WEBVTT
00:00:05.759 --> 00:00:11.439
I'm Alexander Freeman, and this has been Remaking Normal, Episode 12.
00:00:11.839 --> 00:00:18.559
Housing, Construction, Insurance, and the realities of living in an environment with natural disasters.
00:00:18.879 --> 00:00:25.440
Today I'm talking with filmmaker George Siegel about his documentary, Built to Last, Fire Beware.
00:00:25.920 --> 00:00:28.399
George, it's great to have you on the show.
00:00:28.719 --> 00:00:30.399
Hey, thank you so much for having me.
00:00:30.719 --> 00:00:35.600
I'm a big admirer of your work, and uh you're a real inspiration to me.
00:00:35.679 --> 00:00:37.200
So thank you so much for having me.
00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:38.799
How do you define normal?
00:00:39.119 --> 00:00:43.520
It's a fascinating question because I think everybody is going to have their own definition of that word.
00:00:43.759 --> 00:00:50.560
And I try not to put things in those boxes because what I think is normal one day might be completely abnormal the next day.
00:00:50.640 --> 00:00:55.119
So I don't know that I feel qualified to put that in a box and have a definition.
00:00:55.280 --> 00:00:59.439
What I say is I judge things more by do they work or do they not work?
00:00:59.600 --> 00:01:00.240
Is it broken?
00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:01.600
Is it can it be fixed?
00:01:01.759 --> 00:01:02.399
Is it safe?
00:01:02.560 --> 00:01:03.520
Is it not safe?
00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:06.079
So normal can be a little more subjective.
00:01:06.239 --> 00:01:15.040
And I try to confine my uh my opinions to things that are a little more specific that you can look at, and it's not open to interpretation.
00:01:15.120 --> 00:01:16.319
It either is or it isn't.
00:01:16.640 --> 00:01:20.640
Can you tell me about your personal journey and what led you into journalism and filmmaking?
00:01:20.959 --> 00:01:28.879
I was in the television news business for 20 years when I got out of college and I was a television weatherman, I was a reporter, I was an anchor.
00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:34.959
I did all kinds of different jobs, but one thing I always did was cover stories about disasters and things that were wiped out.
00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:40.959
And so when I got out of the news business, I said, well, how can I use these skills towards something that maybe will make a difference?
00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:49.359
And that is finding stories about things that I think are a problem and that I think there can be solutions for, or that I want people to find solutions for.
00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:51.680
And that's how I got into making documentaries.
00:01:51.840 --> 00:01:53.680
My first film was about parenting.
00:01:53.920 --> 00:02:00.079
I have five kids, but I would tell you that I make mistakes as a parent every day, and it is the toughest job in the world.
00:02:00.400 --> 00:02:06.640
My other two films are about houses and how poorly they're built and how poorly they perform year after year.
00:02:06.799 --> 00:02:17.759
And I have a one is called The Last House Standing, which is on 2B TV, and the other is Built to Last Buy or Beware, which is rolling out on public television stations, and is also available to rent.
00:02:17.840 --> 00:02:22.639
And I know you're going to put the link in the show notes, and I encourage everybody listening to rent the film.
00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:29.199
I would love to have your support, but I would also really value you seeing the film and then letting me know what you think about it.
00:02:29.280 --> 00:02:30.960
You can leave a review for the film.
00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:41.840
And then also I'm put together a document that you can download called Questions You Absolutely Need to Ask the Builder or the Seller of the House You're Thinking of Buying before you buy it.
00:02:41.919 --> 00:02:43.520
And that's a downloadable PDF.
00:02:43.599 --> 00:02:46.319
It's free, and I hope you take advantage of that.
00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:50.319
What first drew you to storytelling as a way to explore real world issues?
00:02:50.719 --> 00:02:54.240
You know, I like stories where you can kind of figure out the ending.
00:02:54.400 --> 00:03:02.719
And so when you talk about investigate real world issues in the housing world and where people live, everybody should relate to that because we all live someplace.
00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:06.080
And the question is, how safe is that place you live?
00:03:06.240 --> 00:03:07.840
How much do you know about it?
00:03:08.080 --> 00:03:11.360
And what I've learned over the years is most people don't know very much.
00:03:11.599 --> 00:03:15.840
We are people that are drawn towards the icing on the cake and not the ingredients.
00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:20.719
The little frill things in the house that make it look pretty and fun, everybody gets excited about.
00:03:20.800 --> 00:03:25.520
But the the fun, the not so fun stuff, how are the walls bracketed to the roof?
00:03:25.759 --> 00:03:28.560
How is the house built to withstand disasters?
00:03:28.719 --> 00:03:32.159
People don't want to think about that because people don't want to think about disasters.
00:03:32.319 --> 00:03:37.360
So my goal in these films is to create a film that wakes people up.
00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:40.560
From what I've heard from people that watch it, it does get their attention.
00:03:40.639 --> 00:03:44.159
Now, whether they go out and actually do anything about it, I can't control that.
00:03:44.319 --> 00:03:47.039
I can only tee it up for you and make a suggestion.
00:03:47.120 --> 00:03:50.800
And I hope people heed the words in the film and actually do something.
00:03:51.120 --> 00:03:55.439
How has your background as a journalist shaped the way you approach documentary filmmaking?
00:03:55.680 --> 00:04:05.759
Well, you'll notice if you watch documentaries, if you watch Netflix, if you watch Amazon Prime, a lot of those documentaries, you can watch the film and you can know, hey, a Democrat made this film, a Republican made this film.
00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:10.400
They had an angle and they want me to buy in on their angle.
00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:12.800
That is not how I like to make films.
00:04:13.039 --> 00:04:15.039
My opinion in the film does not matter.
00:04:15.199 --> 00:04:24.319
What matters are the facts in the film, and then it's up to you to look at those facts and determine how you process that and whether you agree or don't agree.
00:04:24.560 --> 00:04:27.199
I don't want to shove my opinion down anybody's throat.
00:04:27.279 --> 00:04:29.040
And that's what I try to do in my stories.
00:04:29.199 --> 00:04:34.720
I'm not the star of the film, like some documentary filmmakers, where it's look what George does here, look what George does there.
00:04:35.040 --> 00:04:39.519
My film is about situations that I want to wake people up about.
00:04:39.680 --> 00:04:40.879
Now, I know there's differences.
00:04:41.279 --> 00:04:44.399
In a film like your film, for example, the film is about you.
00:04:44.639 --> 00:04:46.319
That's a totally different thing.
00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:50.879
But in a documentary about homes, I'm not going to tell you what to believe.
00:04:51.040 --> 00:04:53.199
I think the story speaks for itself.
00:04:53.519 --> 00:05:01.839
Establishing a style is really just from your experience, it's how do you envision people absorbing the story that you're telling?
00:05:02.079 --> 00:05:11.600
And what I like to do is put the facts out there in a way that shows you what is going on, but not in a way that tells you how you have to perceive it.
00:05:11.759 --> 00:05:12.959
Just here is the fact.
00:05:13.120 --> 00:05:13.759
Here is the fact.
00:05:13.839 --> 00:05:18.079
Here's a guy whose house was wiped out, and he's telling you he has no place to live.
00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:23.040
Here's a woman who's telling you my dad had dementia and canceled the insurance on my house.
00:05:23.199 --> 00:05:29.199
It's not me storming the door going, why aren't you paying this woman her insurance uh claim?
00:05:29.519 --> 00:05:31.360
I can't solve the problem.
00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:34.639
I state the problem and offer solutions.
00:05:34.800 --> 00:05:39.600
And that's what I hope is is what's evident in the film and what comes across.
00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:42.079
What inspired you to make Built to Last?
00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:45.199
What was the moment you realized this story needed to be told?
00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:48.959
There's a couple instances that really stood out for me.
00:05:49.199 --> 00:05:59.199
One is after Hurricane Michael in 2018, I was in uh Mexico Beach, Florida, and I was walking through a neighborhood that was completely wiped out by a hurricane.
00:05:59.360 --> 00:06:01.680
And it was just a devastating sight to see.
00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:04.160
It looked like a bomb went off and everything blew up.
00:06:04.319 --> 00:06:08.480
There were slabs that used to have houses that were just wiped clean, everything washed away.
00:06:08.639 --> 00:06:11.360
And that was very impactful and it left an impression on me.
00:06:11.439 --> 00:06:13.680
It's like, wow, why does this keep happening?
00:06:13.839 --> 00:06:17.839
And what can we do to make sure it doesn't happen again?
00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:23.040
And the other incident happened much earlier in my career when I was working at a TV station.
00:06:23.199 --> 00:06:36.240
I flew into Moore, Oklahoma, after a major tornado hit that community, and I interviewed a woman who the only reason she survived was she got in the bathtub in her house and held a mattress over herself.
00:06:36.480 --> 00:06:38.160
Everything else was gone.
00:06:38.399 --> 00:06:43.600
There was nothing on that slab but the bathtub, the mattress, and this woman.
00:06:43.759 --> 00:06:46.639
And it was one of the most shocking things I've ever seen.
00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:53.839
And so that motivated me to try to tell stories about why does this happen and how can we avoid it from happening again?
00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:55.759
So that was that was a very powerful moment.
00:06:56.160 --> 00:06:59.439
What discoveries during the filmmaking process surprised you the most?
00:06:59.759 --> 00:07:04.240
What did I uncover during the process that truly surprised or changed me?
00:07:04.480 --> 00:07:06.879
I think there's a couple of things that really surprised me.
00:07:07.040 --> 00:07:12.879
One is learning that most people have never read their insurance policies and have no idea what's in it.
00:07:13.120 --> 00:07:23.920
So we hire an insurance company to protect our house or our assets, and we assume that because we're paying them, that they're on our side and they're going to step up and help us when we have a disaster.
00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:27.600
And the reality is that could not be further from the truth.
00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:33.920
Because throughout the document that they've given you, that's your insurance policy, are a million ways they don't have to pay you.
00:07:34.079 --> 00:07:39.680
It's not just an agreement between me and them saying, I'm giving you money, you're here to help me.
00:07:39.839 --> 00:07:43.680
It's I'm giving you money, and here's all the ways you're not going to help me.
00:07:43.920 --> 00:07:46.720
Here's all the ways you're not going to pay my claim.
00:07:46.879 --> 00:07:51.040
And that is a devastating thing to see because people's lives are ruined by that.
00:07:51.199 --> 00:08:03.040
When an adjuster comes in and says, you don't have$100,000 worth of damage, you only have 20, when they say, it's going to take us years to solve this, go find a place to live, but keep paying your mortgage during that process.
00:08:03.279 --> 00:08:06.720
So those are things that were very shocking for me to find.
00:08:06.959 --> 00:08:14.639
The other was to learn that there's a lobbying industry that builders have that fights to keep building codes as low as possible.
00:08:14.800 --> 00:08:19.040
And in the reality, I think building codes should be strong as strong as possible.
00:08:19.279 --> 00:08:31.759
Because if we look at automobiles, if we didn't tell people they had to have airbags and crash, you know, roll bars and all these different features in a car, seat belts, most people would save money and not have those things.
00:08:31.920 --> 00:08:38.240
And only because it was ordered by law to raise the game of auto safety do those things have it.
00:08:38.399 --> 00:08:40.320
I wish that happened in construction.
00:08:40.480 --> 00:08:46.720
But there's an entire industry that says, no, let's keep the code as low as possible because houses will be more affordable.
