The show was filmed between March and June, said Tim Warren, executive producer and showrunner for the production company. And then, on top of that, they want to come here and look around and choose me and a handful of other people to kind of use us to say, ’Hey listen, we have this idea, do you want to help this guy out? Do you want to give him a job at your store for a little bit?” Because, now, looking back at this whole thing, you’re talking about a guy like Glenn Stearns and a film crew, for some reason, out of every city in the entire country, they want to pick Erie, Pennsylvania. “I would have had better luck hitting the lottery and winning $1 million dollars than this happening,” Messenger said. It’s listed as being owned by Glenn Bryant Services, a limited liability company that was registered with the Pennsylvania Department of State on March 7. The Erie County Health Department licensed the business to open at its 3040 West Lake Road location in Millcreek Township on June 4. It won first place overall in the ribs for juniors category and tied for first place for best ribs overall. Underdog BBQ was among the vendors at Erie’s Wild Rib Cook Off & Music Festival held in Perry Square from May 29 to June 2. Obviously, they’re putting the puzzle pieces together, which we knew was going to happen.” “Obviously, people in our area are aware of Underdog BBQ opening, but they didn’t really know what it was. “Certainly there’s a lot that I’m not ready to talk about yet,” Messenger said. That Underdog BBQ plays a central role in the show is absent from the promotional videos and press releases from the Discovery Channel. Van Scoter said viewers will see just how “shocked” she was when she learned that Glenn Bryant was actually billionaire Glenn Stearns. I don’t know if I was that naive or that busy with the work I was tasked with.” “But I really truly hadn’t figured it out. “All of a sudden I got an email and the project was moving forward,” Van Scoter said.Īs filming moved forward early this year, Van Scoter said “felt like something was up, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. She heard nothing about the project in the months after that first meeting. “Helping other small business owners has always been important to me, so I was excited to be part of the project for that fact,” she said. She was a small business owner who did great work, they told her, and could give the man help and insight. She was told only that she and others would be working with a man who planned to come to Erie to start his own business. Stearns, according to the Discovery Channel, will put $1 million of his own money into the business if an independent financial evaluator assesses its value below $1 million - even if it is a penny short.ĭawn Van Scoter, a 37-year-old North East resident who owns Nine20 Furnishings & Design House and Mercantile 89, was contacted after a client passed on her phone number to the production company, This Is Just a Test. Stearns was not allowed to use any of his wealth or connections to create the million-dollar business. Even the crew Stearns assembles is kept in the dark about his true identity until late in the series. Stearns assumes a fake identity, Glenn Bryant, and sets out to create a $1 million business in just 90 days. It follows mogul Glenn Stearns as he arrives in Erie with just $100 in his pocket and an old blue pickup truck. The Discovery Channel will launch the eight-part series “Undercover Billionaire” on Aug. I just figured they could go ahead and use it if Erie could get a good plug.” “They have been in and out for two or three weeks over the last two months,” Zaphiris said. People like Erie businessman Pete Zaphiris, who owns the former Metropolitan dance club on West 13th Street, and who, without knowing exactly what was going on, allowed Discovery to use his building for filming. About a week later, when the Discovery Channel announced the premiere of a new reality show set in Erie, people started to connect the dots.
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