Once upon a time, up-and-coming reality creator Adam DiVello struck gold with Laguna Beach, a docusoap about the beautiful, enviable teens who populate Orange County. Eighteen years later, executive producer DiVello is going back to where it all started with Selling the OC, the latest development in a Netflix universe that burst onto the scene, teetering stilettos first, with Selling Sunset.

Selling the OC, whose premiere date has yet to be announced, follows Sunset boss Jason Oppenheim as he establishes an Oppenheim Group real estate office in Orange County with a whole new cast of employees. Viewers first got a taste of the upcoming show when its agents popped up at the contentious Selling Sunset Season 4 finale bash. “They all left that party calling us up like, ‘Is this what it’s going to be like?’” DiVello tells Tudum, laughing. In Season 5, Oppenheim gives his Sunset co-workers a quick tour of the new OC office. While Selling the OC shares a lot of its DNA with its Los Angeles–based predecessor, DiVello cautions viewers from expecting more of the same with his new series.

“It’s a cast of guys and girls, which is different,” he points out. This development is a huge departure from Sunset, where men outside of the Oppenheim family are accessories akin to a chair purse, and from sibling show Selling Tampa, which appreciates men for their ability to buy a mansion (and therefore generate that big commission) more than anything. Oppenheim decided to start his Orange County office before it was intended to inspire a show, but when he approached DiVello with the opportunity, the producer knew he wanted men and women in the OC cast. The real estate mogul then created an actual staff — just as the O Group in West Hollywood is a real, running business. “We got to work along with him as he hired agents to round out the cast,” DiVello says.

While the OC office “is probably about 10 times bigger than the one that’s [in LA],” how do the agents measure up? “The cast is just wild, right from the jump; they don’t hold back,” says DiVello. “They don’t have any filters. They say what they’re thinking. And it’s a very drama-filled season.” While words like wild and drama-filled may immediately conjure images of the Selling Sunset women in one’s mind, DiVello isn’t ready to pinpoint which OC cast members might follow in the footsteps of Christine Quinn and Chrishell Stause. “I’m going to let everyone decide for themselves,” he teases.

DiVello is, however, more than excited to preview The OC’s other star: Orange County itself. “I started my career in reality television doing Laguna Beach back in the day,” he says. (Who could forget ingenue Lauren Conrad and the rest of the tabloid-mainstay cast members?) “It was a little head scratching in the first couple months because it was like, ‘I can’t believe I’m back down here again, shooting all the same areas and the same beaches.’” Yet the docusoap master can’t wait to introduce a new generation to the “paradise” that is the OC. The beachy locale offers a different Southern Californian flavor than the modern glitz and glamour of Sunset’s LA.

“It’s such an escapist show, it’s just so beautiful. I hope people just fall in love with the town as much as I did when I first started working down there... They’re just going to love seeing the beaches, the bonfires and people surfing,” he says dreamily, promising shots of seaside megamansions on cliffs. “I can’t wait for people around the world that didn’t get to catch Laguna Beach to see it. They’re going to get to see this town and be like, ‘It’s mind-boggling that people live down there.’”