Tidying Up With Marie Kondo was originally envisioned as a scripted series

The Hollywood Reporter

When former Fox Entertainment president Gail Berman's The Jackal Group acquired the rights to Marie Kondo's bestselling book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up three years ago, she originally envisioned it as a scripted series or movie. Ultimately, her team decided a reality show made the most sense. "Initially, we were interested in doing the show in a scripted format and we were also approached to do it as a film, but we finally identified the most appropriate way for this journey to end," she says. "There were ups and downs, but we always thought that there was something very special in Marie and her message." Berman says she hasn't heard anything from Netflix yet about another season of Tidying Up. "But we’re very overwhelmed with the response," she adds. "You know when the high school people on Facebook have come to find you and tell you about one of your shows, that it definitely hit a nerve out there. I knew the show was a hit when I got a response from my rabbi." Asked if Tidying Up should be compared to Queer Eye, Berman responds: "The difference in this process versus the others is that it's very profound. Marie does not do the transformation for you; you must do and commit to the transformation. Marie’s not coming over with a team of people and cleaning your house, it doesn’t work like that. In Queer Eye, the guys go out and they buy the clothing and help with the transformation in a significant way. Marie is causing a transformation in a much more spiritual way."

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