00:08:46.879 --> 00:08:55.120
And I think an affordable house that gets destroyed is a lot more expensive and damaging than a good house that may be more expensive but survives.
00:08:55.360 --> 00:08:57.360
And having a house survive should be our goal.
00:08:57.679 --> 00:09:02.320
When you look at how homes are currently built in Florida, what do you think people misunderstand the most?
00:09:02.480 --> 00:09:06.480
What feels most broken about the current system of home construction and development?
00:09:06.799 --> 00:09:23.200
I think the fact that in Florida, people are still putting wood on the second floor of two-story houses, that some houses are even being built entirely out of wood, and that the building code in outside of Southeast Florida is lower than it is there.
00:09:23.360 --> 00:09:25.360
So, for example, I live in Tampa.
00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:29.200
We're built to withstand hurricanes up to a category three.
00:09:29.279 --> 00:09:33.519
But if we get a four or five, the current building code might not survive that.
00:09:33.759 --> 00:09:39.440
If you're down in the Miami-Broward County area, you have to build to withstand a Category 5 hurricane.
00:09:39.519 --> 00:09:41.519
And I think that's a very important thing.
00:09:41.679 --> 00:09:50.399
And I wish that was more common that that was the standard, because having the standard lower only leads to more disaster every time there's a major storm.
00:09:50.559 --> 00:09:52.639
And I think we're going to keep seeing it again and again.
00:09:52.799 --> 00:09:57.519
And then in the places like Mexico Beach, after Hurricane Michael, they made the building code tougher.
00:09:57.679 --> 00:09:58.960
Not tough enough, but tougher.
00:09:59.039 --> 00:10:07.759
And people complained so much that they lowered it to where the building code now is weaker than it was before they got hit by a Category 5 hurricane.
00:10:07.919 --> 00:10:13.120
And you can tell me that, well, it makes houses still affordable for people, but again, it's a false sense of confidence.
00:10:13.360 --> 00:10:17.440
Just because you're in a house doesn't mean that house is going to survive a disaster.
00:10:17.600 --> 00:10:25.919
And if it doesn't, there's no amount of money you could have paid that would have made that okay because your life could be ruined or you could get killed in the house.
00:10:26.159 --> 00:10:33.759
When I talk to experts, because I'm not an engineer, I'm not an architect, but I surround myself with people that are much smarter than I am and know that stuff.
00:10:33.919 --> 00:10:55.279
And they tell me that if you have a house that's built with wood, and especially wood on the second floor, over time that house will be compromised by water getting in, the wood rotting, by it not being able to survive a category four or five hurricane by projectiles being blown into it and how they could penetrate a wood house.
00:10:55.440 --> 00:11:01.919
So there's a lot of vulnerabilities that are there that people discount because, first of all, they don't think it's going to happen to them.
00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:05.840
But secondly, they don't want to spend the extra money to not build it that way.
00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:07.679
And I think that's a huge mistake.
00:11:07.759 --> 00:11:13.759
And I think that people that do build it the right way should get rewarded with substantial discounts on their insurance.
00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:20.080
Because if I build a safe house and you build a weak house, we should not be treated the same way by the insurance industry.
00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:25.679
My house should be much higher rated and a much lower risk for the insurance company.
00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:27.360
And I should be rewarded for that.
00:11:27.519 --> 00:11:33.600
The other area that's frightening is most apartment complexes here in Florida are built out of wood.
00:11:33.759 --> 00:11:36.960
If they're, I think, less than five floors, a lot of them are wood.
00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:44.399
So people are living in an apartment with no idea how vulnerable they are, especially when the hurricane hits.
00:11:44.559 --> 00:11:49.200
They should be evacuating and going someplace else because that building may not be safe.
00:11:49.360 --> 00:11:50.879
But it happens all the time.
00:11:51.279 --> 00:12:01.039
Most apartment complexes, when they're a wood building, the stairwell is usually concrete and the parking garage is concrete, and then the building itself is wood.
00:12:01.279 --> 00:12:08.159
My daughter rented an apartment here in Tampa, and the person giving us a tour of the building, I asked specifically, is this a concrete building?
00:12:08.320 --> 00:12:09.919
And the woman said, Yes, it is.
00:12:10.159 --> 00:12:22.559
But my business partner, Eris Papadopoulos, looked up online and found a time-lapse video of the building being built entirely out of wood, except the parking garage and the stairwell.
00:12:22.799 --> 00:12:31.360
So not only was it wood, they lied about it on the tour and gave us a complete false sense of confidence in how safe that building would be in a disaster.
00:12:31.519 --> 00:12:48.879
So I encourage anybody in an apartment to ask questions, get an evacuation plan, make sure you have renter's insurance, because if you don't, the building's not covering your contents, but your contents may not be safe in that building, and you should definitely make sure you have it covered and evacuate someplace safe in the event of a major disaster.
00:12:49.200 --> 00:12:54.639
Why are we still building homes in ways that can fail during hurricanes, floods, and other extreme weather events?
00:12:54.960 --> 00:12:56.000
I think it's money.
00:12:56.240 --> 00:13:02.240
I think that people can save$20,000,$30,000,$40,000, maybe a little more, and they just want to save the money.
00:13:02.399 --> 00:13:04.480
They don't think they need to do those extra things.
00:13:04.639 --> 00:13:06.159
I think that's a huge risk.
00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:12.559
And if you take that risk, you face a major disruption in your life after a disaster.
00:13:12.720 --> 00:13:14.960
It may take you years to get back in your house.
00:13:15.120 --> 00:13:18.559
Your insurance may never pay the value of everything that you lost.
00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:25.679
And if water gets in your house in a flood type scenario and you don't have flood insurance, you're not getting anything.
00:13:25.840 --> 00:13:36.720
So people need to not just have insurance, you need to have flood insurance and look for houses that they actually can explain to you how they built it to survive the disasters that may happen in that area.
00:13:36.960 --> 00:13:40.000
If they can't explain that to you, don't buy the house.
00:13:43.440 --> 00:13:45.360
Who should be held accountable when homes fail?
00:13:45.600 --> 00:13:48.399
Builders, developers, politicians, or insurance companies.
00:13:48.559 --> 00:13:52.399
I say put them all in line and take your choice because they're all to blame.
00:13:52.559 --> 00:13:56.639
And you can take it in the order of when the homes fail, it's the builder's fault.
00:13:56.799 --> 00:14:04.960
But before that, it's the politicians' fault because they probably got some nice handouts from the builder's lobby to keep the building code weak.
00:14:05.120 --> 00:14:08.879
So maybe they're first in line because they didn't make it tough enough.
00:14:09.039 --> 00:14:13.600
Then the builder built the house to the standard low enough that they let them build it to.
00:14:13.840 --> 00:14:21.120
And then the insurance company coming in at the end, not paying your claim or making it very difficult for you to get your claim.
00:14:21.279 --> 00:14:31.039
And my message to everybody is if you look at that list, builders, politicians, insurance companies, would you really want to trust any of them if you had to trust them with your life?
00:14:31.279 --> 00:14:34.159
There are great builders out there, but you have to find them.
00:14:34.240 --> 00:14:36.480
They're not going to just come knocking on your door.
00:14:36.639 --> 00:14:41.519
And they're usually not the ones that you see building bulk houses in a community.
00:14:41.679 --> 00:14:49.679
So when you look at that group of people, I would say put yourself in a position where you don't really have to rely on any of them.
00:14:49.919 --> 00:14:52.879
Do your homework, find out how safe a place is.
00:14:53.039 --> 00:14:54.879
And if it's not, don't buy it.
00:14:55.039 --> 00:14:57.279
Let's make these people build safer houses.
00:14:57.360 --> 00:15:02.399
Let's start a ground from the ground up of saying we're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore.
00:15:02.559 --> 00:15:05.360
If you're building garbage, we're not buying garbage.
00:15:05.600 --> 00:15:16.799
If you're building a safe house, I'll buy that house and I'll tell everybody because you are the person that is thinking of the future and not sticking us with things that aren't going to be around after a disaster.
00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:18.159
Particle board.
00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:18.639
Yeah.
00:15:18.879 --> 00:15:24.879
What you found out, you know, we don't always get the opportunity to do that until something happens that it gets exposed.
00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:27.200
And then you're going, what the heck was I living in?
00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:29.360
What how poorly was this built?
00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:33.039
You know, a lot of people who have flood damage, they have to have their walls torn out.
00:15:33.200 --> 00:15:40.960
And when the walls are ripped open, they find garbage bags, food, beer cans, things that are thrown inside there.
00:15:41.200 --> 00:15:49.200
Now, you never would have known that if there wasn't a disaster, but once you find out that somebody did something like that, it's really hard to get that trust back.
00:15:49.360 --> 00:15:52.399
It's really hard to feel good about what you're buying.
00:15:52.559 --> 00:15:57.840
Because when you catch something that should have been obvious, what else are you missing?
00:15:58.080 --> 00:16:03.200
Like once somebody lies to you and then they look at you and go, nah, I've, this is the first time I've ever lied.
00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:04.399
Do you believe that?
00:16:04.720 --> 00:16:05.039
No.
00:16:05.679 --> 00:16:12.080
So once somebody's exposed for who they are or what they're doing, it's very hard to get that trust back.
00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:15.039
And that's something that you really only get once.
00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:17.120
You know, do you have that trust or do you not?
00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:24.960
And I would try to gravitate towards builders or apartments or things that the people give it good reviews and that they really trust them.
00:16:25.279 --> 00:16:29.840
Apartment reviews are very challenging when you read those because most people are unhappy about something.
00:16:29.919 --> 00:16:32.240
And the people that are unhappy are usually the ones that complain.
00:16:32.399 --> 00:16:35.120
The happy people just move on and are happy somewhere else.
00:16:35.360 --> 00:16:37.919
But the point is read the reviews.
00:16:38.159 --> 00:16:39.519
Read the reviews of builders.
00:16:39.679 --> 00:16:40.799
Go see their references.
00:16:40.960 --> 00:16:50.559
Walk around and talk to people who they didn't put on their list of references and try and look at that list and say, okay, what was your experience with the builder?
00:16:50.720 --> 00:16:52.399
Were they available when you had a problem?
00:16:52.559 --> 00:16:53.679
Did they solve problems?
00:16:53.840 --> 00:16:56.399
Was, you know, what do you can do tell us about the process?
00:16:56.639 --> 00:17:00.559
The more questions you ask and the more knowledge you have, the better off you are.
00:17:00.960 --> 00:17:06.000
How do politics and insurance systems influence the safety and resilience of the places people call home?
00:17:06.400 --> 00:17:16.319
You know, politics unfortunately plays a big part in it because when laws are passed by your state legislature, they affect the people that are in the state.
00:17:16.559 --> 00:17:27.119
So, for example, here in Florida, they passed a bill that said if I have to sue my insurance company and I win, I still have to pay for my own attorney.
00:17:27.359 --> 00:17:33.759
Now, to me, that's an example of a real head scratcher of a law because an insurance company has billions of dollars.
00:17:33.920 --> 00:17:36.400
I basically live day to day.
00:17:36.640 --> 00:17:40.559
I sue them because they're wrong and I get$100,000.
00:17:40.880 --> 00:17:43.039
Well, a third of that is going to go to my attorney.
