By Carol P. Bartold

Jun. 8, 2016:  An actor might wait years to receive the call saying he "got the part." It's not the type of call the owner of a construction renovation management firm would wait for or even expect, but it came for Artie Lange, president of Arthur Lange Inc.

"I got a phone call from a local designer I had worked with," Lange said. "She had done some HGTV work and had gotten a call saying that the Property Brothers were looking for a good contractor to work with, someone whose work would be able to translate to the screen."

The Property Brothers, twins Jonathan and Drew Scott, have had great success on the HGTV network with real estate and home renovation programs. Jonathan's expertise lies in construction and decorating, while Drew specializes in real estate sales. "These guys do magic," Lange said. "They are a serious brand."

Lange was hired to do four episodes, in Scarsdale, Yorktown, Eastchester, and Rockland, of the six-episode series Property Brothers Buying and Selling due to be aired in the winter of 2017.

On the series, the Scotts wanted to show more of the actual construction work involved in each renovation. They wanted to have workers be part of the production of the program. For the four episodes, Arthur Lange employees are portrayed as Jonathan Scott's crew but wear shirts that display the company's logo.

"That's the deal I made with them," Lange noted. "We would give them a good deal on the work and my company would get some exposure, possibly with me in some scenes and some shots of my trucks in the driveways."

Lange explained that each episode in the series is based on three renovations in a home, one major and two minor projects. Cineflix Media, the producers of the series, consults with the Scotts and Lange about the type of action they want to shoot on each job site. "I'm a paid consultant," Lange said, "so I actually function like a paid actor."

Each renovation involves two shoots and begins at the home where the work will be done. In this "begin reno" scene, Jonathan Scott talks with the client about the renovation and has the client break the hammer into a wall to start the work. At that point, Lange said, the client is kicked out of the house for the duration of the work and not allowed back until the final reveal.

The episode continues with Lange's crew onsite and working with Jonathan to complete needed demolition.

For the "mid reno" shoot, the producers give Lange a script of what work must be completed and what is to be left undone. Also addressed is what Jonathan Scott will be doing, such as pushing things in place, working on finishing floors, or finishing cabinets.

With the "mid reno" shoot complete, Lange said, the producers give a completion date for the project. "These time lines are very tight and very strict," he said. "There is no room for error and it's pretty intense." Once the job is complete, there is a final shoot in which Jonathan Scott reveals the newly renovated home to the client.

"The reveal is big," Lange said. "The client has to give 100 percent trust to the entire team to create a renovation that they will enjoy and want to live with."

Lange has fielded three different crews on the three episodes filmed to date. He has had twenty workers dedicated to the show. "When we had our 'mid reno' shoot for the first episode," he said, "the top brass from Cineflix and HGTV came. They spent time with us and thanked us for our help with the show."

Never in his grandfather's wildest dreams, Lange said, would he have envisioned his company having the opportunity to work on a television show.

Artie Lange is the fourth-generation Arthur Lange at the helm of Arthur Lange Inc. "My great grandfather started this company in 1910," he said. Then his grandfather ran it, as did his father from the early 1970s into the early 2000s. "And then I took over. There aren't many people in the 10708 zip code who don't know our family and history."

Pictured here:  Artie Lange, fourth-generation Lange to run Arthur Lange Inc.

Photo by N. Bower