Your Monolithic Dome Home on TV?

by Freda Parker
October 24, 2008

It could happen. It's happening more and more: Monolithic Dome homes are starring on TV network shows, such as HGTV.

So what is that like? We questioned three domers who have already gone through that experience:

Valerie Sigler - She and Mark own "Dome of a Home," a vacation resort and hurricane survivor in Pensacola, Florida.
Jim Kaslik - As owner of "Cloud Hidden Designs," Jim continues designing Monolithic Dome homes.
Bill Burkett - He and Debbie own the "Round House," a 3,000-square-foot, thin-shell concrete dome-home in Mayer, Arizona.

Here are their answers to our questions.

How is the dome owner contacted?

Many people assume that the initial contact comes directly from the cable channel. It doesn't.

Jim Kaslik has had TV crews at Cloud Hidden several times. "The cable channel is usually not who you hear from," Jim said. "No one from HGTV called me. These shows are produced by production companies who eventually sell the shows to the network. So the call will be from a producer of such a company."

That's exactly what happened to Debbie and Bill Burkett at the Round House. Bill said, "We were contacted by a production assistant from LMNO who said, 'We've seen pictures of your house and we're interested. Would you be interested?'"

On its website, LMNO describes itself as "a dynamic television production company committed to delivering innovative, inspiring and diverse programming for every media platform."

An important decision: play or pass?

The Burketts decided to play -- but only after doing some investigating. LMNO wanted to film the Round House for the HGTV series "What's With That House?"

"I told LMNO that we had never watched that show," Bill said. "We wanted to watch several episodes to see what the show was like. We didn't want to get into anything that made a joke of our place or us or the technology. We're interested in spreading the word about thin-shell concrete domes and the benefits they can offer."

Bill programmed the show into his DVR. "We watched those," he said, "and some on a DVD that LMNO sent. We were just delighted with the show overall, and we've become real addicts of it."

When it comes to media exposure, Valerie and Mark Sigler, owners of Dome of a Home, welcome most opportunities that come their way.
Valerie said that the only time she and Mark opted to pass happened when "a producer called and wanted us to be on the TV show 'Wife Swap.' That was a definite, 'Thanks, but no thanks!'"

She suggests that dome owners review their goals when considering media exposure. When the Siglers started Dome of a Home, their first vacation resort, they documented their Mission Statement.

In part, it reads: Our mission is to help reduce the suffering associated with the destruction and loss of one's home in a natural disaster. We want to help promote awareness of the superior building technologies that can alleviate unnecessary losses.

"By utilizing the media opportunities that come our way," Valerie said, "we are better able to accomplish our mission."

Your own personality is another consideration. "If you are a Type A personality who will make yourself sick if everything isn't perfect, you might want to stick to the less stressful print media," Valerie said. "Filming is an invasive, time-consuming procedure. But if a dome owner's goals are notoriety, to publicize a business, or expand the public's awareness, I would suggest they bite the bullet and participate."

Jim Kaslik said, "There was one thing I did with ALL the shows that I strongly recommend for everyone. I had a talk with them prior to agreeing to the shoot that went like this: 'The house we designed and built is a serious house. It has serious characteristics. I know some of your segments highlight the eccentricities of the house or its owners, but that's not us. It's not the house for comic relief. This house represents an entire industry. There are a lot of people devoting their time and money to developing this area of residential construction. It's a profession for a lot of us, so I need this segment to be treated accordingly. Are you ok with that?'

"That said," Jim continued, "you don't get editorial control, you don't get to see the product before it premiers, and you have to take them at their word. I turned down more than one show when I didn't trust them to present us in a way I was comfortable with."

How about editorial control?

To what Jim said, Bill Burkett added, "We had no say over what the segment would look like before it was shown. They promised to send us a DVD, but I haven't seen it yet."

Valerie Sigler warned, "You must be prepared to be frustrated because you have absolutely no control over what will be aired or published. And, once the pictures are taken and the filming is completed, you are effectively out of the loop. You are not given any editing options, nor do you have a preview of what will be shown to the masses. Our first time to see the footage is at the same time thousands of others see it. You are powerless to change anything."

