Reality Of Reality

It’s a bittersweet day as I say goodbye to Reality of Reality. It feels fitting that this farewell is on the 5th anniversary of my podcast — which started as a fun whim with Jenny Daly and turned into over 200 episodes of interviews with the best in the business.  The why is simple: I’m just too busy with my core business to sustain the pace any longer. I realize that’s a lucky place to be — especially given how hard this last year has been for so many— and I don’t take it for granted.  Thank you to Taste of Reality for believing in me and putting me on your fabulous network. Thank you to my stepson Kevin Clobes for composing the fabulous theme music. And a huge thank you to my editor and engineer Jesus Murillo who has been with me from day 1 and might be the nicest human being I know. He’s done late night edits, very early morning edits and many other annoying edits and has never ever complained. He is a rock star and I’m lucky to continue working with him on my other ventures.  And finally, thank you to all

Diona Vaughan Mankowitz is an Emmy nominated producer and casting director who founded Divergent Content in 2020. Soon after she founded the company, Ray Dotch, an Emmy winning Executive Producer and Showrunner, came on board and became Diona’s ipso facto partner.  The goal at Divergent is to use the voices of people of color behind the camera to support, amplify, and elevate diverse stories and talent. We talk about inclusivity and hiring in unscripted content, the history of racism in our industry, the importance of hiring Black producers for all kinds of shows and what the Sharon Osborne firing says about where we are right now as a culture. Divergent content: https://www.divergentcontent.com Follow me: Instagram Twitter realityofreality.com

Today on the podcast – everyone’s favorite producer and all around human David Eilenberg. Dave is now Chief Creative Officer at ITV America where he’s guiding creative strategy, leveraging intellectual property, and helping grow the group’s six vertical production labels, including ITV Entertainment, Leftfield Pictures, Sirens Media, Thinkfactory Media, High Noon Entertainment and Good Caper Content. Dave cut his teeth in this industry working on game shows which led him to The Apprentice – where he learned how to produce a competition show when all of NYC is a set. He went to help create Are You Smarter than Fifth Grader which was put together at lightening speed from pitch to series. He also talks about the pressure to reboot Queer Eye, what it’s like being the head of a massive company, where this business is headed and why we should be working with producers all over the country. Follow me: Instagram Twitter realityofreality.com

Today on the podcast, Sirens Media President Mioshi Hill. Mioshi is a long time producer, starting on the production company side then going to Lifetime were she was VP of development overseeing shows like Little Women: LA, Finding Justice, Making a Model with Yolanda Hadid and Vivica’s Black Magic. She joined Sirens in January of  2021. The company is coming in strong this year with a great season of Real Housewives of New Jersey and the new show Wedding Coach which premieres April 7th on Netflix! http://sirensmedia.com Follow me: Instagram Twitter realityofreality.com

Andrea Blaugrund Nevins is a writer, producer and director who’s helmed the new documentary on FX/Hulu called Hysterical. This film is a great portrait of what obstacles female comedians face in the very male-dominated world of comedy. It profiles a wide range of hilarious and thoughtful women, as well as the newcomers who are breaking new ground and changing the game. Andrea and I also talk about her fantastic documentary Tiny Shoulders – rethinking Barbie also streaming on Hulu which examines 60 years of women through the lens of the iconic plastic doll. Hysterical premieres April 2 at 9pm on FX, streaming next day on FX on Hulu: https://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/hysterical Follow me: Instagram Twitter realityofreality.com

Today on the podcast, Showrunner and now author Erika Bryant. Erika’s a seasoned Executive Producer who’s worked on shows like  Bravo’s Real Housewives of Atlanta and Married to Medicine and is now show running the third season of Family or Fiancé  on OWN -a show Erika’s been with the show since the beginning. We also talk about her new book DOING IT SCARED: An Inspirational Guidebook to Facing and Conquering Fear which is on sale now (links below in the show notes). We talk about Erika’s career, her being a leader not a boss, making vulnerability ok and how not every show is fit for everyone. But most of all – going for what you want and doing it scared!   https://www.amazon.com/Doing-Scared-Inspirational-Guidebook-Conquering-ebook/dp/B08WHY5DYB www.erika-bryant.com Erika’s first time on the pod: The Black Female Producer’s Reality of Reality-Erika Bryant, Jamala Gaither, Nakia Williams   Follow me: Instagram Twitter realityofreality.com

Showrunner and Oscar and Emmy nominated director Lauren Lazin and Vice President of Development for Bunim Murray Dave Sambuchi are both are Executive Producers of the new 7 part series on E! called FOR REAL: THE STORY OF REALITY TV. I was lucky enough to help develop this series that drops on March 25th and will be aired across multiple NBC Universal platforms. This show truly has it all – from the roots of reality with MTV’s The Real World to celeb reality starting with the Osbournes of of course bookending with the Kardashians to dating shows to competion and of course the reality show presidency we just endured. It gets to the deeper questions of how does the culture impact reality TV and vice versa and the reasons behind why do we love to watch.  https://www.eonline.com/shows/for_real Follow me: Instagram Twitter realityofreality.com