00:17:43.200 --> 00:17:50.400
Now I don't have enough money to fix my house because I have to pay the attorney, and the insurance company doesn't have to pay for that.
00:17:50.559 --> 00:17:51.519
I think that's horrible.
00:17:51.680 --> 00:18:01.359
And there's other instances of reforms where in Florida they changed the period when you could sue your builder for big material defects from 10 years down to seven years.
00:18:01.599 --> 00:18:06.559
Well, if you talk to most homeowners that have stayed in a house for seven years, they didn't pick that by accident.
00:18:06.720 --> 00:18:08.400
That's when most things start to fall apart.
00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:18.319
That's when major things like the air conditioning, the heater, major things in the house that they should stand behind because they constructed it to have those things work or not work.
00:18:18.480 --> 00:18:19.759
You know, is the roof safe?
00:18:20.160 --> 00:18:21.519
Are the walls falling apart?
00:18:21.680 --> 00:18:27.200
Well, seven years is a good tell, and now they're not responsible for it because it used to be 10.
00:18:27.359 --> 00:18:32.559
And so that gives you an example that if you have a good lobbying group, the laws tend to favor you.
00:18:32.799 --> 00:18:36.559
And so politicians, it seems like a lot of times they're not on our side.
00:18:36.640 --> 00:18:37.839
And you can pick your party.
00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:40.880
I don't I can't tell you one side is any worse than the other.
00:18:41.039 --> 00:18:48.640
But if we took them all out to a field and said, you guys go away and we started with new people for everybody, that might not be such a bad thing.
00:18:48.799 --> 00:18:51.599
Because I don't know that any of them are really looking out for us.
00:18:51.839 --> 00:18:53.920
I've lived in places all over the country.
00:18:54.079 --> 00:19:04.640
So I've lived in Seattle, Washington, I've lived in San Francisco, I've lived in Los Angeles, I've lived in Detroit, I've lived in San Antonio, Texas, and now I live in Tampa, Florida.
00:19:04.799 --> 00:19:15.359
I can tell you that the disasters, if you took a disaster victim and had them do an interview with no background behind them, they were just talking about what they lost, it's the same story everywhere.
00:19:15.599 --> 00:19:16.960
Loss is loss.
00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:20.480
And I believe that the building problem exists everywhere.
00:19:20.720 --> 00:19:30.960
You look at where the fires were in California and all the problems they're having out there, they're having major problems getting back in their houses, getting insurance companies to pay, being able to rebuild.
00:19:31.039 --> 00:19:37.680
And we see that as disasters unfold across the country with tornadoes every year, with floods, with uh fires.
00:19:38.160 --> 00:19:43.759
So the although our film is about hurricanes, it's about disaster.
00:19:43.920 --> 00:19:48.400
And that just happened to be the disaster we had the easiest access to to make the film.
00:19:48.559 --> 00:19:50.319
But it's the same story everywhere.
00:19:50.400 --> 00:19:57.680
So you could take what we show in Florida, and that applies to Oklahoma, that applies to Texas, that applies to California, to Washington.
00:19:57.839 --> 00:20:09.680
It's the same thing, it's just a different disaster potential, but the victims are still having the same problems, and the building codes are still the same challenge, and the quality of building is still the same challenge.
00:20:09.839 --> 00:20:15.839
Just Google some of the builders in each city, and there are stories on YouTube that will make you sick to your stomach.
00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:22.640
There are stories on that pop up on 60 minutes sometimes about the insurance industry that will make you sick to your stomach.
00:20:22.799 --> 00:20:24.160
So it's a universal problem.
00:20:24.240 --> 00:20:25.839
It's not just here in Florida.
00:20:26.079 --> 00:20:32.799
We just tend to have those massive hurricanes that draw attention, but there's people that get wiped out almost every day by disaster somewhere.
00:20:32.880 --> 00:20:35.279
And it's a sad story when that happens.
00:20:35.680 --> 00:20:41.759
If we could redesign the system from the ground up, how should homes and communities be built to truly protect people?
00:20:42.160 --> 00:20:53.039
If you let me have the perfect world chance to design something, it might be like the space age films of the future where all these pods look the same throughout a neighborhood, but they're built to survive anything.
00:20:53.279 --> 00:20:56.319
I would love to see things built to survive almost anything.
00:20:56.480 --> 00:21:05.200
And I've interviewed experts that say, well, you can't bunker your community to survive the most extreme disaster because it'll become unaffordable for people.
00:21:05.359 --> 00:21:12.319
But I think there's a happy medium in there somewhere where we can certainly do a lot better than we're doing without breaking the bank.
00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:18.960
But what we have to calculate, and what I wish they the industry could show people, is the cost of not doing it right.
00:21:19.200 --> 00:21:29.839
The cost of having your house destroyed, the cost of losing your job because that business got wiped out, the cost of paying a mortgage for five years while you're waiting to get back in, but you can't live in that house.
00:21:30.079 --> 00:21:33.759
There are costs that are not calculated that you need to think about.
00:21:33.920 --> 00:21:43.039
So that extra$20,000 or$30,000 that you may have to spend for a safer house might be$100,000 cost to you if your house is destroyed.
00:21:43.279 --> 00:21:46.720
And if we could show people those numbers, I think it would make a huge difference.
00:21:47.119 --> 00:21:53.119
What materials, engineering practices, and design approaches have proven to stand the test of time and extreme conditions?
00:21:53.519 --> 00:21:56.960
You know, I was on a podcast recently that it was very environmentally conscious.
00:21:57.039 --> 00:22:02.720
And my favorite material to build it, I believe that's I've seen that's the safest is some form of a concrete home.
00:22:02.880 --> 00:22:08.480
Now I know environmentalists say concrete isn't an environmentally safe or as safe as they want it to be product.
00:22:08.799 --> 00:22:20.559
But my again, I quote back to my partner Eris who says if you have to build it twice, it's not green because you're using this the green materials twice and you're wasting materials and resources.
00:22:20.799 --> 00:22:24.160
Concrete houses seem to do the best standing the test of time.
00:22:24.319 --> 00:22:38.000
And there are different forms of building with it, there's different ways of building with it, but I think that's the safest way to build for both high wind events, for getting back in quicker for flooding, and for fires if you make it more fireproof.
00:22:38.240 --> 00:22:40.720
So that would be my material of choice.
00:22:41.200 --> 00:22:48.640
How should safety standards, accountability measures, and accessibility requirements evolve to better serve everyone, including people with disabilities?
00:22:49.039 --> 00:22:51.519
You know, in a perfect world, every house would consider that.
00:22:51.599 --> 00:22:56.559
And and I know apartments probably do more because of the way the laws are configured.
00:22:56.799 --> 00:22:58.400
With houses, I'm not really sure.
00:22:58.480 --> 00:23:02.880
I don't think you can build every house with full disability access.
00:23:03.039 --> 00:23:07.759
It's more of a realtor finding ways to show you those houses that would meet your demands.
00:23:07.920 --> 00:23:09.519
Could you put a ramp into this house?
00:23:09.680 --> 00:23:11.039
Could you adjust the shower?
00:23:11.279 --> 00:23:21.200
Could you, you know, when you watch and see stories of houses that were built specifically for people with disabilities, I don't know that you would build the exact same house for the general population.
00:23:21.519 --> 00:23:23.599
So the question is, is it adaptable?
00:23:23.759 --> 00:23:26.799
You know, thank God that's a challenge I haven't had to deal with.
00:23:26.960 --> 00:23:32.160
I'm sure you can relate to that and it have a lot more experience about that than than I will ever know.
00:23:32.400 --> 00:23:39.440
But I would hope that there's access to those homes, but I don't know how you would make that part of regular construction.
00:23:39.759 --> 00:23:43.920
It depends on the builder and it depends on what their goal was when they were building it.
00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:50.319
I've noticed a lot more hotels that have rooms for people with disabilities, and that's certainly a very important thing.
00:23:50.480 --> 00:23:57.599
With housing, you know, it's tough enough to get them to build a safe house, let alone to say, okay, let's design this for whoever's going to move in.
00:23:57.839 --> 00:24:03.359
And in a perfect world, yeah, everything would be a way that'll that was available for everybody.
00:24:03.519 --> 00:24:09.440
And I guess it just makes you have to dig a little harder to find houses that meet that, meet that standard.
00:24:09.519 --> 00:24:17.039
And, you know, we had a you see every now and then when somebody comes and builds a ramp for a house or puts an elevator in so somebody can get access to the second floor.
00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:20.880
And those are all great things if they're built with the adaptability in mind.
00:24:21.039 --> 00:24:25.200
But as I say, that's not something that I would have an instant answer to.
00:24:25.519 --> 00:24:35.279
I would stress and argue that when you're building a house with somebody with a disability in mind, what if you can't evacuate during the storm because of your disability?
00:24:35.359 --> 00:24:47.039
And now you're in some flimsy wood house or some house that's poorly built, you're even more vulnerable at that point, and all the more reason to be in a safe house because if you had to stay there, you would be safe.
00:24:47.200 --> 00:24:57.680
And getting out into disaster is challenging for somebody who's not battling a disability, let alone somebody who may be in a wheelchair or somebody who may have some other type of disability that makes it hard for them to get around.
00:24:58.000 --> 00:25:06.079
How should different states adapt construction practices to address risks such as earthquakes, wildfires, tornadoes, flooding, and extreme heat?
00:25:06.160 --> 00:25:08.319
Aaron Powell I think concrete is a great building material.
00:25:08.400 --> 00:25:17.359
Now I know there's places in the country that don't worry about hurricanes, and maybe the winds are going to be nowhere close to hurricane strength, so they're going to have a different building code and standard.
00:25:17.599 --> 00:25:24.799
At some point, you have to rely on the people that are the local experts that know what the disasters are there and what they should be building that's safe.
00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:30.799
And it might not be efficient to build a concrete house in Michigan like it would be to build one in Florida.
00:25:30.960 --> 00:25:42.160
So I can't say that 100% this is what you have to do everywhere, but I would want to know what could happen in Michigan and what do I need to build there that would make my house safe.
00:25:42.400 --> 00:25:44.400
So the same principles apply.
00:25:44.640 --> 00:25:51.680
I just don't personally walk around with the kind of knowledge that I could tell you, well, this is what they have to do in Michigan, this is what they have to do in Massachusetts, this is what they have to do in Maine.
00:25:51.920 --> 00:25:58.240
But I know that I would want to know what the problems are there, and then I would make a decision on what I want to live in.
00:25:58.640 --> 00:25:59.680
Yeah, it's a great question.
00:25:59.759 --> 00:26:02.960
How you switch a standard from wood to concrete.
00:26:03.039 --> 00:26:10.400
And I think what it takes is we can't keep buying things that we know aren't safe just because that's available.
00:26:10.559 --> 00:26:17.200
I think you would be far better off renting a house if you had to choose between renting a house that wasn't safe or buying a house that's not safe.
00:26:17.440 --> 00:26:23.440
I would rent it, you know, all day because when that house gets destroyed, it's not gonna be your problem.
00:26:23.599 --> 00:26:27.200
You know, you hopefully you have insurance or you got out of there and you're safe.
00:26:27.519 --> 00:26:33.039
But I would stop putting all my money in and sliding all my chips in on things that aren't gonna be around.
00:26:33.200 --> 00:26:34.880
That it's not a forever home.
