West Hollywood’s iconic gay bar-restaurant-entertainment complex The Abbey and its staff are the subject of a new reality TV series for which some shooting has already been done, The Wrap reports:
The Abbey founder and president David Cooley greeted 500 of his closest friends at his birthday party at the iconic West Hollywood gay bar on Tuesday night and surprised guests with the announcement he had reacquired 100 percent ownership of the club…The celebration was being filmed and it turns out the cameras capturing his festive occasion were not just for posterity, but the footage being shot was setting the stage for an opening storyline of a reality series centered on the gay bar.
Patrons should be prepared to see cameras at the restaurant “soon”, says The Abbey’s publicist.
The block where The Abbey is located also includes Real Housewife Lisa Vanderpump’s restaurant Pump, which is already the subject of a Bravo reality series, Vanderpump Rules. It’s unclear where Cooley’s show will find a home on TV:
Cooley declined to provide specifics about whether a network, or which one, had commissioned the shooting underway, but did say that he is not self-financing the production. Cooley is working with Banijay, the reality production company headed by former Endemol topper David Goldberg, that also counts “I Am Cait”, the Kardashians franchise, and E!’s “Total Divas” amongst its formats.
Cooley told The Wrap the show would focus on the “positive” aspects of his business: “It will not be ‘who is sleeping with who’ and me yelling as the ‘yelling boss.’”
