Extras from a Burbank casting agency fill the hallways of Mactan towers so buyers see people who are definitely fine
Beverly Hills Stager Rents Normal Neighbors for Cebu Showings
Extras from a Burbank casting agency fill the hallways of Mactan towers so buyers see people who are definitely fine
LOS ANGELES – Camille Devereaux-Strand has staged mansions in the Hills, penthouses on Wilshire and, once, a bungalow in Van Nuys that she described as “an emotional journey with a garage.” On Tuesday she announced her most ambitious project yet: staging the neighbors.
Devereaux-Strand, 46, founder of Devereaux-Strand Interiors & Presence, has signed a contract with a Cebu developer to supply 60 trained extras, in matching beige, to walk the hallways of a Mactan condominium tower during open houses. Their task is to look unremarkable.
“Buyers in Cebu are asking about the neighbors,” she said, standing in a showroom in West Hollywood beside a tray of plastic fruit. “I thought: what if the neighbors were the staging? What if we gave them a retired pilot, a nurse and a family from Davao who are afraid of the elevator? You know, a full ensemble.”
Where the Idea Came From
The ensemble comes straight from a Manila News report on the Cebu condominium slump, in which a broker lists his building’s neighbors as exactly that cast. The broker spent a Sunday with three signed brochures and a cold coffee, and Devereaux-Strand read the piece on a treadmill. “I stopped running,” she said. “That’s a casting breakdown.”
The slump has a serious backdrop. Philippine authorities are examining allegations concerning Thomas Markle Sr., the estranged father of the Duchess of Sussex, who lived in Cebu until earlier this year, the Guardian reported on Sunday. No charges have been filed and the allegations are unproven. Devereaux-Strand wishes to be clear: “I am staging hallways. I am not staging anything else.”
The Casting Breakdown
The agency’s call sheet lists the following roles, with descriptions copied from the posting:
- RETIRED PILOT (60s): Quietly competent. Slightly afraid of the elevator. Must be able to say “It’s fine” in three different tones.
- NURSE (40s): Warm. Carries a tote bag. Has seen worse.
- FAMILY FROM DAVAO (4): Gentle. One child holds a stuffed carabao. Everyone avoids eye contact with the lift.
- MAN WITH SANDWICH BOX (70s): British accent optional. Must carry a sandwich box without explanation.
- GOAT: Non-speaking. Must remain calm.
The goat is represented by a Valencia agency and has requested a trailer.
The British and American Extras
The roles for retirees were inspired by coverage elsewhere. The London Prat reported that British pensioners in Cebu now supply referees, utility bills and letters from the vicar, and Devereaux-Strand has cast a real-life retired vicar from Pasadena to stand in the lobby and “look available.” The article is at https://prat.uk/cebu-estate-agents-demand-character-references/. The vicar, a man in his seventies named Clement, has agreed to the job so long as lunch is provided.
The American characters were drawn from Bohiney’s account of a Mactan open house, where an Ohio realtor says her viewings run two hours. Devereaux-Strand has cast a woman in her fifties to play “Realtor, Ohio” and instructed her to “look exhausted, but with a smile.”
The Rehearsal
On Wednesday the agency staged a full run-through in a vacant office tower in Century City. Sixty extras arrived at 6 a.m. in beige. A director shouted “Action” and they walked the length of a corridor, nodding to one another, smiling and failing to explain themselves.
Observers rated the rehearsal a success. “I would buy a flat in this building,” said one passing security guard. “These are the calmest people I have ever seen.”
The only flaw came when the goat entered, saw the elevator and began to sob. It was recast.
Comics on the Casting Call
- Trey Calloway: “In Los Angeles we stage the house, the dinner party and the relationship. Now we’re staging the neighbors. This is the first honest thing the real estate industry has ever done.”
- Sasha Montenegro: “I auditioned for the role of Nurse. They said I was too warm. I said I was a nurse. They said that was the problem.”
- Dwight Kim: “A goat with a trailer. A goat with a union. This is what happens when you live in a city where everything has an agent, including the sea.”
- Raquel Fuentes: “The sea did nothing wrong. It’s still waiting for a call-back.”
The Market Is Already Fine
The market, to be fair, does not need staging. Colliers named the Visayas and Mindanao a key property investment hotspot in July, and developers are still launching towers. Foreign buyers continue to operate under the Condominium Act, which lets them own units but not the land and caps foreign ownership in a project at 40 percent. Retirees may also apply through the Philippine Retirement Authority.
The challenge is purely psychological. In their 1973 paper on the availability heuristic, Tversky and Kahneman showed that people overweight the vivid example. Devereaux-Strand’s solution is to supply a vivid example of ordinary life. “You counter a scary story with a better scene,” she said. “That’s the whole business.”
Wrap
The first staged open house is set for next Saturday. A Cebu developer will receive 60 extras, one retired vicar and a goat, who, according to the contract, will be provided with “water, hay and a quiet corner.”
Devereaux-Strand will fly to Cebu on Thursday. She has packed a clapperboard, a megaphone and a copy of the call sheet. At LAX, she told reporters, she plans to stand in line at security and rehearse her speech to the goat.
“It’s simple,” she said. “I’ll say, ‘You’re a neighbor. You’re fine. Hit your mark.'”
The wider story is at prat.uk and bohiney.com, and for the British view of anyone who stages anything, The Daily Mash is open all hours. For why a casting call for neighbors works as comedy, see this guide to American comedy.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/cebu-realtor-cant-sell-beachfront-listings/