00:26:35.039 --> 00:26:40.559
It's not built with the thought of can this house be here in five, 10, 15, 20 years?
00:26:40.799 --> 00:26:48.000
And I think that's what it's gonna take because to change a building code in every city and state, every town is a huge, daunting thing.
00:26:48.160 --> 00:26:54.880
But if everybody woke up tomorrow and said, I'm not accepting mediocrity anymore, now that's not gonna work for some folks.
00:26:55.039 --> 00:27:00.559
Sometimes you're stuck in a community where you have no options, and then you want to make sure you have the best insurance possible.
00:27:00.640 --> 00:27:04.799
You want to make sure that you have a safe evacuation route, that you do all the other things.
00:27:05.039 --> 00:27:10.640
But if you do have a choice, the people that have a choice need to start making better choices.
00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:12.240
And that can start at the bottom.
00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:15.200
That's not a top-down thing, that's a bottom-up thing.
00:27:15.279 --> 00:27:17.519
And that's where I think hope lies.
00:27:17.759 --> 00:27:22.799
Because if we're relying on people at the top to save us, they're already living large.
00:27:22.960 --> 00:27:24.240
They're already fine.
00:27:24.400 --> 00:27:26.160
We're not a problem for them.
00:27:26.400 --> 00:27:27.440
We need to be.
00:27:27.599 --> 00:27:28.960
We need to demand more.
00:27:29.279 --> 00:27:37.039
As climate change intensifies, what changes need to happen now to ensure homes and communities remain safe and resilient for future generations?
00:27:37.359 --> 00:27:44.799
One of the things we see, Alexander, is that we're buying houses in areas that are risky, and then we're surprised when there's a problem.
00:27:45.039 --> 00:27:55.920
So if I say I have to live by the water, I'm taking a huge risk there for a number of reasons, for hurricanes, for floods, for erosion, for rising sea level.
00:27:56.160 --> 00:28:00.240
Those are all factors you need to think about when you're making that choice.
00:28:00.480 --> 00:28:05.759
If I'm buying a house in the woods, am I thinking about the fire danger and how were those houses built?
00:28:05.920 --> 00:28:08.240
What's the evacuation process in that neighborhood?
00:28:08.400 --> 00:28:10.079
How safe am I going to be?
00:28:10.319 --> 00:28:19.519
With climate change, and people argue about whether it's just all cyclical and we've had bad storms for years, but we see things intensify quickly.
00:28:19.680 --> 00:28:21.599
We see problems escalate quickly.
00:28:21.759 --> 00:28:28.000
So without even having the discussion of climate change, we know things aren't working the way they are right now, anyway.
00:28:28.240 --> 00:28:29.839
So we need to do better.
00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:35.039
And we need to think about what we're going to take into the future so we can survive.
00:28:35.200 --> 00:28:40.000
When you see a hurricane go from a category two to a category five overnight, I don't think that's normal.
00:28:40.160 --> 00:28:45.839
When you see wildfires wipe out entire towns and cities, that's not normal.
00:28:46.079 --> 00:28:48.880
And so, how do we build to survive these things?
00:28:49.039 --> 00:28:50.640
And how do we make better choices?
00:28:50.799 --> 00:28:52.640
I think that's the challenge we all face.
00:28:52.880 --> 00:28:54.799
And I like builders and architects.
00:28:54.960 --> 00:28:59.599
I spoke to some young engineers and architects at Western Kentucky University.
00:28:59.759 --> 00:29:03.599
And I told them, you guys and gals are the hope for the future.
00:29:03.680 --> 00:29:11.119
And I hope that as you're planning how you're going to build houses and design houses, you keep in mind that I'm only going to build safe houses.
00:29:11.279 --> 00:29:13.359
I'm only going to build houses that survive.
00:29:13.519 --> 00:29:17.839
Because you can put together some funky design that you think is really cool and it might win you an award.
00:29:18.000 --> 00:29:22.400
But if a storm's going to blow it off the face of the earth, who did you do a favor for?
00:29:22.559 --> 00:29:23.839
Who did you service?
00:29:24.000 --> 00:29:28.559
And the answer is only yourself and whoever made money off of that project.
00:29:28.640 --> 00:29:31.279
Because the people that bought it, their lives could be over.
00:29:31.440 --> 00:29:33.279
And so that's the future.
00:29:33.359 --> 00:29:37.519
And I want us to think towards that and do the best job we can building things.
00:29:37.839 --> 00:29:40.400
Where can people watch Built to Last right now?
00:29:40.720 --> 00:29:45.599
I'm giving you a link that you're going to put in the show notes that people can rent the film right away.
00:29:45.759 --> 00:29:49.839
And I would love to see everybody in your audience rent the film and check it out.
00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:53.599
My other film, The Last House Standing, you can rent as well.
00:29:54.000 --> 00:29:56.960
I'm going to give you a link for that, but it's also on 2B TV.
00:29:57.039 --> 00:30:00.000
So if you want to watch it for free, you've got to sit through commercials.
00:30:00.079 --> 00:30:02.079
If you rent it for me, you don't.
00:30:02.240 --> 00:30:06.960
So as a filmmaker, I would love for you to rent my film and I encourage you to do it.
00:30:07.039 --> 00:30:09.519
But if you want to watch it for free, it's on 2B TV.
00:30:09.599 --> 00:30:11.839
And every time it runs, they send me a nickel.
00:30:12.000 --> 00:30:14.799
So uh I won't be putting any kids through college on that.
00:30:15.039 --> 00:30:19.119
Are there plans for wider distribution or additional streaming platforms in the future?
00:30:19.359 --> 00:30:26.880
Alexander, I need to follow your example and I need to follow your path of how to get good distribution because it's very challenging.
00:30:27.039 --> 00:30:35.519
Now, my film is Built to Last Buyer Beware is rolling out on public television stations around the country, but they have to pick it out of a catalog and decide to run it.
00:30:35.759 --> 00:30:44.480
So wherever you are listening to this podcast or watching, call your local public television station and say, hey, run Built to Last Buyer Beware on the station.
00:30:44.559 --> 00:30:46.240
And then it could be on everywhere.
00:30:46.400 --> 00:30:49.519
But it's very hard to get them to make the decision.
00:30:49.759 --> 00:30:53.599
It's a lot easier if they hear about it and then want to do it.
00:30:53.759 --> 00:30:58.160
So it it's hard to get widespread distribution for a film.
00:30:58.400 --> 00:31:02.480
And so I want to get pointers from you because you seem to be really good at it.
00:31:02.559 --> 00:31:04.319
And I need to do better.
00:31:04.640 --> 00:31:07.519
How can viewers support the film and help spread its message?
00:31:07.839 --> 00:31:12.480
I think by renting the film and then sharing the link with other people, you can definitely support the film.
00:31:12.640 --> 00:31:23.039
And then the way I'll feel good about it, I mean, obviously I'd love to make money, but the way I really feel good about it, some of the best stories I've heard is when somebody says, Hey, I went home and read my insurance policy.
00:31:23.279 --> 00:31:24.480
I called my agent.
00:31:24.640 --> 00:31:28.000
I did a better job making sure I had the right coverage.
00:31:28.160 --> 00:31:30.480
I'm asking questions about the house I'm building.
00:31:30.559 --> 00:31:32.160
I'm going to choose a better builder.
00:31:32.319 --> 00:31:34.960
Those are very rewarding things when I hear that.
00:31:35.200 --> 00:31:43.920
And then since most documentary filmmakers don't get rich for making their films, when you hear that it made a difference in somebody's life, that's the best thing you can hear ever.
00:31:44.319 --> 00:31:46.640
And so I love to hear that story.
00:31:46.720 --> 00:31:53.039
And that's why I want you all to partake in the film and then share those stories with me because I think that would be huge.
00:31:53.359 --> 00:31:58.559
If organizations, schools, or community groups want to host a screening, how can they get involved?
00:31:58.880 --> 00:32:03.359
You can reach out to me through LinkedIn or through my website, which I'll also give you the link for.
00:32:03.519 --> 00:32:05.200
I love to go do speaking engagements.
00:32:05.359 --> 00:32:07.119
I love to do film screenings.
00:32:07.359 --> 00:32:11.440
I love to make the film available to as many people as possible.
00:32:11.680 --> 00:32:17.359
And in in some instances, if it's a group that has a budget, sure I like to get compensated for it.
00:32:17.519 --> 00:32:22.160
If it's a group that has no money, I will never let that stand in the way of having you see this film.
00:32:22.240 --> 00:32:25.759
It's too important to make that the number one thing.
00:32:25.920 --> 00:32:29.039
Everybody likes to make a living, but I also want you to be safe.
00:32:29.200 --> 00:32:30.640
So there are options there.
00:32:30.960 --> 00:32:35.519
For people who want to follow your work or connect with you, what is the best way to reach you?
00:32:35.839 --> 00:32:50.319
If you're interested in reaching out to me about a film screening, if you go to move the worldfilms.org, I've put a link on there to my speaker profile page where you can reach me on there and see about booking me for an event, or you can email me.
00:32:50.400 --> 00:32:52.079
There's a contact form on there.
00:32:52.319 --> 00:33:00.799
If you go to any of the links in the show notes, I'm very accessible and would love to uh would love to get back to you and tell you how we can make it happen.
00:33:00.960 --> 00:33:06.000
So please contact me and uh let's get this film in front of as many people as possible.
00:33:06.240 --> 00:33:11.440
There's an expression that I've heard that says, the first step in solving a problem is realizing you have one.
00:33:11.680 --> 00:33:14.319
Well, in the world of housing, I think it's obvious.
00:33:14.480 --> 00:33:15.680
We know there's a problem.
00:33:15.920 --> 00:33:16.960
So that's the first step.
00:33:17.119 --> 00:33:18.799
Now we have to figure out how to solve it.
00:33:18.960 --> 00:33:23.680
And I got to tell you, Alexander, I want to thank you so much for having me on your podcast.
00:33:23.839 --> 00:33:36.240
And you are a true inspiration to me because the things that you have accomplished in your life, I look at and I go, wow, and there's things that I complain about that I don't have a fraction of the challenges that you've overcome.
00:33:36.400 --> 00:33:40.480
And I'm a big admirer of yours, and I really appreciate you having me on.
00:33:42.000 --> 00:33:45.759
I'm Alexander Freeman, and this has been Remaking Normal.
00:33:46.240 --> 00:33:50.720
The people you'll hear on this podcast and the stories they share.
00:33:50.960 --> 00:33:54.559
Remind us that normal isn't a rule to follow.
00:33:54.880 --> 00:34:02.400
It's something personal, something evolving, something we create every time we choose to be real.
00:34:02.880 --> 00:34:11.199
If you've been inspired by these conversations, make sure to subscribe to Remaking Normal wherever you listen to podcasts.
00:34:11.440 --> 00:34:17.199
And to the Outcast Productions LLC YouTube channel for films and more.
00:34:18.239 --> 00:34:22.000
Follow me on Instagram at real Alexander Freeman.
00:34:22.159 --> 00:34:28.159
You can also visit my own normal movie.com to learn more about my documentary My Own Normal.
00:34:28.559 --> 00:34:34.400
And explore Outcast-productions.com and consider working together on a film.
00:34:35.199 --> 00:34:40.960
Thank you for listening, for feeling, and for being part of this journey.
00:34:41.440 --> 00:34:44.639
Together, we're remaking normal.
