do they watch House Hunters? Or are they just like dad does what he does and we just live our own?
Speaker 3:You know it's funny, they don't really, but sometimes when we go, because I don't really allow it to be on no, I'm just kidding, but we'll go to on vacation, we'll go to like a hotel and it'll be on, you know, and they love to watch it when we're on vacation, randomly, randomly, I don't know why. So they'll see an episode and they'll be like dad. There's this one where this guy wanted a, an episode where this guy wanted a shower and he had to. It had to be big enough so he could put a lawn chair in it, because he liked to sit in a lawn chair in the shower. He's they're like you ever heard of that? And I'm like, yes, like I wrote that episode, that's what I do for a living.
Speaker 3:You know like, of course, yes, you work on that show. What?
Speaker 1:episode. Is that you work on that show?
Speaker 2:I do, I'm curious you work on that show.
Speaker 3:You're like every day, guys, every day yeah, they're kind of clueless, but that's okay, I kind of like it that way, you kind of like it that way yeah that's hilarious.
Speaker 1:I think it's funny. They like to watch it while you're on vacation. It's probably because, it's like they're in the wild, you know like, yes, we're not at home, it's not associated with home, and it's like whoa, other people must watch this as well. Exactly, exactly.
Speaker 2:I was excited when she told me that it's like, oh, I've literally watched this show forever.
Speaker 1:So many episodes? Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:And my sister and my mom and I we love to watch any kind of show like House Hunters or like the show where they have like the weddings and the brides judge each other, and we just love to judge. Yeah, and like judge the people judge the homes judge their taste, and it's terrible, right.
Speaker 1:But that's the fun part. So there's no listening and not judging in your house.
Speaker 2:We listen and we don't judge.
Speaker 1:We listen we watch and we definitely judge.
Speaker 3:But I feel like those shows create a space for you to judge.
Speaker 2:Oh for sure oh for sure, yes, yes, the play along. Yeah, we call it the play along. And then sometimes it's nice just to feel like someone else you're not the only one that like says those things to your husband, things to your husband, or like, yeah, those things, or like you have those conversations you're like, oh see, yeah, just give her what she wants.
Speaker 1:See, that's what he did yeah, my husband's motto is happy wife, happy life. Totally it's a joke, I mean I definitely let jeff have his way sometimes oh yeah.
Speaker 2:Well, my grandma had a sign in her house growing up that said like if mama ain't happy, nobody's happy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, basically. Yeah, it's all right, it's good, it's good. But if you made her unhappy.
Speaker 2:She was old school, like just something like she was cooking with let's start swinging. So you just didn't go in there when she got mad. You're just like a spatula rolling pin. You're like stay out of there.
Speaker 1:Like we're going off on so many. I know we are we are, oh my goodness, gracious.
Speaker 2:I will, yeah, I will.
Speaker 1:My brain works like that I mean, I understand same same same. One thing that I love about these kind of shows, though, is that they're relatable in the way that you know, you're you as a person. You care about where you live and what components are in your home, whether whether you're renting or buying, or you know. It's just kind of things. It's funny that you talk about like people. What you were talking about talking about, danielle is the whole idea of like. What are what people want, and then they realize they can't afford it, or they can't afford it and you have to make sacrifices champagne wishes and their budget yes, exactly and then that's been my whole life yeah.
Speaker 1:And then you were talking about that's been my whole life, yeah. And then you were talking about, like you know, having a one store because of grandma's house and stuff is interesting. We've been looking at houses recently and watching and bringing the kids along and they're at an age where they have, like they have opinions, yeah, and it's just funny their perspective on things. Like they think that having an upstairs makes you so rich and like, because we have a one-story home now that we live in and every house that we looked at that was a one-story, they were like no, no, it doesn't have an upstairs they want their own area.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, that's why they want their own area, why it's funny.
Speaker 3:We hear that all the time on house hunters yeah and then the other thing that we hear a lot of that's kind of similar to that is I want a home alone house oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:Okay, it's like that doesn't exist. Wait, I have a thing there's one in little rock right yes, like conway or little rock or something that like looks like the home alone.
