Casting Call: L.A. Mansion’s Listing Video Takes Cues From ‘La La Land’

Iconic Homes, Los Angeles

Most luxury home listings are accompanied by video. The most basic versions offer a measly slideshow set to tinkling piano music. More elaborate clips use a drone to take soaring overhead shots. Big-budget property videos employ actors to tell a story, complete with narrative.

But when the coolest real estate video we’ve ever seen twirled before our eyes, we had to know more. This fascinating clip takes its cues from the Oscar-winning musical “La La Land.”

“We were trying to think outside the box to come up with something fresh and original for this house, which is so beautiful and rare,” says listing agent Horacio LeDon, with the Iconic Homes team at Partners Trust.

“It’s Spanish style, built in 2014, with high ceilings and an open floor plan,” says LeDon. So what better way to highlight those features than with couples dancing through the house to the award-winning music from another modern classic, “La La Land”? It sure beats panning through the rooms with a camera mounted on a dolly!

However, a full-on production can add at least $20,000 to the marketing budget, and the cash usually comes out of the agent’s pocket, according to LeDon. The equation can make sense for a house priced in the $20 million range, but for an $8.5 million home, it’s more daunting. LeDon had to be resourceful to make his candy-colored vision a reality.

To give you a comp for videos, a “regular” video presentation of a Los Angeles–area home costs around $1,500.

LeDon started asking around, checking with the other agents at Iconic. One of them was dating director and choreographer Kristine May, who listened to LeDon’s idea and jumped aboard.

“Oakview Land” video riffs on “La La Land.”

Iconic Homes, Los Angeles

May was able to get dancers to perform for free, in return for audition-reel footage. Everyone involved called in favors, and after a five-day shoot they were able to produce the entire film for under $5,000.

And what a production it turned out to be! It starts out with an attractive couple (she with red hair, he with a 5 o’clock shadow à la  Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling) springing out of bed and doing a feisty pas de deux around the master suite and its private terrace with fountain.

Following scenes show them waltzing through the arches and over the wood floors in the grand hallway, great room, and family room, twirling through the massive kitchen and formal dining room, and entertaining equally nimble-footed friends in the elaborate guesthouse.

There’s a witty surprise ending that’s worth watching the video’s full 7.5 minutes. Yes, it does run a little longer than your basic two-minute real estate video.

The Oakview estate, as it appears in the listing

Iconic Homes, Los Angeles

But there’s a lot to show off. The 10,100-square-foot estate has seven bedrooms and 10 bathrooms. It sits on a 1.5-acre lot with a guesthouse, staff apartment, pool casita, and views of the San Fernando Valley. It takes a while to waltz your way through a property like that.

“The response has been fantastic,” according to LeDon. He says they’ve received qualified requests for eight showings in just four days. For a property in this price range, that’s an accomplishment.

The success of the video has helped him in other ways, he adds. “This is as much about selling houses as it is about keeping listings.”

The owners are really pleased with the results, he notes, and less likely to switch agents. In addition, he and his co-listing agent, Mark Rutstein, have been approached by other sellers for listing presentations.

LeDon says this video will be a hard act to follow. Here’s hoping for “Another Day of Sun”!

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