00:00:05.759 --> 00:00:11.439
I'm Alexander Freeman, and this has been Remaking Normal, Episode 12.
00:00:11.839 --> 00:00:18.559
Housing, Construction, Insurance, and the realities of living in an environment with natural disasters.
00:00:18.879 --> 00:00:25.440
Today I'm talking with filmmaker George Siegel about his documentary, Built to Last, Fire Beware.
00:00:25.920 --> 00:00:28.399
George, it's great to have you on the show.
00:00:28.719 --> 00:00:30.399
Hey, thank you so much for having me.
00:00:30.719 --> 00:00:35.600
I'm a big admirer of your work, and uh you're a real inspiration to me.
00:00:35.679 --> 00:00:37.200
So thank you so much for having me.
00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:38.799
How do you define normal?
00:00:39.119 --> 00:00:43.520
It's a fascinating question because I think everybody is going to have their own definition of that word.
00:00:43.759 --> 00:00:50.560
And I try not to put things in those boxes because what I think is normal one day might be completely abnormal the next day.
00:00:50.640 --> 00:00:55.119
So I don't know that I feel qualified to put that in a box and have a definition.
00:00:55.280 --> 00:00:59.439
What I say is I judge things more by do they work or do they not work?
00:00:59.600 --> 00:01:00.240
Is it broken?
00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:01.600
Is it can it be fixed?
00:01:01.759 --> 00:01:02.399
Is it safe?
00:01:02.560 --> 00:01:03.520
Is it not safe?
00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:06.079
So normal can be a little more subjective.
00:01:06.239 --> 00:01:15.040
And I try to confine my uh my opinions to things that are a little more specific that you can look at, and it's not open to interpretation.
00:01:15.120 --> 00:01:16.319
It either is or it isn't.
00:01:16.640 --> 00:01:20.640
Can you tell me about your personal journey and what led you into journalism and filmmaking?
00:01:20.959 --> 00:01:28.879
I was in the television news business for 20 years when I got out of college and I was a television weatherman, I was a reporter, I was an anchor.
00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:34.959
I did all kinds of different jobs, but one thing I always did was cover stories about disasters and things that were wiped out.
00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:40.959
And so when I got out of the news business, I said, well, how can I use these skills towards something that maybe will make a difference?
00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:49.359
And that is finding stories about things that I think are a problem and that I think there can be solutions for, or that I want people to find solutions for.
00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:51.680
And that's how I got into making documentaries.
00:01:51.840 --> 00:01:53.680
My first film was about parenting.
00:01:53.920 --> 00:02:00.079
I have five kids, but I would tell you that I make mistakes as a parent every day, and it is the toughest job in the world.
00:02:00.400 --> 00:02:06.640
My other two films are about houses and how poorly they're built and how poorly they perform year after year.
00:02:06.799 --> 00:02:17.759
And I have a one is called The Last House Standing, which is on 2B TV, and the other is Built to Last Buy or Beware, which is rolling out on public television stations, and is also available to rent.
00:02:17.840 --> 00:02:22.639
And I know you're going to put the link in the show notes, and I encourage everybody listening to rent the film.
00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:29.199
I would love to have your support, but I would also really value you seeing the film and then letting me know what you think about it.
00:02:29.280 --> 00:02:30.960
You can leave a review for the film.
00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:41.840
And then also I'm put together a document that you can download called Questions You Absolutely Need to Ask the Builder or the Seller of the House You're Thinking of Buying before you buy it.
00:02:41.919 --> 00:02:43.520
And that's a downloadable PDF.
00:02:43.599 --> 00:02:46.319
It's free, and I hope you take advantage of that.
00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:50.319
What first drew you to storytelling as a way to explore real world issues?
00:02:50.719 --> 00:02:54.240
You know, I like stories where you can kind of figure out the ending.
00:02:54.400 --> 00:03:02.719
And so when you talk about investigate real world issues in the housing world and where people live, everybody should relate to that because we all live someplace.
00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:06.080
And the question is, how safe is that place you live?
00:03:06.240 --> 00:03:07.840
How much do you know about it?
00:03:08.080 --> 00:03:11.360
And what I've learned over the years is most people don't know very much.
00:03:11.599 --> 00:03:15.840
We are people that are drawn towards the icing on the cake and not the ingredients.
00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:20.719
The little frill things in the house that make it look pretty and fun, everybody gets excited about.
00:03:20.800 --> 00:03:25.520
But the the fun, the not so fun stuff, how are the walls bracketed to the roof?
00:03:25.759 --> 00:03:28.560
How is the house built to withstand disasters?
00:03:28.719 --> 00:03:32.159
People don't want to think about that because people don't want to think about disasters.
00:03:32.319 --> 00:03:37.360
So my goal in these films is to create a film that wakes people up.
00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:40.560
From what I've heard from people that watch it, it does get their attention.
00:03:40.639 --> 00:03:44.159
Now, whether they go out and actually do anything about it, I can't control that.
00:03:44.319 --> 00:03:47.039
I can only tee it up for you and make a suggestion.
00:03:47.120 --> 00:03:50.800
And I hope people heed the words in the film and actually do something.
00:03:51.120 --> 00:03:55.439
How has your background as a journalist shaped the way you approach documentary filmmaking?
00:03:55.680 --> 00:04:05.759
Well, you'll notice if you watch documentaries, if you watch Netflix, if you watch Amazon Prime, a lot of those documentaries, you can watch the film and you can know, hey, a Democrat made this film, a Republican made this film.
00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:10.400
They had an angle and they want me to buy in on their angle.
00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:12.800
That is not how I like to make films.
00:04:13.039 --> 00:04:15.039
My opinion in the film does not matter.
00:04:15.199 --> 00:04:24.319
What matters are the facts in the film, and then it's up to you to look at those facts and determine how you process that and whether you agree or don't agree.
00:04:24.560 --> 00:04:27.199
I don't want to shove my opinion down anybody's throat.
00:04:27.279 --> 00:04:29.040
And that's what I try to do in my stories.
00:04:29.199 --> 00:04:34.720
I'm not the star of the film, like some documentary filmmakers, where it's look what George does here, look what George does there.
00:04:35.040 --> 00:04:39.519
My film is about situations that I want to wake people up about.
00:04:39.680 --> 00:04:40.879
Now, I know there's differences.
00:04:41.279 --> 00:04:44.399
In a film like your film, for example, the film is about you.
00:04:44.639 --> 00:04:46.319
That's a totally different thing.
00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:50.879
But in a documentary about homes, I'm not going to tell you what to believe.
00:04:51.040 --> 00:04:53.199
I think the story speaks for itself.
00:04:53.519 --> 00:05:01.839
Establishing a style is really just from your experience, it's how do you envision people absorbing the story that you're telling?
00:05:02.079 --> 00:05:11.600
And what I like to do is put the facts out there in a way that shows you what is going on, but not in a way that tells you how you have to perceive it.
00:05:11.759 --> 00:05:12.959
Just here is the fact.
00:05:13.120 --> 00:05:13.759
Here is the fact.
00:05:13.839 --> 00:05:18.079
Here's a guy whose house was wiped out, and he's telling you he has no place to live.
00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:23.040
Here's a woman who's telling you my dad had dementia and canceled the insurance on my house.
00:05:23.199 --> 00:05:29.199
It's not me storming the door going, why aren't you paying this woman her insurance uh claim?
00:05:29.519 --> 00:05:31.360
I can't solve the problem.
00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:34.639
I state the problem and offer solutions.
00:05:34.800 --> 00:05:39.600
And that's what I hope is is what's evident in the film and what comes across.
00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:42.079
What inspired you to make Built to Last?
00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:45.199
What was the moment you realized this story needed to be told?
00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:48.959
There's a couple instances that really stood out for me.
00:05:49.199 --> 00:05:59.199
One is after Hurricane Michael in 2018, I was in uh Mexico Beach, Florida, and I was walking through a neighborhood that was completely wiped out by a hurricane.
00:05:59.360 --> 00:06:01.680
And it was just a devastating sight to see.
00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:04.160
It looked like a bomb went off and everything blew up.
00:06:04.319 --> 00:06:08.480
There were slabs that used to have houses that were just wiped clean, everything washed away.
00:06:08.639 --> 00:06:11.360
And that was very impactful and it left an impression on me.
00:06:11.439 --> 00:06:13.680
It's like, wow, why does this keep happening?
00:06:13.839 --> 00:06:17.839
And what can we do to make sure it doesn't happen again?
00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:23.040
And the other incident happened much earlier in my career when I was working at a TV station.
00:06:23.199 --> 00:06:36.240
I flew into Moore, Oklahoma, after a major tornado hit that community, and I interviewed a woman who the only reason she survived was she got in the bathtub in her house and held a mattress over herself.
00:06:36.480 --> 00:06:38.160
Everything else was gone.
00:06:38.399 --> 00:06:43.600
There was nothing on that slab but the bathtub, the mattress, and this woman.
00:06:43.759 --> 00:06:46.639
And it was one of the most shocking things I've ever seen.
00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:53.839
And so that motivated me to try to tell stories about why does this happen and how can we avoid it from happening again?
00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:55.759
So that was that was a very powerful moment.
00:06:56.160 --> 00:06:59.439
What discoveries during the filmmaking process surprised you the most?
00:06:59.759 --> 00:07:04.240
What did I uncover during the process that truly surprised or changed me?
00:07:04.480 --> 00:07:06.879
I think there's a couple of things that really surprised me.
00:07:07.040 --> 00:07:12.879
One is learning that most people have never read their insurance policies and have no idea what's in it.
00:07:13.120 --> 00:07:23.920
So we hire an insurance company to protect our house or our assets, and we assume that because we're paying them, that they're on our side and they're going to step up and help us when we have a disaster.
00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:27.600
And the reality is that could not be further from the truth.
00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:33.920
Because throughout the document that they've given you, that's your insurance policy, are a million ways they don't have to pay you.
00:07:34.079 --> 00:07:39.680
It's not just an agreement between me and them saying, I'm giving you money, you're here to help me.
00:07:39.839 --> 00:07:43.680
It's I'm giving you money, and here's all the ways you're not going to help me.
00:07:43.920 --> 00:07:46.720
Here's all the ways you're not going to pay my claim.
00:07:46.879 --> 00:07:51.040
And that is a devastating thing to see because people's lives are ruined by that.
00:07:51.199 --> 00:08:03.040
When an adjuster comes in and says, you don't have$100,000 worth of damage, you only have 20, when they say, it's going to take us years to solve this, go find a place to live, but keep paying your mortgage during that process.
00:08:03.279 --> 00:08:06.720
So those are things that were very shocking for me to find.
00:08:06.959 --> 00:08:14.639
The other was to learn that there's a lobbying industry that builders have that fights to keep building codes as low as possible.
00:08:14.800 --> 00:08:19.040
And in the reality, I think building codes should be strong as strong as possible.
00:08:19.279 --> 00:08:31.759
Because if we look at automobiles, if we didn't tell people they had to have airbags and crash, you know, roll bars and all these different features in a car, seat belts, most people would save money and not have those things.
00:08:31.920 --> 00:08:38.240
And only because it was ordered by law to raise the game of auto safety do those things have it.
00:08:38.399 --> 00:08:40.320
I wish that happened in construction.
00:08:40.480 --> 00:08:46.720
But there's an entire industry that says, no, let's keep the code as low as possible because houses will be more affordable.
