Farrells, Centofantis take TLC

Palm Coast Observer
Opinion

Sitting at the kitchen table, I watched Jaci Centofanti make her way through the kitchen to where I was sitting. She said hi to Jordan Farrell, who was across the table and made her way out to the patio, where her husband, Ryan, was manning the grill. This repeated over and over again until the camera crew scurrying in front of her was satisfied with their shot.

It was a different kind of house warming party, one that happened at 9 a.m. on a Saturday, with food that we were later told we were not actually allowed to eat; the set needed to stay full. Of course, we snuck chips and salsa in between takes and replenished our baskets. This party also required its guests to sign an appearance release; it was the taping of an episode of a new TLC series “My First Home.”

The show, which features Flagler Beach realtors Karen and Jordan Farrell, of the Farrell Group, under the umbrella of Parkside Realty Group and their clients the Centofantis, will air noon Saturday, June 8.
But being famous isn’t easy.

The process started about six months ago when Suzie Adams, of the Real Estate Book, was contacted about local realtors who might fit the bill. She of course posted the call out on Facebook, which I saw and then told Jordan about. From there, he wrote an application submission and as they say, the rest is history. The Farrells were chosen as a finalist for this region and were asked to submit stories of a few clients. The Centofantis were one of those clients. A short film was made of their story and submitted. Then the call came: Filming would start in January.

Filming was more of a full time job than anything else. The week long filming process was intense and came with a slew of wardrobe restrictions. The home buyers were required to have 21 outfits; no white, stripes, red, bold prints or logos. The realtors, 12 outfits, same restrictions.

“It was a unique experience,” Jordan said. “It was eye opening to see what goes in to 22 minutes of air time. I’d say 70% is not actually accurate, a little disappointing to me and a little scary — I hope (the show) portrays our professionalism but we were also goofing off, because we were all friends.”

If you tune in to the show, or record it, be sure to check out the copious amounts of b-roll from scenes around the county. Including a scene, which required a little rule breaking, when Jaci and Ryan frolicked on the beach with their dog, Bailey, next to the Flagler Beach Pier.

While the Farrell Group was not allowed to brand themselves on the show, Karen and her son are excited to be showcased and put Flagler County on a national platform.