Their faces are probably familiar to you from various reform programs. Currently, it is estimated that they have an annual salary of 7.5 million euros and 11 programs are broadcasted in up to 150 countries in which this pair of twins with dreamy jaws star and make the dream of a complete home renovation come true.
Buthow did the story of the Scott brothers begin?
The beginning
Drew and Jonathan are the youngest of three brothers in a Canadian family. At the age of 7, they took their first steps into the working world when, encouraged by their father, they decided to line wire hangers with nylon and sell them for 25 cents.
One woman even bought thousands of them with the intention of exporting them to Japan. The Scott brothers’ talent for business had just emerged.
When they finished high school, they chose real estate as a way to raise money and pay for their dream careers: Drew wanted to make it as an actor in Hollywood, while Jonathan wanted to produce magic shows.
Following a scam suffered by an associate, Jonathan declared himself bankrupt at the age of 20.
Crisis of 2007: The opportunity of a lifetime
In hundreds of places, the global crisis of 2007 was devastating. In the United States, one of the most damaged social strata was the middle class. And it is in these situations that a good idea can become a golden goose.
In the same year, the Reality Shows became the main form of entertainment, and this, coupled with the need for thousands of Americans to sell their homes for the highest possible return, formed the perfect mix to make the Scott Brothers known.
The house of my dreams
This is how it was born The house of my dreamsa reality show with a predefined and repetitive structure, very easy to watch: you can get hooked in the middle of a program or watch 8 in a row, you won’t get tired of it.
The script is as follows: The owners of a home have come to the conclusion that they need to stop fantasizing about their dream home and that the time has come to own it.
Drew’s mission is clear: to make them see that they don’t have enough money to buy it, and that the wisest decision is to hire his brother Jonathan to renovate a cheap house and renovate it completely.
A show so emotional that it engages: while the world collapses, they help you build happiness.
The first programs
The first programs of The House of My Dreams did not arouse much interest among the network executives because of the manner and physique of the brothers in front of the camera.
They presented two versions for the first episodes: in one of them they had a more formal and scripted attitude, while in the other version, the one that pleased the audience the most, the brothers were more relaxed and joking with each other.
On the physical side, the network had it clear: “At first, Jonathan’s hair was very distracting. He wore it long and dyed blond, he looked like a model instead of a builder.” He also explained that “it was important for the brothers to be attractive, but not too sexy.”
Thus were born these copies of Ken, sweethearts of Barbie and faithful reflections of working class America and corporate America, associated with safe content: “It’s not so squishy that guys don’t want to watch it, kids like it because we’re always goofing around and women enjoy it because they learn real home improvement and decorating skills.” – Drew Scott explained in an interview.
Safe bet: a scripted Reality Show
What they show us on TV takes certain fictional licenses. Buyers who apply to participate in the show have to come with an old house to renovate already located, so Drew showing you the house of your dreams that is worth five times your budget is a pantomime.
Applicants are also required to provide a supporting character with a punch. A brother-in-law, mother-in-law or funny friend to complement the scene with witty comments. As Juan Sanguino, the author of the source of this article As in any reality show, the important thing is not to be authentic, but to look authentic.
We renovate your house, but not the whole house
Another clause for the Ken Scott Brothers to help you with the house of your dreams is to choose what you are going to renovate. You will never be able to renovate the bathroom and kitchen, you will have to choose one of them, and the program will only show the renovation of 4 or 5 rooms: the rest of the house will be renovated off camera and the twins will not be the ones to do it.
The renovation is paid for by the applicants, who must also advance 20% to cover unforeseen expenses, which are undoubtedly found and dealt with off-camera. Everything we see and the surprised faces of the participants in the reality show are more fake than a 3 euro coin.
On the other hand, the show’s production company contributes about 20,000 euros to help the budget, and the Scott brothers are not paid for their services: with a salary of 100,000 euros per episode and an average of 75 episodes per year, they don’t need it.
Scott’s other programs and businesses
In addition to the aforementioned reality show La casa de mis sueños, these twins star in other renovation shows such as Buying and Selling, in which they renovate a family’s house in order to sell it for more than they bought it, or Brother vs Brother, in which the brothers compete to renovate two houses, with their older brother J.D. as referee and the subsequent punishment, such as dressing as a woman or dancing in a striptease for the loser.
They also star in Property Brothers: At home, in which they work on the reconstruction of their own house, or the variant At home on the ranch, in which they renovate the ranch where they grew up and make their first steps as a country music duo. They also have their own virtual reality game for cell phones: Home Design.
Other noteworthy programs include Brothers take New Orleans, in which the brothers renovate houses destroyed by Katrina in a charitable manner, and Forever Home, in which they work to transform the homes of families who want to continue living in them.
Casaza and Scott Living
In addition to their successful television shows, the Scott brothers have opened several lines of business almost as productive as their reality shows.
Its Scott Living furniture line generated about $100 million during its first year of life, and its application Casazawhere you can visit dream homes where everything is for sale, attracts more than 513 million monthly users.
The success of the Scott brothers
Drew and Jonathan have created content that does much more than turn capitalism into entertainment: they have managed to sell aspiration and illusion: we all have a house where we live and a house where we would like to live, and they are in charge of making it happen.
They also add the factor of randy sibling humor, that humor that most viewers enjoy and can relate to:“Drew, be careful with that, you won’t break a nail.”
In short, the Scott brothers are the product, and no one knows better than they do how to promote and sell themselves. These men, manufactured with the goal of being the perfect son-in-law, are a goose that lays golden eggs.
And so you don’t have to call the Scott brothers, we explain how to build a balustrade in 6 easy steps.
