After making its debut on BBC Lifestyle last week, Mzansi can not get enough of the exciting new reality series ‘Listing Jozi’. The series follows five high-end realty brokers from Johannesburg as they traverse the complicated yet enticing landscape of real estate in order to successfully list and sell multimillion rand houses in Jozi’s affluent suburbs and surroundings.
The series follows some of Jozi’s finest and most opulent suburbs like Waterfall, Dainfern, Morningside, Hyde Park, Strathavon and Sandton in the centre financial district, to Meyersdal in JHB South and everywhere in between, with properties ranging from apartments in the mid R5 millions to spectacular mansions of over R45 million. The show will also feature a host of influential buyers and sellers including successful business personas, local sport stars, celebrities and property moguls who will all try and get the best value for their money in the current financial climate.
The show is produced by AlternaTV who are no strangers to the production world in South Africa. Now, as the show continues to gain momentum, we chat to television producers Nico Nel and Trevor Kaplan about the series, its charm and why viewers should tune in.
“I think in South Africa, there exists a massive disparity between the super wealthy and super poor. So I guess there’s always a part of everyone that wants to see how the rich live, and in this case, in which houses these super rich and wealthy people live,” Nico Nel says about why the concept of the show is so intriguing. “But I also think that the process of selling or buying these colossal mansions is very intricate and specialised industry, hence the need to showcase the private and professional lives of the agents involved in the deal making.”
However, putting a show like this together is no easy task. Besides finding some of the most remarkable properties on the market, Nico admits that having the right cast is critical as well. “In order to successfully portray the real estate agency, we relied heavily on industry word of mouth when selecting our cast members. We also wanted to feature agents at various stages in their professional careers, so instead of casting a wide net and auditioning everyone in the industry, we filmed a few scenes with a few referrals and rather tested them on camera first,” Nico explains.
He adds that “It was important for us that agents were comfortable in front of camera but also had an interesting private life which we could weave into our narrative. Lastly, the agents also had to be comfortable with a production team following them around every day, so in the end it all boiled down to the five candidates which we had the best report with.”
Meanwhile, Trevor Kaplan explains that finding the sweet spot between the business of real estate and showcasing beautiful houses was imperative for a series like this to work. “We thought it important to cover various elements of the real estate industry, so that the viewers could get a wholistic view of the industry and its role players. Any person that might be interested in becoming a real estate agent, will be able to see the highs and lows that agents go through on a day to day basis, as they try to juggle family, social and work life; and the pressures associated with dealing with high end buyers and sellers,” he says.
Trevor continues saying “We wanted viewers to get a glimpse into the personal lives of the agents so as to understand their journeys, and in so doing to identify and align themselves with the characters in the show. Obviously its only human nature to want to view the opulent homes of the wealthy, so it was very important for us to satisfy the viewers need for this as well!”
So why should you tune in? Simple! Trevor explains that “‘Listing Jozi’ is a family show that gives the viewers the opportunity to live vicariously and see the world through the eyes of a high end property broker. It also gives the viewer the luxury of dreaming about the big bank account and when to spend that bank balance when looking at a home, which broker would they use and which area they would buy in. It is also interesting to see how the personalities and characteristics of the agents differ as each of them try and close high-end business deals throughout the series.”
Tune into ‘Listing Jozi’ every Wednesdays at 20h00 on BBC Lifestyle (DStv channel 174).
