Filming 6 Pilot Episodes of the Cookin' with Chef Tess TV Show! Yes!

 Yes the rumors are true! The TV show is happening! I'm more than excited. I'm kinda just floating around in a wonderful fuzzy-happy state right now.  Of course, that might just be lack of sleep. Thursday and Friday we spent two whirlwind days of prepping, baking, cooking, and eating to bring together some pretty amazing stuff.  Filming a show with a small staff of darling Chef Tess friends has been remarkable.
So how does it happen? 
When does it air? 
Who is gonna see it?
Good questions. All of them. Usually, unless you are already a well knows Food Network star, TV shows don't and won't just fall in your lap. How does it happen then? Most often if a network knows your serious enough about having a show that your film pilot episodes, they are willing to look at you. The other thing that happens is that most networks won't even look at your work unless it is submitted to the network by a legitimate production company with an outstanding reputation.  For any chef wanting a show, this means finding a production company, marketing team, and a devoted crew of people who will cheer together and work hard to make things happen.  It usually means a big investment of time and money to put together a pilot.  In all honesty, I don't have a lot of either of those things (money or time). It takes a lot of faith to move forward, and a crew of remarkable people who have faith in one's abilities as a chef.  I am blessed to have found such a crew of devoted friends and associates.  Half came into town from Las Vegas headed by producer, Theresa Goss. The other half, from Maryland, with the marketing and directing insight of Mary Mazzullo.

Then the baby is finally ready to walk.
Once the pilot episodes are filmed, it will take hours and hours of edits, graphic designing, marketing and endless phone calls to get into doors of networks. Then, if we are as blessed as we can be, it will be airing nationally.  Our hope is to hit local markets first (Phoenix and Las Vegas) and then go national.  Having these episodes backed by full working interactive websites and teams of qualified internet genius dudes to make it all accessible to television viewers is another big project this crew is willing to take on here. So that's just a long way of saying...we're just starting to scratch the scratch that scratched the surface of what we hope to accomplish in the next few years.

Step one. Filming. Is finally done. 



My dear friend Dorothy was kind enough to let us film in her gorgeous home.

 Day one...after preparing for a week to make sure I had everything in place for this I could hardly contain myself!

It took me a minute to slip from "tv segment" mode to full-blown show mode. After almost 5 years of doing those 3-5 minute quick news show pieces it is harder than it seems.

 Day 2...it felt like I'd been doing my own show for years. It helped to have such an incredible group of gals to work with in this production.

 Photos and promotional recipes will be available online exclusively at a sight for the TV show. We'll have details on that as they come together.

Following a full day of filming on Friday we had a blessed event as we attended the Bread Art  book launch party at Shar's Kitchen.  I can assure you all that I will never forget all the hugs and love that you all poured out on us at that party. Each smile brought joy to my heart. Each word of courage and support brought strength to my mind. It was the perfect ending to a magnificent two days.

Someday, when I look back on this week I will wonder how it all worked.  Most of all, I will think of these few days as ones that have been blessed with courage and strength beyond my ability to achieve had it not been for the tender love and mercy of my family and friends. Thank you all for helping my dreams come true every single day.

Always My Very Best,

Your Friend Chef Tess