How did Hollywood Houselift get off the ground?
I wanted to start, however, with how this show came to fruition.
I immediately went to Netflix.
By my choice, we left Netflix, and went to Amazon.
Immediately, on day one, I knew.
I walked in like, “This is my home, I love these executives.
We’re all on the same page.”
[They’re] very creative people, and the development deal happened immediately.
We started working together, and we were flushing out shows.
[In the] beginning of 2020, [there was the] pandemic.
Everything is delayed a year.
It was supposed to be a more loosely formatted, more produced show.
It was really more of a docu-soap, but with celebrities.
That’s how we did it.
There was no, “Okay, Ashley.
You say this and Jeff’s going to say that,” it was nothing like that.
I wasn’t expecting to be in the house at all.
I wasn’t expecting to really film any of my employees or anything like that.
It organically did turn into that, about 25% my house, 75% celebrity’s houses.
“Flipping Out” was reversed.
It was like 75/25.
The [new] show found its legs.
It took a minute, because we have all this raw footage.
We’re trying to figure out, “What does the show look like?”
What was that experience like for you?
Honestly, I feel a little more protective over my life now.
It might not be as interesting now as it was then.
Megan and I have worked together for at least 10 years.
I’m like, “I want my people.”
I need people that [understand].
Tyler understands [what I need]: “Hey, I need cabinet pulls for the kitchen.
I want polished brass.
I want this,” whatever.
What I like about it is you don’t know how it’s going to end.
How is this episode going to end?
Is their house finished?
All of a sudden, you meet somebody new.
People come in, people come out it’s not this formulaic, expected result.
It sounds like it was such an organic way that it came about and that it developed.
In what ways are you glad that the show took on a life of its own?
Frankly, I wasn’t totally on board with how the produced, formulaic design show was structure.
I didn’t like it.
It actually turned into a show that I could really get behind and be proud of.
I wanted it different.
One bathroom, $165,000.
I don’t see too many shows …
I wasn’t wasteful.
We had really good, expensive taste.
Well, $165,000 that could be the budget for an entire reno on another show.
But it was an $8 million house.
What was it like for Jeff Lewis to work with such high profile clients?
As you said, Anthony Anderson, Melissa Rivers, Wilmer Valderrama, these are big names.
I’d love to know what some of those behind-the-scenes details were like.
[Are there] any designs that stand out to you.
It was a little bit of a learning curve.
This is how I work.
I’m a little bit of a bull in a china shop.
I come in hot and strong and this is what we’re going to do.
I feel like some people have to get used to that.
I’m extremely direct.
It’s a little off putting at first, but it serves me and works for me.
When I came in, initially he’s like, “Well, I don’t know.
Now, he’s hired me.
I still work for him, but I had to prove myself to him.
They were with me.
They were picking things out.
We were shopping together.
We were working together.
There were no surprises.
Yes, and then some people even came to the table with more money, to do more work.
I was thinking about what it would be like to work with such high-profile clients.
I’d love for you to speak to that, the actual design element that was in your work.
The celebrities that we worked with are actors and musicians, so these are creative people.
It’s very different.
That was a fun process, because it was more collaborative than what I’m used to.
I’ve learned things.
It really was a fun, creative process for me.
When you have eight celebrities, I thought for sure, I’m going to fight with some people.
Did we have some disagreements?
Yes, but everyone, in the end, was happy.
A long time ago in 2007, when the [real estate] market crashed …
I was all in when the market crashed.
I couldn’t get in people’s homes to remodel.
My income went down for the year of 2020.
My income went down 66%.
I still had income, but I felt it.
Everybody went through something, but I choose to focus on the positive.
In a lot of ways, the pandemic served me.
There was a lot of terrible sickness, and death, and financial ruin, and all of that.
I felt like that’s when I truly bonded with my child, who at that point was three.
Now we have a very nice, close, connected relationship.
I’m committed to keeping it that way.
you could’t put a price on how valuable that is.
I still have to make money, but I won’t work the way that I did.
Happiness is, in my opinion, criminally underrated.
You’re absolutely right.
I’m so excited to sink my teeth into this show.
With that in mind, what are you hoping the audiences will take away from “Hollywood Houselift?”
I hope this is a new, fresh take on the home-remodel genre.
Bringing in the celebrities is something not a lot of people have done successfully.
What do I want?
I’d like people to respond well to this, and get a Season 2.
That’s what I really want, to keep going with this.
I’d like to bring you eight more celebrities next season and eight more after that.
Creatively, I love what I’m doing.
I want to do this until it doesn’t make me happy.
Right now, it makes me happy.
This makes me happy, and I would love to continue doing this.
It’s really up to you guys, at this point.
If you respond well, hopefully you respond well, and the connection responds and they pick it up.
I’m in the second half of my life, let’s be honest.
You really start thinking about your own mortality.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
