Hali Anastopoulo has a vision and capturing the beauty (and chaos) of reality is at the forefront of it. The young founder, executive producer, and visionary—who made history when she sold her first show to a major streaming platform at the age of twenty, making her one of the youngest show creators to achieve this feat—is living out her dreams in real-time. She is currently gearing up for her first reality TV show, Men of West Hollywood, to make its debut on Crackle on January 20th.
Men of West Hollywood follows the ever-exciting lives of six socialites as they maneuver their ways through West Hollywood’s lavish milieu. Anastopoulo made it her mission to fight for representation on-screen as some of the cast are members of the LGBTQ+ community, striving to show an accurate representation of how people from this community act in reality in real-time as opposed to caricatures of the culture. Along with Men of West Hollywood, Anastopoulo and her production company, Get Me Out Productions, are also dropping two more projects in 2022 in the form of the reality realtor show Brokers of Charleston and the docuseries The Company You Keep, detailing the case of Danny Petroleum Jr.
Ahead of her busy 2022, I was able to sit down with the young mogul and pick Anastopoulo’s brain on what inspired her career decisions, what went into making Men of West Hollywood, how she managed to achieve all of her accomplishments at such a young age, and how she always strives to fight for equal representation behind and in front of the camera.
Marc: You are, not trying to oversell it, but you’re a young mogul in the making (they both laugh). That’s crazy. You’re the founder and executive producer of Get Me Out Productions. Can you walk me through the journey of how this production came to be and how you got to where you’re at?
Hali: The first thing I ever did was intern for this Livestream company when I was about fifteen or sixteen, and after that, I was [convinced] that the entertainment industry was for me. After that, I was [unsure] how to get into this, and I was doing my research, and there weren’t a lot of opportunities for young people to get involved in the industry. So I decided that I would create my own production company. I grew up in South Carolina, but when I came to LA, I had this idea to do the show [Men of West Hollywood], and I was like, “why don’t I just try and do this”? So from there, I worked on the show, and then I built what you see now where I’m currently doing other shows, but it all started from this first initial show and idea and creating the production company all at one time.
M: And this first show is Men of West Hollywood?
H: Yes!
M: And you sold this show to Crackle—which is absolutely nuts to think about. Were there any back and forth regarding this deal or maybe a bidding war of some kind?
H: The process to be honest with you is kind of hard. You hear a lot of no’s and not too many yes’, but I was going to all of these places in the middle of COVID where someone would be at this company one day and the next day they would be gone—just madness. So, Crackle finally reached out to us inquiring about the project, negotiations struck from there, and then we decided to partner with them for Men of West Hollywood. But the process of selling a show is not easy by any means, and I learned a lot through that, and I know the direction in which I want to do it next time.
M: So did you go to—and you mentioned a lot of no’s, right, so I imagined that you went to other companies—the Netflixes and Hulus? Were you able to get in front of them?
H: Yeah, the process of all of that is insane, especially now because there are so many places you can go, basically endless options, but the options are all kind of complicated ( they laugh). What we did in creating our show and then pitching it was kind of unique. Still, ultimately I feel like I learned a lot through it all because when you have an idea, and you go to someplace like Netflix, for example, and they’re like “yeah, we’ll buy it from you,” and they give you the amount of money, but then you don’t get to work on the show at all. I wanted to produce myself, so creating the show beforehand and then going to the big players was unique, but it was the right move. And Crackle was excellent, and they connected with the show a lot, and they liked a lot of the aspects about it, so it was a really good match actually.
M: As we know, Men of West Hollywood is your new reality TV show coming to Crackle, and if people didn’t know, now they know! Have you always been a big fan of reality TV, and is that why you jumped into that genre with your first show?
H: Yeah, I have always been a big fan of reality TV and, as I mentioned, I grew up in South Carolina, and so the show is about a ground of guys who are all friends that live in West Hollywood, and half of them identify as straight while the other half identify as gay. When I first moved to LA, I was amazed at how everyone was friends with everybody with no judgment, and it was this amazing thing. Growing up in South Carolina however, you just didn’t see that, so I felt like reality TV gives people the opportunity to connect with people almost as if they’re characters, but they’re real people. So, I loved doing a reality show about it, and the show follows the relationships, friendships and dramas, so I really love how reality TV gives you that sort of lens to take it where you want; people can say what they want.
M: Did you select the cast yourself? Who was in charge of selecting the characters for this particular project?
H: We had someone who helped with casting, but I actually did a lot of the casting myself; I reached out to modeling agencies, cold calling to see if anybody knew someone that would be interested, but nice we got one person cast they said that they knew a friend that would be perfect for this and it organically came together in that regard. But it was an interesting process for sure.
M: What about Men of West Hollywood really stood out to you, and why did you choose to tell that specific story with these men at this time?
H: I think representation is very important, and I felt that a lot of the time, you would see one gay person on these shows as like the friend and it was never really centered in multiple different people. And I always felt like West Hollywood represented that. I feel like a lot can be learned from West Hollywood to say, so I think I resonated with that aspect of living there, and that’s how Men of West Hollywood came to be. So it was more about the people and then the show.
M: What I’m getting from what you’re saying is that West Hollywood has a very different culture from the various other directions of Hollywood. Have you spent time in North Hollywood or South Hollywood? I have never been to Hollywood, so please excuse my ignorance, but is it different in every cardinal direction you go?
H: LA as a place has a lot of diversity everywhere, but West Hollywood seems to be a hub for this kind of lifestyle. There are the beach and residential areas, and then there’s North Hollywood. But I think that West Hollywood just represents something a bit different than the rest of LA, but the rest of LA has aspects of it as well.
M: With the premiere date for the show quickly approaching, how do you feel about it? Are you excited? Nervous at all?
