Mile High VPR: A Denver club has started filming a reality show

So far, Denver hasn’t seen much success in the reality-TV sphere. It produced the least-successful seasons for both Married at First Sight and Love Is Blind, and few people remember that The Real World (RIP) once filmed a season here.

Nico Christou wants to change that.

He’s the son of Regas Christou, the founder of many Denver clubs, one of which is the subject of Nico’s latest endeavor: a reality show about the staff at Milk. The working title? Spilled Milk.

“I think we’re gonna call the first episode ‘Like Clockwork,'” he says. “You know, Clockwork Orange inspired a lot of Milk.”

He’s sitting in one of the lounge areas of the club, which is quiet, for now, on the Friday before Memorial Day Weekend. It’s his 23rd birthday, and the camera crew just wrapped some B-roll shots and interviews with the cast, which comprises the staff at Milk.

“The premise of it is really about what’s special about Milk that a lot of other nightlife and entertainment venues don’t have,” Christou continues, “with the diversity and variety of rooms. You have a variety of subcultures, different music genres, and the way they interact is entertaining. We focus on the Las Vegas, the Miami kind of nightlife. I think the underground nightlife needs its story to be told.”

Vanderpump Rules, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills spinoff that became its own juggernaut, is “a great reference point” for the style of show, he says. But then he adds, “I wouldn’t even compare it to any show, because nothing like this has ever been done before.”

The production is being handled and funded by CoClubs, the Christou company that also runs spots like Vinyl, 1134 Broadway, Bar Standard and The Church. “It is following staff,” he says, adding that the appeal “beyond just the music side and the community side, is the fact that the people in the show, they’re not actors.

“We started our own production company for the show,” he continues. “We’re working with Luke Ostermiller, whose biggest projects have been in horror. … Horror directors are really good at working with a skeleton crew and they’re really crafty. That translates really well to reality TV. … What’s been most important is making sure this is not scripted, so we’re trying to reflect the reality as best we can.”

While shows like VPR and Southern Hospitality focus more on hospitality insiders (who later become celebrities in their own right, which can kind of spoil the show until a Scandoval happens), Spilled Milk will highlight the nightlife and entertainment world.

“People are fascinated by the nightlife industry,” Christou says. “And the people in it, they understand this, and they resonate with it, but they don’t have any content that appeals to them. So it’s very relatable, and there’s nothing else out there that’s really going to show you that.” Milk also provides a unique setting, with its labyrinthine layout that police have joked would be great for drills, according to Christou.

The goal is to have the pilot episode done and ready to air by mid-summer, whether through CoClubs’ own channels or on a bigger network, although Christou won’t share details on that just yet. “We’ll start with kind of a short-form clipping strategy the back half of June, hopefully, and then to be determined,” he says.

In the meantime, prepare for some reality-TV-worthy drama.

“I think it’s going to put a spotlight on Denver that we haven’t had before,” Christou concludes. “We’re trying to highlight a real story.”