New cleaning TV show from Amy Poehler and makers of ‘Queer Eye’ will film in KC
A half-eaten bag of guacamole Tostitos chips. A box of Kleenex. Seven bottles. And a hardcover copy of the book “To Obama: With Love, Joy, Anger, and Hope.”
That’s what Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas found after he emptied out the bottom left drawer of his desk as part of the city’s effort to recruit a new show that centered around the idea of tidying up your life before you die.
It worked.
Well, that plus the production company’s “beyond amazing” experience in Kansas City on a previous project and a financial incentive.
Scout Productions, the producers of Netflix’s “Queer Eye,” and “Parks and Recreation” star Amy Poehler are bringing “The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning” to Kansas City.
The show is adapted from the 2018 book by Margareta Magnusson, a Swedish author, and will be filmed in Kansas City, the Kansas City Film Office and City of Kansas City announced Wednesday morning.
Episodes will be about an hour long featuring people who need to get their lives, and houses, in order as they face a critical juncture. The Swedish “Death Cleaner” sweeps in to get them ready for death by organizing their homes, lives and relationships.
“We look forward to seeing our city featured again internationally as the new series, The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, explores the beauty and complexities of major life transitions through the eyes of Kansas Citians,” Lucas said in a news release.
The show will be streamed on Peacock/NBC Universal, but doesn’t have a release date yet. Extra copies of the book will be available at all Kansas City Public Library locations beginning July 18. The library will also host related events.
“(Kansas City) was our first choice because we had such a great time on our last production,” Scout Productions’ David Collins and Michael Williams said in a news release. “The support we received from the Kansas City Film Office and the City and its citizens was beyond amazing and makes it the perfect location for a first season show. Not to mention the barbecue!”
The hosts of “Queer Eye,” the Fab Five — Bobby Berk, Karamo Brown, Tan France, Antoni Porowski and Jonathan Van Ness — shared their love of Kansas City after filming, citing the city’s friendliness and authenticity.
Kansas City Film Office director Steph Shannon said Scout Productions championed Kansas City throughout the consideration process. Time, attention and collaboration were among the highlights of the company’s time in the city, Shannon said.
Missouri does not currently offer any state incentives to the film industry. Shannon said statewide programs could help attract bigger projects. The first question she’s asked when recruiting to bring shows and films to Kansas City is, “What are your incentives?” Shannon said.
Before Kansas City’s program began in 2016, the city couldn’t compete with other markets at all.
The Kansas City program offers up to a 10% cash rebate on qualified expenses inside city limits. Companies have to meet certain criteria to see any benefits, such as filming at least 25% inside city limits.
It’s the same process “Queer Eye” followed when it filmed two seasons in Kansas City.
When the program first began, it offered up to $75,000. Funding for the program dropped during the pandemic, Shannon said, but is now up to $100,000. She said the more dollars she has in the fund, the more productions she can attract to Kansas City.
And not every project that comes to the city needs an incentive, Shannon said. But for a show like this?
“They need an incentive for it to be the best possible business decision so that they can put the most money they can into the actual show,” Shannon said. “This show is the best possible scenario. Our local incentive helped us recruit this show, helped us to be considered and stay in consideration.”
Filming for the show begins this summer.
As for how tidy the mayor is... he’s not quite as clean as he’d like to be, he admitted in the video pitch for the show before he cleaned out his desk drawer.
“I should really drink a lot more liquid,” Lucas said, as he pulled out bottle after bottle.
“I think much of what this is about is how do you make it substantive,” Lucas said later in the video. “It seemed like that’s what a lot of Swedish death cleaning is about. Are you passing on something, not just doing something?”
This story was originally published July 6, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
