Jeremy Renner uses his celebrity status for good in Rennervations, a four-part Disney+ series that premieres on April 12th. In each episode, Jeremy and his team visit a new location, meet with a local non-profit, and customize a bus to suit their unique needs. And in each episode, he is joined by a celebrity with a passion for the project to help gift the bus to the community. In advance of the series premiere, I had the pleasure of speaking with two executive producers from the series, Romilda DeLuca and Patrick Costella, about what it took to bring this new unscripted series to life. They were joined by one of the hard workers you’ll see in the series, Roxy Molohon, a military veteran turned fabricator/welder who appears in the Reno episode.
(Disney/Katrina Marcinowski)
Alex: How did you get involved with Rennervations?
Romilda DeLuca (Executive Producer): [Jeremy Renner and I have] been friends for many years. A couple of years ago, he called me, and he was like, "I have this idea." We've been trying to find something to work together. We have worked together in a different capacity on the branding side. And he was like, "I love this idea to start doing something with those vehicles." I have a background in marketing besides production and one of my clients from the marketing side is an automotive brand. So he started thinking about, "How can we fix these vehicles? How can we give a new life to this vehicle?" So a second life, a second purpose. Our friendship is kind of a bond in this collaboration. And then I saw his excitement, his passion, and his energy to do something real to help communities. I love the overall idea, and we worked for almost a year to package it. We hired a couple of writers, and they jumped on board and helped us to package the idea, but I’ve never seen so much excitement in him. From my side, to see that we were able to bring something real and concrete, It's not the regular renovation show, we are doing something to help communities in a need. And the message Jeremy always had in his vision, in his mind was, "Let's build the movement. Let's do something that will let people understand you don't trash [these vehicles]; you give them a second life and help the people that are unluckier than us." I love that message, I love that vibe.
Patrick Costella (Executive Producer): It's based on something that Jeremy was doing anyway, which is buying these vehicles and trying to use them to help the community by retrofitting them. And then the show grew out of that process. Once there was a show with Disney, obviously, with these projects, it kind of went down the normal pathway. They need to bring in somebody to basically run a whole project… Part of the process to do a show is meeting with him. But yeah, I mean we got on really well as soon as we met and I was totally behind the vision that he had for the show and the mission he was trying to get out there into the world. That meant a lot to me. I thought it would be a great project to take on, and I think it was a really fruitful relationship. I mean, we really clicked, and I think we aligned on the project. It's been a real pleasure.
Roxy Molohon (Member of Jeremy’s Build Crew in Reno Episode): I was actually going to school at the Fab School for fabrication, I had worked in a fabrication shop beforehand. Bender, I guess is friends with the owner, Troy Johnson, and said, “Hey, we need a female welder,” and he reached out to me; he said, "Your instructor said good things about you…" So, the next thing I know, I was driving up from Southern California to Reno, and that's where I found myself on this project.
Alex: The series showcases many of Jeremy Renner’s passions outside of acting, including music. What is something that surprised you about working with Jeremy?
Patrick Costella (Executive Producer): Jeremy's a very private guy, so I didn't really know anything about him. I mean, my kids love The Avengers. I was a big Hurt Locker fan. I really enjoyed that movie. But I didn't really know anything at all about him personally because he is a pretty private guy. And I think that's one of the great things about the show is you really get to feel like you're hanging out with Jeremy and getting to know him personally. And he was very open and genuine during the production of the show. So we really got to present him as he is. He's a thoughtful, very talented guy and he's also very private. So the show I think is giving viewers, especially fans of Jeremy's, a chance to experience what it's like to just be around him… I had heard he had done these renovations of these houses, so I didn't know anything about the vehicles, I didn't know anything about that. So I thought it was interesting at first to hear about his mission of buying these vehicles and reimagining them personally. And that's where the basis of the show came from. That was very, very cool. And just kind of uplifting and being like, oh man, this guy could do anything. This is how he's choosing to spend his time. I mean, that's really great. And I just had absolutely no idea that he was such a musician. I just didn't know anything about that. And we were on set and in this area where we were building these vehicles, there was this piano just off to the side, and it was kind of a gritty-looking piano. It had no front on it. And just one day we were all just hanging out. He sat down, and started playing with it. It was incredible. I mean, it was really exciting to see and to hear a little bit about his music, I didn't know that he'd cut an album or anything like that. And that's when I knew him. We got to get that piano in that warehouse and just let him rip on it because this is awesome… I wanted the viewers to have that same experience. So I mean, that's how that whole intro to that Chicago episode came to be. I mean, that was a real experience that we all had. We were all very surprised by, and we wanted the viewers to have that same experience.
Roxy Molohon (Member of Jeremy’s Build Crew in Reno Episode): One day coming on set, he was on the piano and singing, I'd never seen that before. I didn't even know he did music, honestly, and he's very talented. I was like, wow… I thought it was a recording. And I came in, and it's him singing, and I was like, holy cow… That blew my mind, honestly. It was just pretty wild. And seeing him with kids… At the giving away of the Big Brothers Big Sisters vehicle, he'd be talking to an adult, a kid would come up to him, and it didn't matter who he was talking to, he'd talk to the kid immediately. And seeing that side of him, he’s just really genuine and really has a big passion behind this project; it was amazing to be a part of that.
(Disney/Katrina Marcinowski)
Alex: What was the timeline like for your work on the series, or for your specific episode?
