Brandon Johnson — host of HGTV’s ‘My Yard Goes Disney’ — talks banana peels, tea cups, and creating dream outdoor spaces for families and generations to enjoy.
Theresa: And you are inside MyFixitUpLife with my husband Mark.
Mark: And my wife Theresa. How are you today my dear?
Theresa: I am doing wonderfully today because I am excited about our caller that is on the line right now.
Mark: You know funny I’m drinking out of a spinning teacup right now.
Theresa: You’re drinking out of a spinning teacup? Or because you drank so much it feels like you’re inside a spinning teacup?
Mark: Yeah that’s it, Brandon Johnson from ‘My Yard Goes Disney,’ I’m drunk right now.
Brandon: Is that what’s going on? Ok I wasn’t quite sure. I now that the experience of being in the back yard of something that has gone Disney can be quite intoxicating.
Theresa: Yes it is a little bit intoxicating for my husband and I think since he is drinking out of a teacup, it kind of seems like it’s going to be alright. You know if he was drinking out of a stein it would be more obvious that he was oblivious.
Brandon: True, true. Well I love that he’s there in spirit with the teacup, that’s good.
Theresa: Oh…in spirit…I like that.
Mark: Well Brandon I will have to say by the way, weaving into the intoxicating nature of the show, nicely played.
Brandon: Thank you sir, thank you sir.
Theresa: Well I am so excited about ‘My Yard Goes Disney’ because I mean seriously what a name for a show. Could there be a better name for a show? I can’t imagine anyone not wanting to tune in and check it out. How lucky are you? But reading your bio and finding out all the stuff that you’ve done before you went Disney, it’s insane. ‘Hannah Montana’ and you were on ‘One Life to Live’ — even doing specials like the RV special — that must be crazy.
Brandon: Yeah this whole crazy ride that we call life has been full of a plethora of peaks and valleys and tons of surprises. I think along the way, what I certainly know now is that I don’t know. I’m not sure where I’m going. But I think the one consistent basic in it all is that I have the opportunity to be in front of the camera and be a component of enthusiasm and to really be a part of ‘My Yard Goes Disney’ and my affiliation with Disney became the perfect synergy to do this whole situation. And having some experience doing back yards on HGTV when I was doing a show called ‘Get Out, Way Out.’ So when the opportunity presented itself, it was a slam-dunk. And we are full on the races here. I just got back from Florida and we finished up our sixth episode of season two. And if you liked what you saw last season, at least that first six episodes that we did, this next season is absolutely going to blow people’s minds. We’re not only going from the ground, but we’re gonna be going up in the air. And whatever that means, you’re going to have to find out and tune in to see what’s going on with that. It’s amazing.
Theresa: You know the 4 year old in me in all about Tinker Bell and stuff like that.
Mark: I’m thinking about the Cinderella themed helicopter.
Theresa: I’m thinking Tinker Bell and he’s thinking helicopter of course.
Brandon: A Tinker Bell helicopter ha ha. That would be something.
Theresa: That would be something else. So I saw that you guys were looking for people to be on the show, so are you still looking for people to send in videos?
Brandon: No at this point we’re locked up. We got almost just under 1000 submissions, maybe more, but we’ve pretty much locked it down at this point. So right now as I said we’re full steam ahead. And more than likely I’ll be heading back to Florida and in that area April 1st I’m going to be doing some stuff there. But what I’m also really excited about, April 13th, 14th, and 15th I’ll be speaking at the 19th Annual International Epcot Flowering Garden Festival. It’s my first time there and what I’m going to be doing is talking about bringing that Disney inspiration your back yard and pulling that together with a little HGTV design. And I’ll be giving a power point presentation and hopefully I’ll be able to give you guys a little behind the scenes on some of the stuff that we’ve been doing because the actual season itself isn’t going to air until I think maybe June. So this is your opportunity to get there early and see some of the fun things that I’m talking about.
Theresa: Well what a good reason and excuse to go there, Mark?
Mark: Totally…booking tickets now. Sorry Brandon I can’t talk. I’m on expedia right now.
Brandon: It’s okay, it’s the teacup…that funny concoction in the teacup.
Mark: Ha Ha that’s right.
Theresa: He’s a little confused right now. So the shows that you’ve already done, like the six episodes that have already aired and the ones that you’re filming right now, is there anything that you’ve said ‘Hey guys you know what would be really cool if we could X,Y, and Z’ and they’re like ‘Seriously?’ Is there anything that’s completely outrageous that makes everyone kinda stop in their tracks?
Brandon: I think absolutely there’s been a couple that we’ve done where once we actually see this whole thing kind of in its construction — I mean it’s one thing to put it on paper, but then when it becomes tangible and its really being created in front of your eyes every so often you scratch your head and think ‘Are we really doing this?’ But by the time we’re done we are absolutely so glad that we did it. The homeowners are over the moon, and the kids — when you see the kids and how they feel about it all, it just makes everything come together and it’s a total gift to be able to be a part of a project that is giving this to families to build memories, not only for them, but truly for generations to come. And that’s what we’re doing here, that’s what Disney does so well. It’s about telling a story but it lives on forever. We want to be able to create an epicenter in your backyard where you can build all those memories forever and ever and ever. And it’s so exciting to be a part of it.
