‘Sister Wives’: Kody Brown Extremely Creative Around Filming Problems

Sister Wives star Kody Brown might have a new mantra when it comes to his reality series – “the show must go on”. The patriarch of the Sister Wives clan faces problems in Flagstaff when it comes to filming. But these are minor stumbles in comparison to the historic roadblocks he’s faced when filming this show.

Sister Wives fans remember how one big roadblock didn’t deter Kody Brown. A few seasons back the show was on the chopping block. But this just got the creative juices going for Kody Brown. Back when Sister Wives Season 11 came to a close, the ratings were too low to renew the series. But Kody haggled his way out of that situation. Or in this case, into the situation of another go at the show.

Sister Wives: Kody Brown to the Rescue

Instead of demanding their original salary of $180,000 per adult, Kody Brown was so desperate to keep the show going, he took a huge cut in pay. What Kody proposed, reports indicate TLC accepted. Instead of five people receiving a salary of $180,000 each, Kody settled on a combined salary of $180K. That is an unbelievable cut in pay. But it looks like it worked to the Sister Wives family’s benefit.

The eleventh season came and went, followed by Season 12 and 13. Now Sister Wives is reportedly filming Season 14. If reports from back from Season 11 were correct, the Kody Brown family lost over $700K in that negotiation for Season 12. But they probably made up for it and then some in the long run. All you have to do is scroll through the Sister Wives adults’ social media sites to see one of the biggest long-term benefits.

The Sister Wives spouses, along with several of their adult children, now promote products on their personal sites. Meri Brown’s B&B, Lizzie’s Heritage Inn, is famous nationwide from the publicity it got from the show.

Sister Wives

Big Payoff in the Long Run

It looks like Kody Brown’s slashed salary prices for that one season paid off big time. Not only did it pave the way for several more Sister Wives seasons as the ratings picked up but it did something else as well. It kept the family in the spotlight. It doesn’t look like too many washed-up reality stars are promoting products today. So by keeping his family present on TLC, it looks like Kody secured the family’s future. They’re one promoting bunch and promotional work pays.

While the folks in Flagstaff welcome the Sister Wives family, reports indicate they’re not keen on film crews infiltrating their quiet town. Stipulations on where they can film emerged, leaving two of the four wives’ temporary Flagstaff residents off limits for cameras.

Last season, three of the wives rented temporary digs while waiting for their Coyote Pass homes or one big home. There’s still no reported construction on that site.

Christine purchased her temporary house because she couldn’t find a rental to take all her pets. So Christine owns her place and Robyn’s house already had the cameras there last season. So if two of the properties out of the four temporary homes won’t allow filming it stands to reason they’re Meri and Janelle’s homes.

Sister Wives: When Going Gets Tough Kody Gets Creative

It seems Kody and the TLC people got creative this season to accommodate for the lack of filming locations. The family took a trip to the windy city to visit Mariah Brown and the woman she’s engaged to, Audrey Kriss. The Sister Wives cameras filmed the family while in Chicago.

It appears they also rented a warehouse somewhere in or around Flagstaff. This is the place Kody Brown, Meri Brown, Janelle Brown, Christine Brown, and Robyn Brown film their commentaries from the couch.

When they filmed last season’s final Sister Wives segment, Tell All, it looked as if they did this in that warehouse. Clips surfaced that showed the family on a break during that episode. It appears the setting was a big warehouse, converted into a filming studio.

Robyn caught all kinds of slack for moving into a million-dollar mansion as her rental. This just might have been part of Kody’s plan. They certainly need a place big enough to film the whole family. Despite no official word yet from TLC of a Sister Wives renewal, the cameras hovering around the Brown brood seem to indicate a new season is in the works.

Then check back with Soap Dirt for all the current Sister Wives spoilers, updates, and news.