I know I've spoken quite a bit about the great folks who work at "This Old House." You all know how professional and knowledgeable they all are. But I want to dedicate a bit of air time here to our two primary contacts at the show, who we have been working with since February to make this project come alive. Pictured here are TOH's senior series producer Deborah Hood (RIGHT) and producer Jennifer Wells (LEFT). They've been answering our millions of questions, guiding us through the process, and offering lots of support as we travel on this adventure. They are also the ones who review applications, meet with potential homeowners, and winnow down the search to the right project for each season. Once a house is chosen, it's their job to come up with story ideas, organize the cast and crew, script out each episode, etc., etc., etc. The list of responsibilities they carry is long, but they ALWAYS respond quickly, efficiently, and clearly to our conerns (and are two very nice people, to boot).
We first met Jen when she contacted us last February to talk about our application for the show. (Now, as an aside, Joe has watched nearly every single season of "This Old House" since he was a child. He's also referenced their Web site, books, and old episodes on nearly every project we've tackled on this house since we bought it.) Jen called to let us know she would be coming by the house to check it out—and was going to bring Tom Silva to tour it! We were pretty excited about that—Joe especially!! After their visit, we figured that was that (they noted they were talking to lots of homeowners), but the questions and meetings kept coming, until we found out they wanted to work with us! It was an exciting and busy several months leading up to the start of the actual construction, and Deb and Jen were our primary contacts through all of it.
We thought Deb and Jen worked hard then, but now that construction and filming have begun, we see how much more goes into their jobs. They are constantly mapping out ideas for the show and coordinating meetings with a lot of very busy people. But they still manage to make the filming days happen on schedule. It's been so much fun working with them, and we look forward to the next four months as the project continues. Thanks Deb and Jen!!
(2) Comments
Comment on this BlogGood job ladies.My wife and I have always enjoyed your show. Keep up the good work.
Don't know if this will get to the right place but worth a try. I live in Kent Ohio & have an old bank barn built in 1906. The south foundation wall (a mixture of stone and block from someone's unsuccessful repair) is bowed out, causing the structure to tilt. Without tens of thousands of dollars of work, the barn will fall over. Ohio does not offer grants to cover barns on private property. I don't have the money to fix the barn, but it would be a shame to lose it. It's so cool! Do you have ideas or any direction to point?
Thanks,
Wendy