Speaker 2:No, my cousin my husband just went to dinner with him last night. They're in oklahoma city, they just bought a lot across from like the supreme court, and his cousin's wife is obsessed with home loan, like every year because time she posts a quote, anyway, they have to do all these approvals to build this home. And he said they are building the home loan house, literally drawn the plans. Once you get everything approved, it will be the home alone house.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So when you said that, I was like, no, this is real, this is a real thing it's amazing how often we hear it like how often people say they come on the show. Yeah, I guess it's like a comforting show for our generation. And it's, you know, it's the like.
Speaker 3:You know, curb appeal is a real thing, like people really do want a certain look outside the house when they pull up to it. It's so true it's really important to people. It's, you know, you'd think that what's inside would would kind of take the cake and it. You know all that stuff is important but like the curb appeal thing is really a big deal. How it makes you feel when you drive up to it, are you?
Speaker 4:proud of it?
Speaker 3:Does it remind you of something? What kind of feeling do you have before you go inside? It's wild.
Speaker 1:It is true, it's very true. There's a house we looked at and we were pulling around the corner and it's up on this hill in Bella Vista. And we pulled around and we were like there it is. And our kids were like, oh, you're funny, they thought we were joking and we were like, no, this is the house we're about to go look at. And they were like what, oh my gosh? And it was mostly because it was up on a hill, yeah, and it was like it had multi-levels in the house, right, and we ended up not going for it, just because of all the stairs and because of actual grandma coming to visit us, oh yeah and my son was like no, I'm gonna build a ramp for her, like he had this.
Speaker 1:Like he was like I want this house, like yeah, I'm gonna figure out, I'm gonna help grandma get into this house and I'm to walk around with her everywhere she goes and I'm like, no, you're not, like that's not going to happen.
Speaker 1:But just way too many stairs, my mother-in-law there's no way, but it was a gorgeous home and our kids were like I mean they saw it and they were like this is a mansion, was a good size home, but it was just funny their perspective. So when you're doing your show, like what are some of your, like your favorite parts about doing the work? That you do yeah, and like what are some of the challenges that you experience?
Speaker 3:you know it's kind of the same answer because every episode is a real family, couple, person, whatever, right. So for me, like I think the kind of magic in it is finding that little nugget about them that is fascinating, because everybody has something in their story or in their perspective or in their reactions or something that make them entertaining or interesting or connects you as a viewer to who they are. Finding that one. Sometimes it's as simple as a single line of dialogue where you're like, ah, I know exactly who that guy is now and finding that in the footage and in the thread and then bringing that thread out so that when you watch it you connect and you relate to that person. But that's also the challenge sometimes.
Speaker 3:Because they are real people who aren't actors, who don't always know how to bring it when the camera rolls. They freeze up yeah right, and that happens sometimes, but there, even then, there is something that is in there. I'm convinced every time that like this episode can be amazing, no matter what you know, because there is something about everybody that you go aha, I like this person, I get who they are. I'm rooting for them.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and that's really the heart of the show is trying to you want to. You know. Ultimately, you know and that's really the heart of the show is trying to you want to. You know, ultimately, you know it's a happy show and that which is what I like about it you're rooting for them to find a hook. I mean, we never get to the end of episode and be like, well, I guess it wasn't a home for these people. So, moving on, you know like you're happy for them in the end, right and so there's. It's about connecting to that. What, what makes us root for them?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:That's what I love about it.
Speaker 2:I love that. So the people that come on the show, are they already selected and vetted? Are you a part of that process or you just work with the couple? When it comes to your desk, we have a casting department that brings them in. Okay.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and a lot of times they're fans of the show who want to be on it. Oh, okay, they're fans of the show who want to be on it. Oh, okay, like, hey, we're house hunting, can we be on? You know so.
Speaker 2:so they come to us after they've been vetted. I know, danielle, why didn't you apply?
Speaker 3:although because we stopped her process no, I recommend people all the time, so if you know anybody that, really, yeah, yeah, absolutely, it's house hunting, wow so if you were not producing house hunters, what would you be doing?
Speaker 1:What would be your dream job?
Speaker 3:That is a good question. Well, I'm a coffee nerd and there are so many awesome coffee shops.
Speaker 2:Is that why you moved here for Onyx? Kind of yeah, kind of yeah, kind of yeah.
Speaker 3:I love coffee and I love let me just say, I love like the community around coffee shop type atmosphere. I think it would be opening a coffee shop or something like that. Okay, I'll just say this. I'll tease this out there because I don't have too much I can say about it yet, but I'm actually kind of working on something.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 2:In Bella Vista Okay.