Mark: You raise such an excellent point and almost what can kind of get lost in all the theater of this awesomeness, and I can just see in my mind’s eye, a mile of trucks and stuff down the street taking over the neighborhood bringing all this stuff to life. But the other aspect of it too is you’re inside these people’s lives that you get to meet and I wonder if — and I don’t mean it in a good, better, best scenario but if there’s been a family or two that you’ve kinda been like ‘Wow I can’t get you out of my head.’
Brandon: Yeah I see where you’re going with that. And we just worked with a couple of families, and certainly all the families that we worked with last season, but yeah every so often there’s a family that really, really shines and they are completely so authentic and gracious and thankful. And I always say that when we get done and we bring all of their friends and family and everybody comes back there is this massive emotional sonic boom that goes off and it hits everybody and when you see how appreciative they are you just think ‘Wow how amazing and how lucky I am fortunate to be a part of this, to give this service.’ Because sub textually there’s almost this Oprah-ness to it you know what I mean? You’re giving a gift that will really continue to keep on giving. So I always carry those families with me. And I even have relationships with them, I’m on Facebook with them, or maybe we’re on Twitter together. And every so often check in, ‘How’s it going, how are you?’ I think back in January I did an appearance at the Orlando Home and Garden show and one of the families that we had just gotten done working on drove down like an hour or two to swing by and say hello and take pictures and stuff, and I just thought that was so sweet. And they believe in what we do and we certainly believe in them so it’s a mutually beneficial relationship.
Theresa: Well I can see why almost a thousand people applied to be on the show.
Brandon: Right.
Mark: I applied 900 times.
Brandon: It could be more but that’s just what I had heard last time we spoke — it’s a lot.
Theresa: That’s where it was cut off, and you were like ‘Alright we have to dive into these thousand applicants and try to figure out who’s going to be on the show.’ That’s a lot of people.
Brandon: Well I’m lucky I don’t have to necessarily be a part of going through a thousand videos of families. I kind of show up and I’m introduced to them and I see a little bit of their pre-interviews so I kind of get to know them, but when I show up there it’s really in many ways sort of the first time I get to meet them in person and get to see their personalities and get to see where they’re at with the whole situation. And it’s crazy, you’ve got all of these people in your backyard and we come in and we totally flip it and then we go away and we let you do your thing, so you’re definitely surfing the waves of emotion as all of these things are happening. You’re literally watching your backyard get changed so dramatically, but then once it’s all done I think it’s completely worth it.
Mark: Well speaking of emotional roller coasters, and I should say emotional log flumes to stay with the Disney theme, as far as the nail biting stuff, have you ever on the show cut it so close to the wire of not getting done that people were like sort of looking at you and looking around and saying ‘We’re not done yet.’
Brandon: Oh absolutely without a doubt. And we show it too. The very last episode that we did last season with the family out of Ohio, the night before it had just down poured. About a mile away a tornado had touched down, there was massive thunderstorms, hail, all that stuff. So when we got there, the back yard was just mud. Mud, mud, mud…everywhere was just mud. And we were bringing in this huge swing and all this stuff we had created, and the rain had let up but we were slipping and sliding, and then about 4 hours into it the next wave of that weather came. So all of the hard work that we had been doing was just getting pounded and I literally looked over at our executive producer and I was studying the look on his face like ‘How is he going to pull this off?’ And the home owners are all looking at me, and I think we all said a little bit of a prayer, and truth be told after about an hour of mother nature doing her thing, the clouds literally parted, the sun shot through into the backyard and we had two hours to finish it and we worked like we had never worked before and we got it done. But there are times when the paint’s still drying so to speak on some of these things. We are working our tails off right up to the very end. And that is how it is, the second the sun comes up we are there and the second the sun goes down we are gone, but we don’t stop. It’s a full on build.
Mark: Well what I want to know is who did a giant mud dive? Booking across the lawn.
Brandon: I’m sure I did at some point but that wasn’t part of the plan. I just completely slipped…it was like banana peels everywhere.
Mark: Ha Ha Ha
Theresa: Banana peels everywhere — that is fantastic.
Brandon: And I think a couple times like I would walk and leave my boot there like the mud just sucked it right up.
Mark: That’s awesome.
Brandon: So we had to have a sense of humor about it all.
Mark: Post a picture of that to your Facebook page. Your bootless foot with your sock hanging off.
Theresa: Well for everybody listening you definitely have to go to HGTV and check out ‘My Yard Goes Disney’ and you have to check out Brandon Johnson as well. Go to officialbrandonjohnson.com and follow him on Twitter because we do. And we have to go to break.
Mark: So we will be back with more ‘MyFixitUpLife.’
Brandon: Thanks guys.
Check out the MyFixitUpLife talk show that features this interview with Brandon Johnson.
