Hovelstay is a vacation rental site for anti-luxury accomodations. The more unique and adventurous the property for short-term vacation rental, the more they want it. They even have patches of dirt for nightly rent in Seattle.
How did you get the business idea for Hovelstay?
We, Michael Womack and I, worked for years in the luxury vacation rental industry and thought it would be funny to go in the opposite direction, down-selling places to stay. We didn’t realize we were tapping into a previously untapped travel demand.
When did Hovelstay officially launch?
July 18th was our formal launch day, for students only. Since getting slammed with emails from all over, specifically baby boomers wanting to stay in inexpensive and fun places, we relaunched our site on October 18th, opening it up to everyone.
What would you say is the most interesting listing on your site?
There are too many to list. I highly recommend a visit to the site itself.
What was your initial reaction when you received many inquiries from non-students about opening it up to everyone?
Amazing. We are continually surprised at how many people love what we are doing and want to be a part of it.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
Meeting so many cool and interesting people, and of course, creating something that has some real teeth in the market.
Are there any big future plans for your company?
We are expanding overseas, opening an office in London as we speak and signing some big partnership agreements. It’s pretty great.
We chatted with Bob Fisher whose new television series ‘Sirens’ airs on USA this Thursday!
We had the opportunity to catch up with Bob Fisher, who many of you may know as the writer for Wedding Crashers (2005) and We’re the Millers (2013). Bob has an upcoming television show this month that will be airing on USA called Sirens, which he co-wrote and co-executive produced with Denis Leary. We were lucky enough to have Bob as a tenant at our HPC 2 building, so we were excited to interview him before his big series premiere of Sirens, which airs Thursday, March 6* at 10/9c.
Hi Bob, can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I grew up all over the place, but mostly in New Jersey. I first moved to California as a teenager, and went to school at UCLA, but surprisingly, didn’t study film.
How did you get started in the entertainment industry?
I was bartending after college, and one day I was watching The Wonder Years and had recently read an article about how television writers get paid pretty well, so I decided to call up an old friend from high school and college, and we got to work from there. I had always wanted to write a movie, so I was excited.
You have worked seamlessly in both the TV world and the feature side. Do you prefer one over the other?
I have been fortunate enough to work in both, and if I had to leave one I would really miss it. Growing up, I was always more a fan of movies. I grew up on multi-camera sitcoms, but now with the switch to single-camera, I grew more of an interest in television and have really enjoyed being a part of a constantly changing scene. Plus, in TV you can be a lot more involved with the project and see it through until the end. I’ve written tons of scripts for movies, but have only had two made – if you write something for TV it usually gets made.
You have Sirens premiering this month on USA, congrats! Can you tell us a bit about it and how it came about?
It is a comedy about 3 EMTs that embark on ridiculous escapades together, meanwhile dealing with the real life issues going on around them. Sirens leads with comedy, and surprises with drama. I also really like the tagline that USA came up with, which is “A Life or Death Situation Comedy.” We did the majority of writing and post production at your HPC 2 location. Denis Leary, my writing partner on this, and I found inspiration for the concept of the show from M.A.S.H. the television show, and especially the movie, which we watched as kids.
What project are you most proud of? Sirens. It’s a great comedy and drama with a fun, loose and unexpected 70s feel. I’m really proud of it and can’t wait to see how it does.
What other big projects have you worked on?
I worked as a co-writer for Wedding Crashers and We’re the Millers. I also worked as a writer and executive producer on Fox’s Traffic Light.
When did you first feel like you “made it?”
Being able to make the first call to the people in your life to tell them that you got your job, is the best call you’ll ever make.
What’s next for you?
Hopefully a second season of Sirens! But for now, my future writing partner, Rob Greenberg, and I are writing a movie we recently sold to Sony called Gondoliers.
Thanks for the fun interview, Bob!
*Correction from previous post: Sirens premieres on Thursday, March 6.
Hovelstay is a vacation rental site for anti-luxury accomodations. The more unique and adventurous the property for short-term vacation rental, the more they want it. They even have patches of dirt for nightly rent in Seattle.