Speaker 3:And I'm hoping will happen. It's, you know it's TBD, right now it's early stages, but yeah, and you know it's funny because I was thinking about this like I don't know why I like that, you know it's. It seems so different from what I do on my day job, but it really is that same like sense of community, sense of place. Like when you walk into a home, you know, you just kind of it feels like a place you want to be and other homes you walk into.
Speaker 3:You're like I don't know if I can see myself here and I, I think I feel that way about like certain places, I like to hang out and work and, you know, outside of home restaurants, whatever that aesthetic vibe that you get when you walk in. You're like, oh, I love it here, I like the people, I like the vibe and I think creating that really kind of excites me. And there's so much of that here in this area. It was one of the draws for us. Moving here is enjoying that, and so I think it would be something like that opening a coffee shop type community space or something that is like cool to look at, fun and relaxing, to hang out and people that are, you know, friendly and helpful and and kind of the creative space and good coffee.
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah it must have good.
Speaker 2:Well, if you make it, I will come right yeah, we will definitely be there we're always at coffee shops love and I love when you're talking about the vibe and I want to like get your take on this because you're into design and you know everything that has to do with, like, the build out of a space and a home and a feel. I have been seeing the trend of less open floor plan people like the traditional room, now Totally.
Speaker 2:And so I'm in the process of taking my office and I'm going to turn it into. If you go on like, if you go on Google or TikTok or Instagram and you look up like listening room or music room, you get like a really cool table and a really good you know record player.
Speaker 2:It's a good setup and you can get like really funky with the furniture and you know, just like there's no rules in it, like just make it like fun, right, and then like moody walls, you know, and so like an entertaining space Again. I never gave up my dining room. Some people did like for a while.
Speaker 2:Maybe people were like no formal dining room, but I like the traditional rooms right, I like yes and I and I like that because we went modern for a while and I feel like there's nothing wrong with it. Everyone has their own style. I like the exposed stuff out. Look now and I've heard that's coming back in style books are out.
Speaker 3:Your tchotchkes like just oh yeah, it looks lived in. Yeah yeah, as opposed to like completely clean or whatever just yeah, yeah definitely definitely so anyway, I've heard that's the new trend, so I wanted to see what you thought about you know, we I would say like half of our episodes now have one person that wants closed rooms or enclosed rooms or old fashioned layout or whatever you want to call it, and the other person wants open floor plan.
Speaker 2:That's really.
Speaker 3:It is really. Yeah, it's. I think it is a trend and people like having I don't know if it's because of COVID and we were at home and we liked having distinct spaces. The home office is, of course, huge, so maybe it's part of that. The listening room is cool. If you buy a house, come on the show, because that would be a cool feature that you would want. I know, right, no, that is cool.
Speaker 2:I want a room where we're getting older now and so we have friends over and I'm sick of just circling the kitchen island. Everyone just wants to stand around the island.
Speaker 2:We'll go outside. People still want to stand around the island. We have a media room and then we have like a, a couch and it's open floor plan with like the kitchen to the fireplace sitting, but it's not like a sitting room right, like it's where my lounge. So I want like people to sit down in a different area and like put on music and like have a vibe right so we're not just standing around like are you gonna food?
Speaker 1:but the question is are you going to let Elliot smoke cigars in that room?
Speaker 3:No, he brought it up though.
Speaker 1:I want a cigar?
Speaker 3:Does one of your husbands smoke cigars? Mine does.
Speaker 2:There's a place in Bentonville and they've been on our show the Cigar District. He has a membership there.
Speaker 3:I haven't heard that episode yet.
Speaker 2:I love that place he was like it'd be really cool if we put a system in here to filter the.
Speaker 3:And I'm like we're not smoking cigars in the house.
Speaker 2:No, no, no.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's a hard sell. I'm kind of with him on that, but I've never been able to pull it off either.
Speaker 2:I think he would like if it was a cigar room like you know leather bound books, moody walls, shelves Totally Should do a color wash or whatever it's called it's right color drench.
Speaker 1:Color color drench color drenching.
Speaker 2:What's that which is where you do?
Speaker 3:oh, it's all one color one color, yeah, ceiling everything.
Speaker 1:I love it.
Speaker 2:I want to color drench one room, my kids are like ew, no, and I'm like who asked you? This is my room, y'all have the whole area, a whole like second floor, just y'all can have dominion.
