UP FRONT

The Wonderfully Wacky World Of Damon Epps

Reality TV is rooted in Lake Highlands 

Interview by ELISSA CHUDWIN / Photography by BRIAN ROSS

Damon Epps’ phone rings. The 1979 hit “Good Times” radiates through the kitchen of his childhood home in Lake Highlands.

The song’s title is his nickname, earned because of his nonchalant nature working as a producer on “America’s Got Talent.”

“My boss would be freaking out, and I’d be like, ‘good times,’ ” he says. “Everybody ended up calling me that. It was funny. So now the nickname’s propelled me through the years.”

Goodtimes USA is his brand.

After years as a producer, Epps traded the drama-fueled hijinks of reality TV for equally eccentric documentary series. Epps partnered with Texas billionaire Gary Evans and his wife, Ashley, to create “American Oil,” a show chronicling the oil industry. Another he’s shopping to networks is about a black collegiate cheerleading squad. And he somehow persuaded Homeland Security to let him film at the border.

“To me, it’s the same job no matter if it’s ‘A Shot of Love with Tila Tequila,’ or it’s going after the cartel, or you’re telling a cheerleading story,” he says. “It’s really about what are the people doing, how did they get there, what’s their back story. Everybody is who they are because of where they came from.”

Between filming and editing, he made it home one August weekend for the opening of Steam Theory Brewing, where TV host Chris Harrison, a childhood friend, is an investor.

Harrison and Epps are reality-TV titans. While Harrison rose to fame hosting “The Bachelor,” Epps was behind the scenes, developing shows like “Wedding Wars” and “Friend Zone.” Like Harrison, Epps’ introduction to reality TV was accidental. Epps was a stand-up comedian in Los Angeles with a knack for videography. He scored a few gigs filming music videos including Snoop Dogg’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot.” Around the same time, a friend asked him to help produce A&E’s “Inked.” Two years later another friend, SallyAnn Salsano, formed 495 Productions, the self-proclaimed “most formidable hit factory” for the genre.

“People are telling me the shows I produced are their childhood shows,” he says. “I was like wow, that’s crazy. A whole generation I tainted. It makes me feel old, but I have to appreciate it. They’re great shows. They’re fun. They’re loud. I’m not ashamed of them. I should be.”