00:08:46.879 --> 00:08:55.120
And I think an affordable house that gets destroyed is a lot more expensive and damaging than a good house that may be more expensive but survives.
00:08:55.360 --> 00:08:57.360
And having a house survive should be our goal.
00:08:57.679 --> 00:09:02.320
When you look at how homes are currently built in Florida, what do you think people misunderstand the most?
00:09:02.480 --> 00:09:06.480
What feels most broken about the current system of home construction and development?
00:09:06.799 --> 00:09:23.200
I think the fact that in Florida, people are still putting wood on the second floor of two-story houses, that some houses are even being built entirely out of wood, and that the building code in outside of Southeast Florida is lower than it is there.
00:09:23.360 --> 00:09:25.360
So, for example, I live in Tampa.
00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:29.200
We're built to withstand hurricanes up to a category three.
00:09:29.279 --> 00:09:33.519
But if we get a four or five, the current building code might not survive that.
00:09:33.759 --> 00:09:39.440
If you're down in the Miami-Broward County area, you have to build to withstand a Category 5 hurricane.
00:09:39.519 --> 00:09:41.519
And I think that's a very important thing.
00:09:41.679 --> 00:09:50.399
And I wish that was more common that that was the standard, because having the standard lower only leads to more disaster every time there's a major storm.
00:09:50.559 --> 00:09:52.639
And I think we're going to keep seeing it again and again.
00:09:52.799 --> 00:09:57.519
And then in the places like Mexico Beach, after Hurricane Michael, they made the building code tougher.
00:09:57.679 --> 00:09:58.960
Not tough enough, but tougher.
00:09:59.039 --> 00:10:07.759
And people complained so much that they lowered it to where the building code now is weaker than it was before they got hit by a Category 5 hurricane.
00:10:07.919 --> 00:10:13.120
And you can tell me that, well, it makes houses still affordable for people, but again, it's a false sense of confidence.
00:10:13.360 --> 00:10:17.440
Just because you're in a house doesn't mean that house is going to survive a disaster.
00:10:17.600 --> 00:10:25.919
And if it doesn't, there's no amount of money you could have paid that would have made that okay because your life could be ruined or you could get killed in the house.
00:10:26.159 --> 00:10:33.759
When I talk to experts, because I'm not an engineer, I'm not an architect, but I surround myself with people that are much smarter than I am and know that stuff.
00:10:33.919 --> 00:10:55.279
And they tell me that if you have a house that's built with wood, and especially wood on the second floor, over time that house will be compromised by water getting in, the wood rotting, by it not being able to survive a category four or five hurricane by projectiles being blown into it and how they could penetrate a wood house.
00:10:55.440 --> 00:11:01.919
So there's a lot of vulnerabilities that are there that people discount because, first of all, they don't think it's going to happen to them.
00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:05.840
But secondly, they don't want to spend the extra money to not build it that way.
00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:07.679
And I think that's a huge mistake.
00:11:07.759 --> 00:11:13.759
And I think that people that do build it the right way should get rewarded with substantial discounts on their insurance.
00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:20.080
Because if I build a safe house and you build a weak house, we should not be treated the same way by the insurance industry.
00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:25.679
My house should be much higher rated and a much lower risk for the insurance company.
00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:27.360
And I should be rewarded for that.
00:11:27.519 --> 00:11:33.600
The other area that's frightening is most apartment complexes here in Florida are built out of wood.
00:11:33.759 --> 00:11:36.960
If they're, I think, less than five floors, a lot of them are wood.
00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:44.399
So people are living in an apartment with no idea how vulnerable they are, especially when the hurricane hits.
00:11:44.559 --> 00:11:49.200
They should be evacuating and going someplace else because that building may not be safe.
00:11:49.360 --> 00:11:50.879
But it happens all the time.
00:11:51.279 --> 00:12:01.039
Most apartment complexes, when they're a wood building, the stairwell is usually concrete and the parking garage is concrete, and then the building itself is wood.
00:12:01.279 --> 00:12:08.159
My daughter rented an apartment here in Tampa, and the person giving us a tour of the building, I asked specifically, is this a concrete building?
00:12:08.320 --> 00:12:09.919
And the woman said, Yes, it is.
00:12:10.159 --> 00:12:22.559
But my business partner, Eris Papadopoulos, looked up online and found a time-lapse video of the building being built entirely out of wood, except the parking garage and the stairwell.
00:12:22.799 --> 00:12:31.360
So not only was it wood, they lied about it on the tour and gave us a complete false sense of confidence in how safe that building would be in a disaster.
00:12:31.519 --> 00:12:48.879
So I encourage anybody in an apartment to ask questions, get an evacuation plan, make sure you have renter's insurance, because if you don't, the building's not covering your contents, but your contents may not be safe in that building, and you should definitely make sure you have it covered and evacuate someplace safe in the event of a major disaster.
00:12:49.200 --> 00:12:54.639
Why are we still building homes in ways that can fail during hurricanes, floods, and other extreme weather events?
00:12:54.960 --> 00:12:56.000
I think it's money.
00:12:56.240 --> 00:13:02.240
I think that people can save$20,000,$30,000,$40,000, maybe a little more, and they just want to save the money.
00:13:02.399 --> 00:13:04.480
They don't think they need to do those extra things.
00:13:04.639 --> 00:13:06.159
I think that's a huge risk.
00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:12.559
And if you take that risk, you face a major disruption in your life after a disaster.
00:13:12.720 --> 00:13:14.960
It may take you years to get back in your house.
00:13:15.120 --> 00:13:18.559
Your insurance may never pay the value of everything that you lost.
00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:25.679
And if water gets in your house in a flood type scenario and you don't have flood insurance, you're not getting anything.
00:13:25.840 --> 00:13:36.720
So people need to not just have insurance, you need to have flood insurance and look for houses that they actually can explain to you how they built it to survive the disasters that may happen in that area.
00:13:36.960 --> 00:13:40.000
If they can't explain that to you, don't buy the house.
00:13:43.440 --> 00:13:45.360
Who should be held accountable when homes fail?
00:13:45.600 --> 00:13:48.399
Builders, developers, politicians, or insurance companies.
00:13:48.559 --> 00:13:52.399
I say put them all in line and take your choice because they're all to blame.
00:13:52.559 --> 00:13:56.639
And you can take it in the order of when the homes fail, it's the builder's fault.
00:13:56.799 --> 00:14:04.960
But before that, it's the politicians' fault because they probably got some nice handouts from the builder's lobby to keep the building code weak.
00:14:05.120 --> 00:14:08.879
So maybe they're first in line because they didn't make it tough enough.
00:14:09.039 --> 00:14:13.600
Then the builder built the house to the standard low enough that they let them build it to.
00:14:13.840 --> 00:14:21.120
And then the insurance company coming in at the end, not paying your claim or making it very difficult for you to get your claim.
00:14:21.279 --> 00:14:31.039
And my message to everybody is if you look at that list, builders, politicians, insurance companies, would you really want to trust any of them if you had to trust them with your life?
00:14:31.279 --> 00:14:34.159
There are great builders out there, but you have to find them.
00:14:34.240 --> 00:14:36.480
They're not going to just come knocking on your door.
00:14:36.639 --> 00:14:41.519
And they're usually not the ones that you see building bulk houses in a community.
00:14:41.679 --> 00:14:49.679
So when you look at that group of people, I would say put yourself in a position where you don't really have to rely on any of them.
00:14:49.919 --> 00:14:52.879
Do your homework, find out how safe a place is.
00:14:53.039 --> 00:14:54.879
And if it's not, don't buy it.
00:14:55.039 --> 00:14:57.279
Let's make these people build safer houses.
00:14:57.360 --> 00:15:02.399
Let's start a ground from the ground up of saying we're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore.
00:15:02.559 --> 00:15:05.360
If you're building garbage, we're not buying garbage.
00:15:05.600 --> 00:15:16.799
If you're building a safe house, I'll buy that house and I'll tell everybody because you are the person that is thinking of the future and not sticking us with things that aren't going to be around after a disaster.
00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:18.159
Particle board.
00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:18.639
Yeah.
00:15:18.879 --> 00:15:24.879
What you found out, you know, we don't always get the opportunity to do that until something happens that it gets exposed.
00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:27.200
And then you're going, what the heck was I living in?
00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:29.360
What how poorly was this built?
00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:33.039
You know, a lot of people who have flood damage, they have to have their walls torn out.
00:15:33.200 --> 00:15:40.960
And when the walls are ripped open, they find garbage bags, food, beer cans, things that are thrown inside there.
00:15:41.200 --> 00:15:49.200
Now, you never would have known that if there wasn't a disaster, but once you find out that somebody did something like that, it's really hard to get that trust back.
00:15:49.360 --> 00:15:52.399
It's really hard to feel good about what you're buying.
00:15:52.559 --> 00:15:57.840
Because when you catch something that should have been obvious, what else are you missing?
00:15:58.080 --> 00:16:03.200
Like once somebody lies to you and then they look at you and go, nah, I've, this is the first time I've ever lied.
00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:04.399
Do you believe that?
00:16:04.720 --> 00:16:05.039
No.
00:16:05.679 --> 00:16:12.080
So once somebody's exposed for who they are or what they're doing, it's very hard to get that trust back.
00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:15.039
And that's something that you really only get once.
00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:17.120
You know, do you have that trust or do you not?
00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:24.960
And I would try to gravitate towards builders or apartments or things that the people give it good reviews and that they really trust them.
00:16:25.279 --> 00:16:29.840
Apartment reviews are very challenging when you read those because most people are unhappy about something.
00:16:29.919 --> 00:16:32.240
And the people that are unhappy are usually the ones that complain.
00:16:32.399 --> 00:16:35.120
The happy people just move on and are happy somewhere else.
00:16:35.360 --> 00:16:37.919
But the point is read the reviews.
00:16:38.159 --> 00:16:39.519
Read the reviews of builders.
00:16:39.679 --> 00:16:40.799
Go see their references.
00:16:40.960 --> 00:16:50.559
Walk around and talk to people who they didn't put on their list of references and try and look at that list and say, okay, what was your experience with the builder?
00:16:50.720 --> 00:16:52.399
Were they available when you had a problem?
00:16:52.559 --> 00:16:53.679
Did they solve problems?
00:16:53.840 --> 00:16:56.399
Was, you know, what do you can do tell us about the process?
00:16:56.639 --> 00:17:00.559
The more questions you ask and the more knowledge you have, the better off you are.
00:17:00.960 --> 00:17:06.000
How do politics and insurance systems influence the safety and resilience of the places people call home?
00:17:06.400 --> 00:17:16.319
You know, politics unfortunately plays a big part in it because when laws are passed by your state legislature, they affect the people that are in the state.
00:17:16.559 --> 00:17:27.119
So, for example, here in Florida, they passed a bill that said if I have to sue my insurance company and I win, I still have to pay for my own attorney.
00:17:27.359 --> 00:17:33.759
Now, to me, that's an example of a real head scratcher of a law because an insurance company has billions of dollars.
00:17:33.920 --> 00:17:36.400
I basically live day to day.
00:17:36.640 --> 00:17:40.559
I sue them because they're wrong and I get$100,000.
00:17:40.880 --> 00:17:43.039
Well, a third of that is going to go to my attorney.
