The TV Deal Fell Apart So We Made Our Own Show

In this video, I break down how our Chicago show You Don’t Know Chi went from a network project to something we had to build on our own. After months of planning, the deal fell apart, and we had a choice to make. Instead of scrapping the idea, we decided to create the show ourselves with Dilla and a small, scrappy team.

I talk about what actually happened behind the scenes, how we kept relationships intact, and what it really took to finance and produce a show independently. We had to rethink our crew, rethink our process, and rethink how we wanted the show to feel. That ended up making it more authentic, more flexible, and way more Chicago.

I also share how we chose the first four guests, how Dilla’s creative process fits with ours, and how we structure each episode to mix real conversations, history, and neighborhood energy.

If you want a look at how independent shows get made, or you love Chicago storytelling, hit subscribe and stick around for the journey.

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Chapters

00:00 Introduction
00:10 How the Project Started
00:27 The Original Network Connection
01:13 Why the Deal Fell Apart
02:11 Moving Forward Independently
03:20 Financing and Shrinking the Crew
04:06 What the Show Is About
04:36 Selecting the Guests
05:01 How We Produce Each Episode
06:29 Why a Smaller Team Works Better
07:05 The Daily Workflow
07:49 Working With Dilla
09:14 How We Build Each Episode’s Structure
10:24 Connecting Studio Segments and Field Segments
10:59 Small Creative Details in the Show
11:10 Final Thoughts