This Guy Runs a TV Network and Studio Out of His Own Home
Jon Hotchkiss’ home may look like your typical Southern California house with a drought-tolerant yard, but something more hides behind these stucco walls.
Hotchkiss, a TV veteran with 14 Emmy nominations to his credit, has started his own TV network. He fetchingly calls it Adorable Puppies Inc., with everything he needs to shoot, produce, edit and broadcast his original TV series, right in his own backyard.
And here’s the kicker: He says anyone can and should do it too.
“I think creative people want to bring their passion and vision to life without the heavy handed influence of the people with the money,” Hotchkiss told Yahoo Real Estate.
He says that with technology and broadcasting being as simple and inexpensive as they are today, you don’t have to be subject to sponsors or network executives.
(Adorable Puppies, Inc. network creator Jon Hotchkiss, armed and ready for production.)
“Now, anyone with a camera, a lap-top and access to Wi-Fi can have their video or movie seen everywhere,” he says.
Of course, Hotchkiss’ programming is quite a bit more professional than the latest YouTube sensation. His experience includes working extensively on shows like “Politically Incorrect,” “The Late Show With Craig Kilborn,” “Penn and Teller’s Bulls*&%,” and various programs for networks like Discovery, TLC, ABC, Showtime, GSN and more.
But one of the many great equalizing factors that he says allows him, and many others, to deliver quality TV shows around the world is the change in the cost of gear.
“Professional equipment that used to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars – like cameras — now costs just thousands of dollars. And editing equipment that wouldn’t fit in a U-Haul has been compressed to run on a MacBook Pro.”
The cost of chartering a helicopter to hover overhead has been reduced to the price of a drone.
(Hotchkiss in his studio-converted-from-a-garage, editing an entire series on his MacBook Pro, which wouldn’t have been possible ten years ago.)
(Hotchkiss hard at work in his garage/studio, while his adorable puppies sleep nearby.)
Of course for one of his series, you will need a pizza oven. Hotchkiss has produced several series, including “Pizza With Writers,” for which he invites top TV writers into his backyard to chat about their craft while making hand-crafted pizzas in his tiled outdoor oven. Pros like Nick Malis from Tosh.0, Jay Kogen from “The Simpsons” and Rob Kutner from “The Daily Show with John Stewart” have all participated.
(By day, Hotchkiss’ backyard, complete with pizza oven, looks like a normal neighborhood foodie hang out.)
(By night, Hotchkiss’ backyard becomes the TV studio where “Pizza With Writers” is recorded. Here Hotchkiss interviews “Muppets” co-creator and writer Bob Kushell before they chow down on the pizza they just baked.)
Another of his clever series is “This Vs. That” a show that uses science and humor to investigate questions you’ve always wondered about, like which is more effective in heavy traffic: staying in the same lane, switching lanes or taking side streets? And finding out which is the more effective flotation device on an airplane: the inflatable vest or the seat cushion. Then there’s the episode about barbecuing with propane versus natural gas.
(The stars of “This Vs. That.”)
His revenue model is not about advertising. He charges $3.99 per month for a subscription that allows you to watch all his shows as many times as you want, for one month, commercial-free.
And how is that revenue model working for him? It’s too early to say, he says, as they’ve only had it set up since late this fall. But he’s having the time of his life creating television his way, he says.
At this point, you might be wondering what his network has to do with adorable puppies. This is his explanation:
“When you share pictures of your dog with friends and family on social media, you do it because you love your dog, you think your dog is the best and dammit, you want everyone to see how great or cute or funny your dog was being at the time you took the picture….In your heart you are 100 percent certain that some people will love the photo… it will make them smile… and it will improve their day. And you’re right.
“These series are my adorable puppies. I created them. I produced them. I wrote them. I financed them. I edited much of them. And I even host one of the shows. And like everyone with an adorable puppy, I want to share mine with the world, too.”
So with a studio in his garage and a pizza oven in his backyard, Hotchkiss is able to run a television network out of his own home, without having to kowtow to advertisers or network executives.