00:17:43.200 --> 00:17:50.400
Now I don't have enough money to fix my house because I have to pay the attorney, and the insurance company doesn't have to pay for that.
00:17:50.559 --> 00:17:51.519
I think that's horrible.
00:17:51.680 --> 00:18:01.359
And there's other instances of reforms where in Florida they changed the period when you could sue your builder for big material defects from 10 years down to seven years.
00:18:01.599 --> 00:18:06.559
Well, if you talk to most homeowners that have stayed in a house for seven years, they didn't pick that by accident.
00:18:06.720 --> 00:18:08.400
That's when most things start to fall apart.
00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:18.319
That's when major things like the air conditioning, the heater, major things in the house that they should stand behind because they constructed it to have those things work or not work.
00:18:18.480 --> 00:18:19.759
You know, is the roof safe?
00:18:20.160 --> 00:18:21.519
Are the walls falling apart?
00:18:21.680 --> 00:18:27.200
Well, seven years is a good tell, and now they're not responsible for it because it used to be 10.
00:18:27.359 --> 00:18:32.559
And so that gives you an example that if you have a good lobbying group, the laws tend to favor you.
00:18:32.799 --> 00:18:36.559
And so politicians, it seems like a lot of times they're not on our side.
00:18:36.640 --> 00:18:37.839
And you can pick your party.
00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:40.880
I don't I can't tell you one side is any worse than the other.
00:18:41.039 --> 00:18:48.640
But if we took them all out to a field and said, you guys go away and we started with new people for everybody, that might not be such a bad thing.
00:18:48.799 --> 00:18:51.599
Because I don't know that any of them are really looking out for us.
00:18:51.839 --> 00:18:53.920
I've lived in places all over the country.
00:18:54.079 --> 00:19:04.640
So I've lived in Seattle, Washington, I've lived in San Francisco, I've lived in Los Angeles, I've lived in Detroit, I've lived in San Antonio, Texas, and now I live in Tampa, Florida.
00:19:04.799 --> 00:19:15.359
I can tell you that the disasters, if you took a disaster victim and had them do an interview with no background behind them, they were just talking about what they lost, it's the same story everywhere.
00:19:15.599 --> 00:19:16.960
Loss is loss.
00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:20.480
And I believe that the building problem exists everywhere.
00:19:20.720 --> 00:19:30.960
You look at where the fires were in California and all the problems they're having out there, they're having major problems getting back in their houses, getting insurance companies to pay, being able to rebuild.
00:19:31.039 --> 00:19:37.680
And we see that as disasters unfold across the country with tornadoes every year, with floods, with uh fires.
00:19:38.160 --> 00:19:43.759
So the although our film is about hurricanes, it's about disaster.
00:19:43.920 --> 00:19:48.400
And that just happened to be the disaster we had the easiest access to to make the film.
00:19:48.559 --> 00:19:50.319
But it's the same story everywhere.
00:19:50.400 --> 00:19:57.680
So you could take what we show in Florida, and that applies to Oklahoma, that applies to Texas, that applies to California, to Washington.
00:19:57.839 --> 00:20:09.680
It's the same thing, it's just a different disaster potential, but the victims are still having the same problems, and the building codes are still the same challenge, and the quality of building is still the same challenge.
00:20:09.839 --> 00:20:15.839
Just Google some of the builders in each city, and there are stories on YouTube that will make you sick to your stomach.
00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:22.640
There are stories on that pop up on 60 minutes sometimes about the insurance industry that will make you sick to your stomach.
00:20:22.799 --> 00:20:24.160
So it's a universal problem.
00:20:24.240 --> 00:20:25.839
It's not just here in Florida.
00:20:26.079 --> 00:20:32.799
We just tend to have those massive hurricanes that draw attention, but there's people that get wiped out almost every day by disaster somewhere.
00:20:32.880 --> 00:20:35.279
And it's a sad story when that happens.
00:20:35.680 --> 00:20:41.759
If we could redesign the system from the ground up, how should homes and communities be built to truly protect people?
00:20:42.160 --> 00:20:53.039
If you let me have the perfect world chance to design something, it might be like the space age films of the future where all these pods look the same throughout a neighborhood, but they're built to survive anything.
00:20:53.279 --> 00:20:56.319
I would love to see things built to survive almost anything.
00:20:56.480 --> 00:21:05.200
And I've interviewed experts that say, well, you can't bunker your community to survive the most extreme disaster because it'll become unaffordable for people.
00:21:05.359 --> 00:21:12.319
But I think there's a happy medium in there somewhere where we can certainly do a lot better than we're doing without breaking the bank.
00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:18.960
But what we have to calculate, and what I wish they the industry could show people, is the cost of not doing it right.
00:21:19.200 --> 00:21:29.839
The cost of having your house destroyed, the cost of losing your job because that business got wiped out, the cost of paying a mortgage for five years while you're waiting to get back in, but you can't live in that house.
00:21:30.079 --> 00:21:33.759
There are costs that are not calculated that you need to think about.
00:21:33.920 --> 00:21:43.039
So that extra$20,000 or$30,000 that you may have to spend for a safer house might be$100,000 cost to you if your house is destroyed.
00:21:43.279 --> 00:21:46.720
And if we could show people those numbers, I think it would make a huge difference.
00:21:47.119 --> 00:21:53.119
What materials, engineering practices, and design approaches have proven to stand the test of time and extreme conditions?
00:21:53.519 --> 00:21:56.960
You know, I was on a podcast recently that it was very environmentally conscious.
00:21:57.039 --> 00:22:02.720
And my favorite material to build it, I believe that's I've seen that's the safest is some form of a concrete home.
00:22:02.880 --> 00:22:08.480
Now I know environmentalists say concrete isn't an environmentally safe or as safe as they want it to be product.
00:22:08.799 --> 00:22:20.559
But my again, I quote back to my partner Eris who says if you have to build it twice, it's not green because you're using this the green materials twice and you're wasting materials and resources.
00:22:20.799 --> 00:22:24.160
Concrete houses seem to do the best standing the test of time.
00:22:24.319 --> 00:22:38.000
And there are different forms of building with it, there's different ways of building with it, but I think that's the safest way to build for both high wind events, for getting back in quicker for flooding, and for fires if you make it more fireproof.
00:22:38.240 --> 00:22:40.720
So that would be my material of choice.
00:22:41.200 --> 00:22:48.640
How should safety standards, accountability measures, and accessibility requirements evolve to better serve everyone, including people with disabilities?
00:22:49.039 --> 00:22:51.519
You know, in a perfect world, every house would consider that.
00:22:51.599 --> 00:22:56.559
And and I know apartments probably do more because of the way the laws are configured.
00:22:56.799 --> 00:22:58.400
With houses, I'm not really sure.
00:22:58.480 --> 00:23:02.880
I don't think you can build every house with full disability access.
00:23:03.039 --> 00:23:07.759
It's more of a realtor finding ways to show you those houses that would meet your demands.
00:23:07.920 --> 00:23:09.519
Could you put a ramp into this house?
00:23:09.680 --> 00:23:11.039
Could you adjust the shower?
00:23:11.279 --> 00:23:21.200
Could you, you know, when you watch and see stories of houses that were built specifically for people with disabilities, I don't know that you would build the exact same house for the general population.
00:23:21.519 --> 00:23:23.599
So the question is, is it adaptable?
00:23:23.759 --> 00:23:26.799
You know, thank God that's a challenge I haven't had to deal with.
00:23:26.960 --> 00:23:32.160
I'm sure you can relate to that and it have a lot more experience about that than than I will ever know.
00:23:32.400 --> 00:23:39.440
But I would hope that there's access to those homes, but I don't know how you would make that part of regular construction.
00:23:39.759 --> 00:23:43.920
It depends on the builder and it depends on what their goal was when they were building it.
00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:50.319
I've noticed a lot more hotels that have rooms for people with disabilities, and that's certainly a very important thing.
00:23:50.480 --> 00:23:57.599
With housing, you know, it's tough enough to get them to build a safe house, let alone to say, okay, let's design this for whoever's going to move in.
00:23:57.839 --> 00:24:03.359
And in a perfect world, yeah, everything would be a way that'll that was available for everybody.
00:24:03.519 --> 00:24:09.440
And I guess it just makes you have to dig a little harder to find houses that meet that, meet that standard.
00:24:09.519 --> 00:24:17.039
And, you know, we had a you see every now and then when somebody comes and builds a ramp for a house or puts an elevator in so somebody can get access to the second floor.
00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:20.880
And those are all great things if they're built with the adaptability in mind.
00:24:21.039 --> 00:24:25.200
But as I say, that's not something that I would have an instant answer to.
00:24:25.519 --> 00:24:35.279
I would stress and argue that when you're building a house with somebody with a disability in mind, what if you can't evacuate during the storm because of your disability?
00:24:35.359 --> 00:24:47.039
And now you're in some flimsy wood house or some house that's poorly built, you're even more vulnerable at that point, and all the more reason to be in a safe house because if you had to stay there, you would be safe.
00:24:47.200 --> 00:24:57.680
And getting out into disaster is challenging for somebody who's not battling a disability, let alone somebody who may be in a wheelchair or somebody who may have some other type of disability that makes it hard for them to get around.
00:24:58.000 --> 00:25:06.079
How should different states adapt construction practices to address risks such as earthquakes, wildfires, tornadoes, flooding, and extreme heat?
00:25:06.160 --> 00:25:08.319
Aaron Powell I think concrete is a great building material.
00:25:08.400 --> 00:25:17.359
Now I know there's places in the country that don't worry about hurricanes, and maybe the winds are going to be nowhere close to hurricane strength, so they're going to have a different building code and standard.
00:25:17.599 --> 00:25:24.799
At some point, you have to rely on the people that are the local experts that know what the disasters are there and what they should be building that's safe.
00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:30.799
And it might not be efficient to build a concrete house in Michigan like it would be to build one in Florida.
00:25:30.960 --> 00:25:42.160
So I can't say that 100% this is what you have to do everywhere, but I would want to know what could happen in Michigan and what do I need to build there that would make my house safe.
00:25:42.400 --> 00:25:44.400
So the same principles apply.
00:25:44.640 --> 00:25:51.680
I just don't personally walk around with the kind of knowledge that I could tell you, well, this is what they have to do in Michigan, this is what they have to do in Massachusetts, this is what they have to do in Maine.
00:25:51.920 --> 00:25:58.240
But I know that I would want to know what the problems are there, and then I would make a decision on what I want to live in.
00:25:58.640 --> 00:25:59.680
Yeah, it's a great question.
00:25:59.759 --> 00:26:02.960
How you switch a standard from wood to concrete.
00:26:03.039 --> 00:26:10.400
And I think what it takes is we can't keep buying things that we know aren't safe just because that's available.
00:26:10.559 --> 00:26:17.200
I think you would be far better off renting a house if you had to choose between renting a house that wasn't safe or buying a house that's not safe.
00:26:17.440 --> 00:26:23.440
I would rent it, you know, all day because when that house gets destroyed, it's not gonna be your problem.
00:26:23.599 --> 00:26:27.200
You know, you hopefully you have insurance or you got out of there and you're safe.
00:26:27.519 --> 00:26:33.039
But I would stop putting all my money in and sliding all my chips in on things that aren't gonna be around.
00:26:33.200 --> 00:26:34.880
That it's not a forever home.
