Getting a latté and being in a reality show at the same time has never been so easy!
Step inside The Dirty Hippie (133 S. Division) in Grand Rapids and you could be part of the next big scene in Tyler and Vinny Trierweiler’s imaginative web-based show that puts a new twist on life in GR.
The Trierweilers, 23-year-old twin brothers from Portage, came to Grand Rapids this spring to start
The Musician’s Cooperative based on an organization Tyler Trierweiler says they started in South Bend, IN. They wanted a larger city to work and play in, so they scoped out Grand Rapids and made the move.
After gathering ideas about what they could do for a living that was different and sustainable, the guys launched The Dirty Hippie reality show premise where staff and customers in a bona fide coffee shop are the stars. The shop opens officially Oct. 1, the same date the show debuts on the web at
dirtyhippievenue.com.
“We’ve been filming for the past two-and-a-half weeks,” says Trierweiler, who graduated from Western Michigan University with a degree in video production. “First episode is about setting up the business.”
He adds that if a customer walks in during an event at the shop they can “be assured filming will be going on and you may be in the episode. We edit the best stuff just like any TV producers do. This is more than an everyday coffee shop, but you can come in and do your homework here, too.”
Trierweiler says Grand Valley State University interns are handling the filming. Customers can sit down in front of the self-confessional camera and talk about whatever they want to, or grab one of the foot cameras to film themselves or their friends.
The 1,000-square-foot shop will be open seven days, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., with special events, music, open mic nights, showings of the reality series and other happenings scheduled throughout the week.
Source: Tyler Trierweiler, The Dirty Hippie
Writer: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News Editor
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