On Tuesday evenings at Louie\u2019s Douglas Inn, two men and a whole lot of other patrons watch an episode of \u201cBuilding Alaska.\u201d Unlike the rest, however, these two men appear on screen.<\/p>\n
David Bartlett and Hans Moser were filmed for the fifth season of Building Alaska, the reality TV show from DIY (Do it Yourself) Network. The show is about the challenges people face when building cabins in Alaska. Bartlett and Moser built a cabin for their friend Steve Box on Shelter Island in the summer of 2015. They\u2019re both general contractors with Bartlett Carpentry, so they\u2019re used to taking on big projects like houses and cabins. What they didn\u2019t realize is how big the project would become when cameras got involved.<\/p>\n
Box owned land on Shelter and had wanted to build a cabin for some time. The only problem was that as a commercial fisherman, he spends his summers out on the water. Bartlett and Moser wanted to help, but couldn\u2019t take the time out of their paying contract work. Luck came when Box heard of an interested film crew in November 2014. The friends did a screen test for Orion Entertainment, and in just a couple weeks, it was decided: Moser and Bartlett would go on national television and build their friend\u2019s cabin at the same time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just the perfect scenario. He got the deal on the cabin and we got to help him out,\u201d Bartlett said.<\/p>\n
In April 2015, the building began. They set the foundation and basic structure, then took a break to work on a house in Juneau before returning in July to finish the majority of the cabin project.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe scheduled it all ahead of time so we\u2019d go out there for two weeks at a time and somewhere in that two weeks they\u2019d show up and stay there with us,\u201d Bartlett said of the film crew. Moser commented that the five person crew, consisting of the cameramen, sound technician and the producer, would travel between the different cabin building sites in Alaska.<\/p>\n
They had to work an unusual schedule, stopping construction at certain points when the crew was off filming elsewhere, since the crew wanted to film key moments. The crew also left behind time-lapse cameras when they were off filming others on the show.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was extremely unusual at first,\u201d Bartlett said about filming. \u201cThere\u2019s these cameras in your face all the time while you\u2019re doing stuff. They really try to let you build stuff but they really don\u2019t. They want you to do things repeatedly. None of us were very prepared going into this. We thought they would just be standing there filming us and we\u2019d be doing our thing.\u201d One time, he said, he had to set a post six times for the camera.<\/p>\n
The hardest part was getting work done, they agreed. Every morning, the Orion Entertainment crew set up their cameras and wired Bartlett and Moser for sound, which took between one and two hours.<\/p>\n
\u201cLuckily they would get wet and cold, and eventually they\u2019d say \u2018we\u2019re going to go warm up, you\u2019re free to do what you want\u2019 then we\u2019d get some work done,\u201d Bartlett commented. Since he and Moser were moving around, it was easier for them to stay warm during the wet summer, he said. The film crew had to just stand around in rain gear and try to keep their equipment dry.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were a little guarded because they\u2019re filming you all the time,\u201d said Bartlett. \u201cThe other weird thing about doing a show like that is you have these microphones that are on you all the time. They go directly to the sound guy but the producer has his ear piece in 24\/7 so even when they\u2019re not around, if we start talking about something they\u2019re interested in, we make some mistake or something, they come running,\u201d Bartlett said. Moser laughed, mimicking the hand signals they developed so they could communicate and get work done without attracting attention.<\/p>\n
Bartlett said they were pretty conscious of being filmed which made them careful to try not to say anything \u201cstupid.\u201d Most of the drama from their segment came from the weather in a man vs. nature themed story.<\/p>\n
\u201cDave and I usually get along. We don\u2019t go yelling and screaming on the job. … You\u2019re not going to get much drama out of us,\u201d Moser said he and Bartlett told the producer ahead of filming. \u201c\u201cObviously we aren\u2019t actors so we can\u2019t fake that. Luckily we had the weather. We had some rough days going out,\u201d Moser said about using the skiff to transport supplies to Shelter.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think most of the segment is comedy,\u201d Bartlett said, mentioning how not too much building actually made it into the cut. Out of each episode they were only featured for about fifteen minutes. Box, who came out when he could to assist with building, became the comic relief, filmed carrying a boat down the beach then falling, or cutting a board accidentally with a curve.<\/p>\n
\u201cSteve was a good sport,\u201d Moser said of Box.<\/p>\n
Besides the group\u2019s goofy antics, what did become a recurring theme was how wild and different Alaska is from the Lower 48.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery day they interview you with some real pointed questions about Alaska and different things,\u201d Bartlett said. \u201cThey kind of wear you down. They really want to hear how dangerous the water is or how dangerous it is to do this or that. They really grind on you cause they need that stuff for the show.\u201d Bartlett said he understands the show is for people down south, but it isn\u2019t as dangerous and dramatic as it can be made out to be.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t realize that many people were interested in what was going on in Alaska,\u201d Moser said, pointing out he was told by Orion Entertainment that the show averages two million viewers per episode. \u201cYou kind of take it for granted – you live here. You forget to look at the mountains, the water, and stuff that\u2019s going on, but you know, it\u2019s truly an amazing place. I think it\u2019s cool that people get to see these bits and pieces of Alaska cause I\u2019m sure there\u2019s many crazy ideas of what Alaska is, considering we\u2019re in Southeast Alaska and the rest of the state is so different. We\u2019re just one piece of a big pie.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bartlett echoed this sentiment. He had always wanted to come to Alaska as kid, he said. He eventually did in 1993, stepping off an Alaska Marine Highway System ferry like so many before him. He lived in a tent to begin with and eventually built a life here. He even met Moser at the bike shop Moser worked at (Moser had lived in Alaska since 1979) and the two started working together in 2003.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t seem like a big deal to us but it\u2019s a big deal to them,\u201d Bartlett said of people living outside Alaska. \u201cSo if the show seems a little exaggerated here or there, it\u2019s more to accentuate how special this place is and that our lives are truly a little bit different than other folks\u2019. They\u2019re real curious\u2026everything is turned to concrete down there. I think there\u2019s something refreshing about these Alaska shows to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bartlett and Moser finished the 1000-square-foot cabin in September, complete with glass windows and a covered, waterfront deck. They both said they had a good time with the project and became good friends with the crew they worked with. But the completion of the cabin wasn\u2019t the end.<\/p>\n
They watched the first episode at Louie\u2019s and made a tradition of returning there for each sequential episode. One of Bartlett\u2019s friends who watched with them visited his mother back east, and found out her favorite show was Building Alaska. Bartlett and Moser hammered and sawed right there in his mother\u2019s living room, on screen. Bartlett said he also had old high school friends contacting him to say they saw him on TV. Moser too, had an unusual experience when he was at Foodland, a grocery store in Juneau, and someone told him \u201cI saw you on TV!\u201d Mostly, though, it\u2019s friends and family that have talked to them about it, they said.<\/p>\n
Bartlett and Moser said they\u2019d consider doing another reality TV series in Alaska as long as it\u2019s not too silly in its portrayal of Alaska or themselves \u2014 though that\u2019s not on their plates at the moment. They\u2019re content to sit in Louie\u2019s with family and friends and laugh at how their laughs sound on film after long days building in Alaska.<\/p>\n
*Jim Wagner and family, of Gustavus, are also on the show, building a \u201cwilderness getaway\u201d in Chicken.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u2022 Contact Clara Miller at 523-2243 or at clara.miller@juneauempire.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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