00:26:35.039 --> 00:26:40.559
It's not built with the thought of can this house be here in five, 10, 15, 20 years?
00:26:40.799 --> 00:26:48.000
And I think that's what it's gonna take because to change a building code in every city and state, every town is a huge, daunting thing.
00:26:48.160 --> 00:26:54.880
But if everybody woke up tomorrow and said, I'm not accepting mediocrity anymore, now that's not gonna work for some folks.
00:26:55.039 --> 00:27:00.559
Sometimes you're stuck in a community where you have no options, and then you want to make sure you have the best insurance possible.
00:27:00.640 --> 00:27:04.799
You want to make sure that you have a safe evacuation route, that you do all the other things.
00:27:05.039 --> 00:27:10.640
But if you do have a choice, the people that have a choice need to start making better choices.
00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:12.240
And that can start at the bottom.
00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:15.200
That's not a top-down thing, that's a bottom-up thing.
00:27:15.279 --> 00:27:17.519
And that's where I think hope lies.
00:27:17.759 --> 00:27:22.799
Because if we're relying on people at the top to save us, they're already living large.
00:27:22.960 --> 00:27:24.240
They're already fine.
00:27:24.400 --> 00:27:26.160
We're not a problem for them.
00:27:26.400 --> 00:27:27.440
We need to be.
00:27:27.599 --> 00:27:28.960
We need to demand more.
00:27:29.279 --> 00:27:37.039
As climate change intensifies, what changes need to happen now to ensure homes and communities remain safe and resilient for future generations?
00:27:37.359 --> 00:27:44.799
One of the things we see, Alexander, is that we're buying houses in areas that are risky, and then we're surprised when there's a problem.
00:27:45.039 --> 00:27:55.920
So if I say I have to live by the water, I'm taking a huge risk there for a number of reasons, for hurricanes, for floods, for erosion, for rising sea level.
00:27:56.160 --> 00:28:00.240
Those are all factors you need to think about when you're making that choice.
00:28:00.480 --> 00:28:05.759
If I'm buying a house in the woods, am I thinking about the fire danger and how were those houses built?
00:28:05.920 --> 00:28:08.240
What's the evacuation process in that neighborhood?
00:28:08.400 --> 00:28:10.079
How safe am I going to be?
00:28:10.319 --> 00:28:19.519
With climate change, and people argue about whether it's just all cyclical and we've had bad storms for years, but we see things intensify quickly.
00:28:19.680 --> 00:28:21.599
We see problems escalate quickly.
00:28:21.759 --> 00:28:28.000
So without even having the discussion of climate change, we know things aren't working the way they are right now, anyway.
00:28:28.240 --> 00:28:29.839
So we need to do better.
00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:35.039
And we need to think about what we're going to take into the future so we can survive.
00:28:35.200 --> 00:28:40.000
When you see a hurricane go from a category two to a category five overnight, I don't think that's normal.
00:28:40.160 --> 00:28:45.839
When you see wildfires wipe out entire towns and cities, that's not normal.
00:28:46.079 --> 00:28:48.880
And so, how do we build to survive these things?
00:28:49.039 --> 00:28:50.640
And how do we make better choices?
00:28:50.799 --> 00:28:52.640
I think that's the challenge we all face.
00:28:52.880 --> 00:28:54.799
And I like builders and architects.
00:28:54.960 --> 00:28:59.599
I spoke to some young engineers and architects at Western Kentucky University.
00:28:59.759 --> 00:29:03.599
And I told them, you guys and gals are the hope for the future.
00:29:03.680 --> 00:29:11.119
And I hope that as you're planning how you're going to build houses and design houses, you keep in mind that I'm only going to build safe houses.
00:29:11.279 --> 00:29:13.359
I'm only going to build houses that survive.
00:29:13.519 --> 00:29:17.839
Because you can put together some funky design that you think is really cool and it might win you an award.
00:29:18.000 --> 00:29:22.400
But if a storm's going to blow it off the face of the earth, who did you do a favor for?
00:29:22.559 --> 00:29:23.839
Who did you service?
00:29:24.000 --> 00:29:28.559
And the answer is only yourself and whoever made money off of that project.
00:29:28.640 --> 00:29:31.279
Because the people that bought it, their lives could be over.
00:29:31.440 --> 00:29:33.279
And so that's the future.
00:29:33.359 --> 00:29:37.519
And I want us to think towards that and do the best job we can building things.
00:29:37.839 --> 00:29:40.400
Where can people watch Built to Last right now?
00:29:40.720 --> 00:29:45.599
I'm giving you a link that you're going to put in the show notes that people can rent the film right away.
00:29:45.759 --> 00:29:49.839
And I would love to see everybody in your audience rent the film and check it out.
00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:53.599
My other film, The Last House Standing, you can rent as well.
00:29:54.000 --> 00:29:56.960
I'm going to give you a link for that, but it's also on 2B TV.
00:29:57.039 --> 00:30:00.000
So if you want to watch it for free, you've got to sit through commercials.
00:30:00.079 --> 00:30:02.079
If you rent it for me, you don't.
00:30:02.240 --> 00:30:06.960
So as a filmmaker, I would love for you to rent my film and I encourage you to do it.
00:30:07.039 --> 00:30:09.519
But if you want to watch it for free, it's on 2B TV.
00:30:09.599 --> 00:30:11.839
And every time it runs, they send me a nickel.
00:30:12.000 --> 00:30:14.799
So uh I won't be putting any kids through college on that.
00:30:15.039 --> 00:30:19.119
Are there plans for wider distribution or additional streaming platforms in the future?
00:30:19.359 --> 00:30:26.880
Alexander, I need to follow your example and I need to follow your path of how to get good distribution because it's very challenging.
00:30:27.039 --> 00:30:35.519
Now, my film is Built to Last Buyer Beware is rolling out on public television stations around the country, but they have to pick it out of a catalog and decide to run it.
00:30:35.759 --> 00:30:44.480
So wherever you are listening to this podcast or watching, call your local public television station and say, hey, run Built to Last Buyer Beware on the station.
00:30:44.559 --> 00:30:46.240
And then it could be on everywhere.
00:30:46.400 --> 00:30:49.519
But it's very hard to get them to make the decision.
00:30:49.759 --> 00:30:53.599
It's a lot easier if they hear about it and then want to do it.
00:30:53.759 --> 00:30:58.160
So it it's hard to get widespread distribution for a film.
00:30:58.400 --> 00:31:02.480
And so I want to get pointers from you because you seem to be really good at it.
00:31:02.559 --> 00:31:04.319
And I need to do better.
00:31:04.640 --> 00:31:07.519
How can viewers support the film and help spread its message?
00:31:07.839 --> 00:31:12.480
I think by renting the film and then sharing the link with other people, you can definitely support the film.
00:31:12.640 --> 00:31:23.039
And then the way I'll feel good about it, I mean, obviously I'd love to make money, but the way I really feel good about it, some of the best stories I've heard is when somebody says, Hey, I went home and read my insurance policy.
00:31:23.279 --> 00:31:24.480
I called my agent.
00:31:24.640 --> 00:31:28.000
I did a better job making sure I had the right coverage.
00:31:28.160 --> 00:31:30.480
I'm asking questions about the house I'm building.
00:31:30.559 --> 00:31:32.160
I'm going to choose a better builder.
00:31:32.319 --> 00:31:34.960
Those are very rewarding things when I hear that.
00:31:35.200 --> 00:31:43.920
And then since most documentary filmmakers don't get rich for making their films, when you hear that it made a difference in somebody's life, that's the best thing you can hear ever.
00:31:44.319 --> 00:31:46.640
And so I love to hear that story.
00:31:46.720 --> 00:31:53.039
And that's why I want you all to partake in the film and then share those stories with me because I think that would be huge.
00:31:53.359 --> 00:31:58.559
If organizations, schools, or community groups want to host a screening, how can they get involved?
00:31:58.880 --> 00:32:03.359
You can reach out to me through LinkedIn or through my website, which I'll also give you the link for.
00:32:03.519 --> 00:32:05.200
I love to go do speaking engagements.
00:32:05.359 --> 00:32:07.119
I love to do film screenings.
00:32:07.359 --> 00:32:11.440
I love to make the film available to as many people as possible.
00:32:11.680 --> 00:32:17.359
And in in some instances, if it's a group that has a budget, sure I like to get compensated for it.
00:32:17.519 --> 00:32:22.160
If it's a group that has no money, I will never let that stand in the way of having you see this film.
00:32:22.240 --> 00:32:25.759
It's too important to make that the number one thing.
00:32:25.920 --> 00:32:29.039
Everybody likes to make a living, but I also want you to be safe.
00:32:29.200 --> 00:32:30.640
So there are options there.
00:32:30.960 --> 00:32:35.519
For people who want to follow your work or connect with you, what is the best way to reach you?
00:32:35.839 --> 00:32:50.319
If you're interested in reaching out to me about a film screening, if you go to move the worldfilms.org, I've put a link on there to my speaker profile page where you can reach me on there and see about booking me for an event, or you can email me.
00:32:50.400 --> 00:32:52.079
There's a contact form on there.
00:32:52.319 --> 00:33:00.799
If you go to any of the links in the show notes, I'm very accessible and would love to uh would love to get back to you and tell you how we can make it happen.
00:33:00.960 --> 00:33:06.000
So please contact me and uh let's get this film in front of as many people as possible.
00:33:06.240 --> 00:33:11.440
There's an expression that I've heard that says, the first step in solving a problem is realizing you have one.
00:33:11.680 --> 00:33:14.319
Well, in the world of housing, I think it's obvious.
00:33:14.480 --> 00:33:15.680
We know there's a problem.
00:33:15.920 --> 00:33:16.960
So that's the first step.
00:33:17.119 --> 00:33:18.799
Now we have to figure out how to solve it.
00:33:18.960 --> 00:33:23.680
And I got to tell you, Alexander, I want to thank you so much for having me on your podcast.
00:33:23.839 --> 00:33:36.240
And you are a true inspiration to me because the things that you have accomplished in your life, I look at and I go, wow, and there's things that I complain about that I don't have a fraction of the challenges that you've overcome.
00:33:36.400 --> 00:33:40.480
And I'm a big admirer of yours, and I really appreciate you having me on.
00:33:42.000 --> 00:33:45.759
I'm Alexander Freeman, and this has been Remaking Normal.
00:33:46.240 --> 00:33:50.720
The people you'll hear on this podcast and the stories they share.
00:33:50.960 --> 00:33:54.559
Remind us that normal isn't a rule to follow.
00:33:54.880 --> 00:34:02.400
It's something personal, something evolving, something we create every time we choose to be real.
00:34:02.880 --> 00:34:11.199
If you've been inspired by these conversations, make sure to subscribe to Remaking Normal wherever you listen to podcasts.
00:34:11.440 --> 00:34:17.199
And to the Outcast Productions LLC YouTube channel for films and more.
00:34:18.239 --> 00:34:22.000
Follow me on Instagram at real Alexander Freeman.
00:34:22.159 --> 00:34:28.159
You can also visit my own normal movie.com to learn more about my documentary My Own Normal.
00:34:28.559 --> 00:34:34.400
And explore Outcast-productions.com and consider working together on a film.
00:34:35.199 --> 00:34:40.960
Thank you for listening, for feeling, and for being part of this journey.
00:34:41.440 --> 00:34:44.639
Together, we're remaking normal.
