Selling the OC is the spin-off of the Netflix reality series, which focuses on the drama and real estate deals done by the agents working for the Oppenheim Group. The company has two brokerage firms, one in Newport Beach in Orange County (California) and another in West Hollywood. Selling the OC addresses the former.
Jason Oppenheim used to work as an attorney after getting his law degree from the University of Berkeley. His love for working in real estate runs in his family. Thus, he followed their footsteps, though he was a successful attorney.
Jason joined the Oppenheim Group, founded by his great-grandfather in 1889, while Selling The OC premiered in August 2022. Thus, business comes first, then filming, to Jason, and viewers cannot trust everything that comes before the screen.
Is Selling The OC Scripted?
Selling The OC is unscripted and highlights the personal drama and professional life of the agents and the property owners. The showrunner aimed to provide most details of the lavish houses while filming them because viewers cannot see such houses daily.
The showrunner, Adam DiVello, wanted to do it in his style to make the show stand out from the crowd. Some viewers accused Selling The OC of being ‘painfully scripted’ and found evidence to prove it staged.
Viewers caught some mistakes in editing. For instance, Kayla Cardona, the main cast in both seasons, and Sean Palmieri, the recurring cast, were sharing the screen, while the objects on the table changed places, disappeared, or new ones appeared with every shot.
The scene began with two glasses of water. They got three in the next shot, and suddenly, one of the glasses was replaced by a drink, which finally disappeared!
Tyler Stanaland was already married to Brittany Snow while flirting with Kayla, Polly, and Alex in both seasons. Later, Brittany and Tyler got divorced, but viewers accused him of portraying a character to create drama for the show.
Polly Brindle and Alex Hall were in a bar with their glasses full of drinks, which were empty in the next shot. Further, viewers understood that the drinks were refilled, looking at the level in the glasses.
Editing went worse, and they broke the continuity of her sentences. Thus, viewers could not get her point. Talking about the lavish working conditions for the employees, the show films only a few ones that focus on filming, while most work gets carried out by other employees working behind the scenes.
Adam included drones to cover outdoor and indoor shots to show the overall location from different angles. In 2016, he confessed to Refinery 29 that if notable events or conversations occurred off-camera or on weekends, he asked the cast to stage them again before the camera.
What Others Say About Selling The OC?
Chrishell Stause, the Selling Sunset cast, accused the reality TV producers of being manipulative to create narratives on Instagram. She was not proud of working on it and knew manufactured drama did not impress the viewers.
Jason Oppenheim opened up about staging. Sometimes, the cast members get basic outlines for some scenes regarding what they should talk about. Further, they create their own sentences at the moment.
Adam admitted to having various departments working on the franchise. For instance, one team asks for permission before filming the properties and their surroundings, and the second contains skillful camera operators, the third consists of editors, and a separate team has on-screen talent.
All agents belong to the Oppenheim Group and are licensed. However, viewers caught the Miss Tennessee Winner, Ali Harper, getting appointed without a real estate license. The Group would not take a risk by really hiring her without a license, so it must be fake.
In that case, Jason justified the hiring of the 30-year-old by saying that he prioritized her potential over her qualifications, but the viewers could not buy what he was selling.
Adam DiVello, creator of Selling The OC, created a docuseries, Music City, and Ali Harper was its cast member. Those who know it will immediately think that her hiring scene was fake.
The editors messed with one more scene depicting Ali Harper and Alexandra Jarvis having a conversation. Their table was empty in the first shot.
The duo orders its drinks in the second shot, and Alexandra holds a glass of drink (before the waiter can serve them). So, the editors messed with the shots.
