For this episode of "Make It Make Sense," an opinion interview series from The Washington Post, host Kate Andrews — an opinion journalist for the paper and economics editor of The Spectator — sat down with Jason Oppenheim, the real estate figure known to millions as the founder of the Oppenheim Group and a lead personality on Netflix's Selling Sunset and Selling the OC. We shot the interview on location at his office rather than in our studio, putting the conversation right inside the world it was about.
The Conversation
The episode dug into California's housing policy — whether Los Angeles's "mansion tax" has done more harm than good to the city's real estate market, the reality behind the state's homelessness crisis, and why Oppenheim believes the AI boom could ultimately be part of what saves California's economy. Before building the Oppenheim Group into one of the most recognized luxury brokerages in the country, Oppenheim practiced law in Los Angeles — a background that shaped the sharp, policy-literate take he brought to the conversation.
Shooting On-Site
An office interview comes with a different set of problems than a studio session — existing light, reflective surfaces, a room that wasn't built for cameras. We brought our own lighting and audio setup and built the shot around the space itself, so the office reads as exactly what it is: the place where these decisions actually get made, not a generic backdrop.
Shooting on location for an interview like this adds credibility that a studio can't fully replicate — the guest is in their own environment, visibly more at ease, and the setting itself becomes part of the story the audience is watching.
