A reality show whose creator is from the Flathead Valley will make its debut on Saturday on the Travel Channel.

“City Swappers” was conceived by Bigfork’s Val Anderson. The pilot show will air at 7 a.m. local time, though Anderson said it has not been decided whether it will be picked up for more shows yet.

In the initial episode, families from New Orleans and Miami swap homes, vehicles and lives, using each other’s houses as home bases for vacations.

Anderson works for his family’s business, Alpine Blinds in Bigfork. He had no experience or training in television production, but said the idea for the show originated from his perusal of the Home Exchange website, on which people can list their homes as vacation hubs, usually with the goal of switching off with another family.

Anderson had worked on a project with Los Angeles-based production company Stone Circle Films when the company was filming in the Flathead Valley and needed furniture for a set.

He took his idea to Stone Circle Films, consulting producers for the Discovery Channel reality show “Bering Sea Gold,” in 2011, and the company signed on to the project.

The president of Home Exchange also was intrigued enough to finance half of the filming of the original promotional piece.

The promotional piece on which the producers pinned their hopes for the show was shot in September 2011, featuring a couple with a home on Lake Blaine and a couple in Hawaii trading homes for a dream vacation.

Anderson said crews shot footage of the Hawaiian couple at attractions throughout the Flathead — Eva Gates Preserves in Bigfork, the Montana Jerky Co. in Columbia Falls, at Flathead Lake and in Glacier Park.  Meanwhile, the Flathead couple was filmed enjoying typical Hawaiian pursuits.

Stone Circle showed the piece to Travel Channel, who bought the rights to it, then filmed the pilot that viewers will see on Saturday.

“The show they ended up with is very different than the show we had pitched,” Anderson said. “The Travel Channel is not featuring Home Exchange as much as we wanted.”

Anderson said he is receiving an associate producer credit on the show and will get some financial compensation if the show is picked up as a series.

If not, he said, he has had an adventure and has learned some lessons, good and bad, about the entertainment industry.

“I’ve learned that there is very little reality in reality TV,” he said. “Most things are very scripted, where they make actors out of lay people. I didn’t want to show a scripted vacation.”

One thing he has discovered, though, is that producers are eager for storylines related to Montana.

“They’re looking for larger-than-life characters in Montana, or interesting businesses they can build shows around,” he said. “People have a mystical idea about places like Montana, Hawaii and Alaska. They are romantic visions for most people.”

Anderson encourages anyone who has an idea for a Montana-based program to take the next step.

He said Stone Circle Films is interested in pitches for Montana-based programming, and Anderson said he would be happy to get people in touch with the company. Email him at bfecho1@gmail.com

“I’ve learned through this process what it’s like diving in,” he said. “There are opportunities for anyone who has an idea. People are always looking for the next big thing.”