» Milwaukee on HGTV: “My Flippin’ Friends” on HGTV will feature five Milwaukee friends flipping houses in the Brew City.
HGTV pilot filmed in Walker’s Point
Fans of the HGTV hit show “Fixer Upper” will want to add a new show to their watch list: “My Flippin’ Friends,” which features five Milwaukee friends flipping houses in the Brew City.
“Someone just said that we’re ‘Friends’ meets ‘Fixer Upper,’” said Jenni Radosevich, the lead designer for the group who spearheaded the pilot.
“A lot of HGTV shows right now are couples, and we’re kind of breaking the mold a little bit,” she said. “I think it’s a cool spin on it because there are a lot of characters — there’s five of us . ... I think it’s going to be fun to watch all the different story lines that can come out of that, because there’s so many of us at so many different points in our life.”
The pilot episode follows Radosevich, a Manitowoc native who now calls Milwaukee home, and her Milwaukee friends — project manager Alan Damato, real estate broker Mike Styke and designers Mallory Davis and Benji Bernhard — as they spend three months flipping a house in Walker’s Point.
“Friends who flip together, stick together,” Radosevich quips in the trailer for the pilot.
The friends hope the show concept sticks, too. They’ve only filmed one episode, and after it airs April 2, HGTV will decide whether to pick it up for a full season based on viewership and buzz around the show, Radosevich said.
Amid a full schedule of home renovation shows, she hopes that in addition to the friendship angle, the fact that their show focuses on Milwaukee, an affordable city, will make it appeal to viewers.
“What’s cool about our show is that the numbers are more manageable,” she said. “When you’re looking at houses in New York and Los Angeles, and the amount that they’re spending is so astronomical that I feel like you can’t relate to it, and you can’t apply it to your own life.
“We were on a budget. It’s real money. And we wanted to show people that this is a doable thing and be able to be applicable to their lives.”
Radosevich would know about big-city price tags. After graduating with a journalism degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2005, she moved to New York to pursue a career in magazines. While working as a graphic designer at InStyle magazine, she pitched a DIY article. It was September 2010, the start of the Pinterest, do-it-yourself craze. The article led to a regular column and a popular blog, I Spy DIY, followed by a book in 2012.
Radosevich went all-in on her design business that year, hosting DIY events and classes, freelancing and appearing on TV shows including Good Morning America and Rachael Ray.
Three years ago, she moved back to Wisconsin and set up her business and life in Walker’s Point.
She said she had pitched TV shows throughout her I Spy DIY career, but it wasn’t until she looked into buying a house in Milwaukee to “elevate my DIY projects to a whole house” that inspiration struck.
“When I started looking at houses here and I saw the market for flipping houses, I was like this could be something interesting,” she said.
A friend from New York who had worked on HGTV’s “Listed Sisters” suggested she pitch the show.
She recruited a friend from high school, Styke, who was already in the house-flipping game, plus Damato, who had experience in construction and property management, and friends Bernhard and Davis, who she knew had great design aesthetics.
“I didn’t quite tell my friends exactly what I was getting them into, as far as the TV show, I was like, ‘Will you guys come and film this little thing for a day?’ ”
A little 14-hour day of filming later, they had a sizzle reel that they sent to networks. HGTV bit, and the pilot was born.
A production crew filmed the group over three months last summer.
“It was weird because we had to keep it a secret, but we were filming all around Milwaukee, which as you know, is a big, little town,” Radosevich said.
Both Radosevich and Damato said they hope it can put Milwaukee on the map in the same way that “Fixer Upper” did for Waco, Texas.
“I joked yesterday that for people that are born and raised in Milwaukee, it’s like, oh man, you don’t want Milwaukee to change, but Milwaukee is changing whether this show happens or not,” said Damato (who, full disclosure, is related to Journal Sentinel columnist Gary D’Amato). “People are recognizing that Milwaukee is becoming a destination — people want to be here.”
“In the show, we really want to make Milwaukee a character and talk about all of the amazing artisans that are here, all the makers,” Radosevich said. “I think Milwaukee is a hidden gem that a lot of people didn’t know about and are really starting to know about, and I’m excited to shine a light on the city.”
That included working with a local metalworker to construct an iron staircase for the house and shopping at stores like Cream City Restoration.
“I’m just really excited for Milwaukee to get some love,” Radosevich said. “When I first moved here, coming from New York, it’s a little nerve-wracking, you’re like, is Milwaukee going to have those things that I want? But the coffee shops are beautiful, everything is so well-designed. I feel like all the restaurants are adding a lot of design flair into what they’re doing, and I’ve kind of been overwhelmed by how cool, how hip Milwaukee actually is, and I’m just excited to show that.”