How do you prepare your dome-home for the shoot?

Of the three domers we questioned, Bill had the least to say about preparation. "We just cleaned house -- really didn't do too much. We had seen the show and with my experience in video production, I had a pretty fair idea of how they would put it together."

But Jim said that he and his wife, Melanie, "saw it as an opportunity to do a thorough house-cleaning, such as when parents visit for the holidays. We washed windows, hid clutter, fixed beds, fluffed the mulch. If a project was in process, we made a great effort to finish it. Usually we had fresh flowers and arranged the balls on the pool table. Yes, we staged the house, but not in any way we wouldn't for a party or a family reunion."

Valerie prepares more seriously than either Bill or Jim. At first, readiness took her two to three weeks. But after participating in several TV programs, she knows where to spend her time and energy and works to complete preparing three days before the crew shows up. That allows time to handle any emergencies or last minute requests from the producers or crew.

"The crew shows up with an outline," she said, "but invariably once they enter Dome of a Home their imagination kicks in and new ideas flood them with creativity."

Since the Siglers see TV network exposure as free advertising for Dome of a Home, Valerie pays attention to every detail.

"Getting ready for a TV shoot usually means we will be spending several thousand dollars to make everything ready," she said. "Landscaping gets a total overhaul and all those things on the honey-do list are done. We view the interior with a critical eye and replace items that are on our one-day-we-will-get-to-it list. We never know exactly what the producer will want to focus on or what the photographer will find especially interesting."

How about clothes? What do you wear?

Jim knew from prior experience what colors and patterns work and don't work on TV. His advice: nothing too bright, too white, too dark. No strong patterns or lines that would cause moire patterns on TV. "We weren't asked to do anything special," he added. "They usually want natural. If we'd been dressed badly, they would have asked us to change, I'm sure."

To the noes that Jim gave us, Valerie added too-revealing clothing, horizontal stripes that make you look heavier and multi-colored outfits.

"Whatever you decide to wear," she said, "make sure it can be cleaned and ready again quickly. The crew wants you to wear the same clothes for every shoot. So, if you are going to shoot for three days, you need to wear the same clothes each day."

Because you never know what will be said or shown in the final version, Mark usually wears a Dome of a Home shirt. His shirt guarantees that viewers will get that information.

How long does the filming take? Is it fun or frustration? Would you do it again?

For the "What's With That House?" HGTV segment, the Burketts were visited by Host George Gray and a crew of five, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. They found the experience easy and fun.

Bill said, "We just had to basically make the house available to them, answer questions, help where we could and stay out of the way, until they were ready for us to do the walk through the home. They asked us about the dome's overall shape, living in a spherical building and the technology. They did the best brief explanation of the foam and shotcrete that I've ever seen."

For lunch, the crew called a local restaurant for take out and treated the Burketts. "But we enjoyed it so much and it was such a good, professional crew that we would have bought lunch for them," Bill said. "We would definitely do it again."

Jim Kaslik has participated in four filmings. Each took a full day. "We enjoyed each," he said. "The crews were fun to work with. Only one bought lunch, but that's okay. We were glad to have the house documented for posterity."

Valerie Sigler finds filming exhausting but exhilarating, interesting and fun. She calls herself a "neurotic" who insists on playing hostess and "having food ready for everyone. It's a non-stop, all-day working situation with everyone taking breaks at different times."

With every filming, the Siglers learn a little more. For example, they now know that, on average, for every hour spent filming, one minute will be used. So a ten-minute segment requires ten hours of filming, not including time for setting up the shot.

Despite the work involved and with the exception of shows such as "Wife Swap," the Siglers welcome any opportunity for media exposure.

Any other tidbits of advice?

Bill cautions people to be sure they know what they are being asked to get into.

Jim pointed out that there is no payment for participation. "You do it for the experience and not the profit," he said.

Valerie concluded with a reminder: "Cameras are rolling all the time and if you are wearing a microphone, it's broadcasting all the time."

Related links

177 Dome Park Place - Italy, TX 76651
Tel (972)483-7423 - Fax (972)483-6662
| Press Room