H: I’m really excited; I’ve been seeing it on my calendar for so long just seeing it, and now we’re here in January. I think the show is going to be amazing, and the timing of it is just—it felt so far away for so long, and now it’s here, so I’m definitely excited, to say the least.
M: And that’s not the only project that you have coming in 2022; releasing this year, you have Brokers of Charleston and The Company You Keep coming soon. How did those projects come about? Let’s start with Brokers of Charleston first.
H: We have some of the people on the show and thought that the show’s dynamic was very interesting as it was different from other realtor shows. The houses are so unique there, and it would be different from the houses and imagery of LA. Then with The Company You Keep is the Justin Wolfe story, and I wasn’t familiar with his story or his case. Someone close to Justin approached us with his story and told us about him and the footage. As soon as I heard more about this, I knew it was a direction I wanted to pursue because this is one of the craziest stories I had ever heard. And it’s not necessarily reality, but is a docuseries that we like to do as well, so it fits into what we see ourselves doing regarding other content. And that docuseries is impactful and has some different things about it that I like, so that’s how those projects came to be.
M: So is Get Me Out Productions a reality TV based company? Or is it that niche that you’re interested in right now?
H: Yes, I think so, at least for now. Honestly, I don’t know where I’ll be in five years, but that’s where I want to be, at least for now. Reality TV gets a bad rep, sometimes calling it trashy, but I feel that the genre has a lot to it; the characters are real people, and that has such an impact on it. I think this genre is great, but who knows what could happen in the future.
M: It’s interesting that you mention that misconception of reality TV and how people view it as trashy. Growing up in the days of Real World and other MTV reality shows, I used to view reality TV in that light, myself. But, dealing with the issue of is it scripted? Or is it actually no script? And there are people that I know who also carry similar sentiments about reality TV, so it’s awesome that I get to speak with someone who is there on the battlefield (they both laugh) with boots on the ground. So, are there scripts that you guys use for reality TV? Or a version of scripts? And how do you handle those interesting viral moments that garner a shocking reaction?
H: I can’t speak for all reality shows, but there is no script for our show. We do sit down with the cast before the season starts to figure out what is happening in their lives so that way we can plan out these events that are coming and fit with our filming. We strategically try to align our filming with natural events in their lives, so it’s never scripted. Still, obviously, people know there are cameras there, so if they react more dramatically than they normally would be, then that’s the way it goes. But there is no script or direction; it is very interesting, though, because people know there are cameras there, and they seem to play up themselves when these cameras are rolling. So reality TV is interesting for sure (she laughs).
M: As I said, I have always been fascinated and confused by the shows and how they work. So, thank you for explaining to me your experience working on them, and why you love them, I appreciate that. Are there any reality TV shows that you would say helped get you into that genre of television?
H: So, Vanderpump Rules, when I first saw that show, I was obsessed—I binge-watched all of it. Below Deck is one of my favorites; I love all the house ones a lot, the Brothers, RuPaul’s Drag Race. I really was obsessed with that for a long time, and now I noticed how it took the formula of a lot of other shows but then turned it on its head and made it different in every aspect. I think that show is probably my biggest inspiration and let me know that you could do some fun stuff on reality TV. But yeah, I have always been a reality TV fan, and I feel like all of that together made me interested in it and getting involved in it.
M: Do you have a dream reality TV series that you would want to put together or maybe even a docuseries, something where you’re following around one of the amazing socialites of our day?
H: Competitive reality shows are something that I’m interested in, maybe something with sneaker design, so that has been something that I have been kind of working on. So there are many shows that I want to make—it’s kind of a problem (they laugh).
M: Does it ever get overwhelming sometimes? With the number of hats you wear and the roles you’re undertaking—especially with the three shows that we talked about today and you being twenty going on twenty-one, and that’s amazing—do you ever get overwhelmed with that?
H: I sometimes think on set, there would be back-to-back filming, which can be overwhelming in some areas, but at the end of the day, when I come home, I just think about how fun all of this is. It is all so much, and I love the process of it all from production, pre-production, post-production, especially since I have to wear so many different hats. It has been really interesting to me. And I have learned so much in everything that we’ve done.
M: And I know you have mentioned representation earlier, and you being a woman behind the scenes making these moves—that’s a big deal. It’s funny I told my fiance all about you because it’s not common you hear of women making these types of moves, and at such a young age, its usually straight white men, but in response to your success, she said verbatim, “yassss queen”—
H: Me and your fiance would get along well! (Laughs).
M: Yeah, that’s what I’m saying! But yeah, this is a big deal for representation behind the scenes as you make moves and in front of the screen with your new show Men of West Hollywood. Is this fight for representation ever lost on you, or do you feel a responsibility to fight for representation when you’re wearing these hats and in these meetings?
H: I wanted to hire other women behind the scenes; I know how difficult it can be for women in any job. So one of the first people that I hired was a woman for our Head Editor position, and to have a female editor is a huge deal. As a woman, I have been able to acknowledge there aren’t enough women behind the camera and try to incorporate that into my own production company, and as you said its all white men when they are doing everything all the time (they laugh), so it’s nice to finally allow other women to have opportunities. I feel I will do this with every production because it’s a constant issue. Even diversity with hair and makeup, jobs that are not necessarily director and producer but need diverse people. It’s really something that the industry needs to work on.
M: What else do you have in the works—that you can talk to me about without giving too much away—that people can look forward to? And what final words do you have about Men of West Hollywood?
H: So, stream Men of West Hollywood on Crackle, January 20th (they both laugh). That’s the biggest, so definitely check that out! And then just keep an eye out for Brokers of Charleston and The Company You Keep, of course, but check out Men of West Hollywood on Crackle, January 20th (she laughs a hearty laugh).