Romilda DeLuca (Executive Producer): To put it together and pitch and land at Disney, it took almost a year. And then the pandemic hit, and we were a little bit delayed, considering our ideal timeframe to film. But then we were lucky to land at Disney, who couldn't have a better partner internationally to spread this message of the show. And of course their support in engaging with big talent and guests all over the world. It was important. We filmed all episodes last year and as you [see] in the episodes, there was a time deadline because we had to give the crew two or three weeks to build every single bus and deliver. So there was time to meet the community, understand their need to be sure that we could fulfill their expectations and deliver the buses… Between the creation of the show, and the production, it took probably two and a half years, but in the middle was also Covid. But all episodes were filmed in four or five months last year.
Roxy Molohon (Member of Jeremy’s Build Crew in Reno Episode): [It was] seven weeks… Beginning of February to mid-March or so. It was cold up there with some ice on the ground… There were long days, sometimes 14 hours plus. Sometimes we got out, and we tried to go get something to eat at some of the local restaurants, but for the most part, I think a lot of us would just go back to the hotel. There was a smoke pit at the hotel, and a lot of the crew would hang out and wind down for the day, but nothing crazy or anything after. Most people kept it pretty mellow just because of the long days. The film crew and the fabricators, we all just were burning the midnight oil.
Alex: Each of the four episodes presents a different non-profit organization with a bus customized to their needs. What was the process like for selecting the groups that would receive this unique gift?
Patrick Costella (Executive Producer): Sometimes we were picking a specific area. Obviously, we knew we wanted to do an episode in Reno, and Jeremy has some strong connections to Chicago, so we do want to do enough there because they both had communities that were underserved. So when we knew the exact area, there are people in place in these areas that are super knowledgeable about nonprofits, I am not. So we would talk to the experts, and they would help us identify different places that might be a good fit. And then we had specific criteria in choosing these nonprofits. We wanted to make something that served the kids, but also we were helping these nonprofits help people. We were not going in and trying to help people ourselves. We wanted to rely on the experts in those communities and go to them and say, "Hey, how can we help you in your community?" And they needed to be big enough that they could take a vehicle like this and manage that and have the space and the resources to manage the vehicle, but also that they had a specific need that was currently not being met. And part of it is also about them getting their message out, too. So there were a couple of criteria there, but they were all big criteria. So once we had the experts in the area, then we would identify different nonprofits, and then with those, we would talk to them. And it was pretty clear with each nonprofit, right when we talked to them, it was like, "Oh wow, this is a good fit." We kind of knew immediately, and at that point, we were off and running. India was a bit of a broader search because we didn't quite have the expertise there. So that took a little longer, but the same criteria applied, and the same with Mexico. But if you don't have the exact relationships, you just need to allot a little bit more time to get to the end. But in the end, each the same criteria was applied to all four locations.”
(Disney/Carlos Aboyo)
Alex: Jeremy Renner also welcomes a guest star to join him in presenting each bus to the non-profit that receives them. Hearing that he’s such a private person, was that an effort to shift some of the attention off of him?
Romilda DeLuca (Executive Producer): No, definitely wasn't trying to shift attention. Each celebrity is a little bit tied to the episode. So the idea is to amplify the message. It's not to shift attention, but how we amplify the message of the thanks to other people, audience and social. If you think of Vanessa [Hudgens] as a musician, she's a big singer, she's a big artist, she's an actress, and we collaborated with her for Chicago that has the music buses, so it's all about music. Sebastián [Yatra] is an incredible Latin American artist, and it was incredibly powerful for us to have him in Mexico because of his audience. Anthony [Mackie], of course, in Reno came across because he's one of the big supporters of Big Brothers Big Sisters, and [Anil Kapoor] is one of the biggest superstars. So each friend, I won't call them celebrities, came on board to share this passion, share the love, and use their social media recognition all over the world to be sure that this gets viral. So the goal for Jeremy is to build a movement. It's not just about a show. How can we teach people to reuse their stuff? We give it to people, help people. And that's the hardest part of the show, to give the message of love and not just the purpose of the show. Otherwise, he won't buy 200 vehicles to keep in his parking lot, no one will just do it if it wasn't to give something in return to other people. So yes, the celebrities are part of sharing the love message.’
Alex: Roxy, how would you compare the work you did on the bus for Big Brothers Big Sisters in Reno to other renovation projects you’ve been a part of?
Roxy Molohon (Member of Jeremy’s Build Crew in Reno Episode): Well, each of these vehicles, we're trying to incorporate capabilities, unlike anything I've ever done. I've never tried to put a basketball hoop on a vehicle or make a dance floor, so this is all… I think even for all of us, it's all something we've never really tried to attempt to do. Putting generators on buses and things like that, that's not the norm for projects. But I think there's a lot of knowledge gained on how to approach things in the future. Just seeing things differently, and working with a bunch of talented fabricators, grasping knowledge from them, it was an amazing experience to work with all of them. So it definitely will help me think outside the box in the future for projects.
Alex: Television is a numbers game, but if renewed, what are your hopes for Season 2?
Romilda DeLuca (Executive Producer): [Jeremy]'s ready. We are ready. He keeps saying this has been the most important drive for his recent recovery, the fact that the show is coming up, and the fact that there might be a season two. I mean, he has so many vehicles ready to be repurposed for communities, and we really hope the show goes well and people love it. And that the audience will show some support because unfortunately, it is all also about data and about the audience. But our answer is we are ready to go. Jeremy is giving this show a priority for any other season. He's ready to do a hundred episodes more and do many other seasons because this is a special project and this is who he is. So I mean, the answer is, we can't wait to start.
All four episodes of Rennervations will be available to stream on Wednesday, April 12th, exclusively on Disney+.