Speaker 1:But this is my one thing I want like have you're gonna do it. I want to see this.
Speaker 2:I want to see this come into action I know I want to like film the whole process. I've saved film on my gopro right record the whole process and like make one of those time lapse you can say film, film, you're filming it, it's not still, you're not actually using film, but you can say film. I know have you been to the little record playing area in the motto no, oh, yes, yeah, we have. And you went and checked if all the records were in there.
Speaker 1:They're in there.
Speaker 2:Oh, they are All those records.
Speaker 1:She went and checked have records in them, because I can't not touch things, I things. I've wondered the same thing, though you should go check it out because there were some records that were. I mean, nobody stopped me, um, I'm just saying, but there were a couple records that I was like oh my gosh, and it was like instant nostalgia memories all these things that just flooded back and they were like there were records in the ones that I looked at.
Speaker 1:That's cool. I can't say that they all have records in them, because I didn't look through all of them, but the ones I did and they were like in good condition so it was really cool. So, yeah, I love the idea of a music room. I think that's a fantastic idea.
Speaker 2:I'll keep you guys posted.
Speaker 1:I'm excited because I know exactly Because you're going to get invited?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'll have everyone here Y come when.
Speaker 4:I'm done with the music.
Speaker 2:One more, just quick thought from you before we wrap up, since you're a writer and AI is like writing every like. You can use AI to write things and often you can tell when they do. But what is your feeling on AI and the use of that, and is that something that you use on your show? Do you guys utilize AI for anything or?
Speaker 3:We have. I think we will be experimenting with using it for transcriptions when they're being interviewed. We have a transcript that's been done by AI. I think the transcription companies that we've used in the past have also been using AI, to be honest, because some of the words are crazy and not typed by a human. So, but other than that no, I mean although they say it's coming, so who knows? I mean maybe, maybe one day it will be able to be farther along and do do more. I think, right right now, a lot of writers I know use it as an inspiration tool. You know, for fun, one time I I I asked it to write me a screenplay, a 90 page screenplay of a movie, and I gave it a basic plot line and it spit out like three pages of horrible like, like the most. Yeah, it's just really bad. So I don't know if it's where it is right now for other writers, but for myself I think it can be a tool for looking up, for researching and maybe for transcripts and for things like that For storytelling.
Speaker 3:my experience with it has been that it's all so generic.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And that is to me like the death knell of anything is generic and not to say it couldn't be a better tool one day. Maybe it will, but I think it still needs like a heartbeat to for us as humans to want to watch it or interact with it. Right, I mean, that's what we like about every tv show movie, is we relate with the people or whatever. And as long as there's a heartbeat in it, we will watch it.
Speaker 1:So I don't know if it's capable of that or when it will be original, you know, but yeah, there's a reason why you like that what it's because it's what we do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1:You know, like that's the thing that we do and we love is sharing people's stories, and I think that that that just you know, it's like full circle in a way, like it comes back to why we started the show, why we do what we're doing, and you know it's easy to say, hey, go check out this restaurant, hey, go check out this spot here in northwest arkansas. But truly like getting to know the people behind all those spots, and the people that are living here is really what.
Speaker 2:And to know that a show it's inspiring the most, to know the show that it's that big, it's been around that long you know one of the producers is living here is really cool.
Speaker 1:It's very cool yeah From California, and he's a fan of our show. I know and we're a fan of your show.
Speaker 2:Tell our listeners if you want to share your, if you have socials or want to share that or just where to watch your show.
Speaker 3:Yes, house Hunters is on HGTV on old fashioned television pretty much most nights around 10 PM, 10, 10, 30 PM, weeknights and some on weekdays. You can look it up on hgtvcom as a full schedule. I can be reached personally at Matthew Robert Eason on Instagram.
Speaker 1:Awesome, awesome. Thank you so much for being on our show. Yeah, thank you, Matt.
Speaker 3:Thanks for having me. This has been super fun.
Speaker 2:Hey, thanks so much for listening today. If you liked what you heard, please consider subscribing to the podcast so you never miss an episode. You can also follow us on Instagram at people of NWA. Thanks so much.
Speaker 4:People of Northwest Arkansas with the two Daniels produced by me, Brock Short of Brock Entertainment. Please rate, review and like us on any podcast platform where you listen. For more information about today's guests and the show, please check the show notes. Thanks for listening.