Excited to have my friend Sabrina Soto back on the podcast to talk about what she’s been up to the last four years – and it’s a lot! Sabrina is a designer on the HGTV show Ty Breaker, Secret Celebrity Renovation on CBS and hosts her own podcast Re-Designing life. We talk about the shows, vision boards, Clubhouse and our kween Wendy Williams. Enjoy! Links to Sabrina: https://www.sabrinasoto.com https://www.instagram.com/Sabrina_Soto/ https://www.discoveryplus.com/show/the-high-low-project My first interview with Sabrina: Sabrina Soto Follow me: Instagram Twitter realityofreality.com

It’s the long awaited breakdown of the 4-part HBO series ALLEN v FARROW with my friend and President of Evolution Media Alex Baskin. We get into ALL of it so be forewarned that “spoilers” abound and we talk about intense subjects like sexual assault and incest which can be triggering for some. As someone who has believed Dylan since she came out publicly in 2014, I was blown away by this series and all I had NOT known about this case. I highly recommend watching it and listening – as we went into several areas not covered in the doc series. Lastly- I saw this on Twitter and to me it resonated with me:  Dylan, Mia and Ronan didn’t owe us their stories. They chose to share this with us.  Watch Allen v Farrow on HBO Max: https://play.hbomax.com/page/urn:hbo:page:GYB3SAQKmr698pQEAAABL:type:series Follow me: Instagram Twitter realityofreality.com

Filmmaker and social justice warrior Billie Mintz has directed and produced many award winning films. I was blown away by his 2018 film The Guardians – now on Amazon Prime – which exposes a criminal enterprise running through family court where the legal kidnapping of elderly people took place in Las Vegas. Because of that film, Billie has became an advocate for vicimts of guardianship fraud around the country and a hero to the #freebritney movement. We talk about that and the NYT/Hulu documentary Framing Britney and the new Netflix film I Care A Lot – and beware of spoilers on that one! Billie’s film The Guardians: For more on Billie’s work: https://www.billiemintz.com Great article from the New Yorker that is covered in Billie’s doc: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/09/how-the-elderly-lose-their-rights Follow me: Instagram Twitter realityofreality.com

Justin Lacob has the dream job of many people in our business. He’s the Head of Development for XTR – a studio that helps filmmakers on their journeys to get their films made.  Justin also co-founded Documentary+, the Netflix of documentaries. Justin’s a veteran producer who got started on old school reality competition shows like America’s Top Model and ended up on the network side at Spike (which became Paramount) overseeing a gazillion episodes of Bar Rescue. At Paramount he was an Executive Producer with Jay-Z on the Emmy nominated documentary series, Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story, as well as on Gone: The Forgotten Women, directed by Academy Award nominated filmmaker Joe Berlinger. https://www.xtr.com https://www.docplus.com https://medium.com/@justinlacob/the-entertainment-we-will-talk-about-most-in-2020-nonfiction-why-b3a0551ffe6d Follow me: Instagram Twitter realityofreality.com

The Non-Fiction United group is fighting for better conditions for our industry: from fair pay to safe work environments. Today I have on the founder of the NFU, Johanna Vanderspool, who is a showrunner and director who’s worked on shows like the BET Awards and Undressed. She’s joined by Toni-Ann Lagana, a freelance producer who’s worked on shows like Dancing with the Stars and American Idol and Jason Martinez, a longtime director/producer who most recently produced Temptation Island during the pandemic. We talk about how Covid-19 has shined a light on core issues in our business, how rates have changed (or haven’t changed) over the years and how the whole industry is set up like a “mafia family” (!) For more on the NFU: http://www.nonfictionunion.com Toni Ann’s article in THR: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/reality-tvs-overburdened-and-underrepresented-workforce-guest-column?fbclid=IwAR1ywYu0pRWLBpOMvMd7cGs0b-R3mVYnpGJLhV0Zrd5s5u9z4ssYTUEkyS0 Follow me: Instagram Twitter reali

Today on the podcast – a trio of development executives who go way back. They all sell shows for competing companies – but have strong friendships and rely on each other as sounding boards and support: Matt Shanfield  – EVP of Development at IPC,  Tom Huffman – EVP of original content at Pilgrim Media Group and Michelle Byars – VP of unscripted at ITV. What are the trends and buzzwords these days in unscripted? What’s the best way to get a show sold straight to series? How do you  pitch in a pandemic and what do you pitch? Who are the best network execs in the biz? And is Real Screen a good place to sell shows? We get into it all and much much more. Enjoy! Follow me: Instagram Twitter realityofreality.com

The new six part series Surviving Death on Netflix blew me away so I knew I had to talk to the Director and Executive Producer who also happened to be behind many other stellar films and series. Ricki Stern talks about what attracted her to the subject matter, how she chose the stories to profile and what she believes after immersing herself in the spirit world. We also get into some of Ricki’s other work like the Preppy Murder series on AMC, Surviving Jeffrey Epstein on Lifetime and one of my favorite all time docs, Joan Rivers: a Piece of Work.   More on Ricki and her work: http://www.breakthrufilms.org Follow me: Instagram Twitter realityofreality.com

The two-part documentary Tiger on HBO/HBO Max requires a deep dive and who better to do it with than golfer extraordinaire and my husband Bryan Clobes. Bryan’s not only a gifted golfer (not biased – he actually is a 3 or 4 handicap – whatever that means) but a documentary fan who has great insight into the themes of Tiger’s life: his relationship with his parents, his rise, fall and rise again, his relationships and whether he’ll ever be the true GOAT of golf. Follow me: Instagram Twitter realityofreality.com

On this very special episode, two of my all time favorite people talk about the transition from reality TV to real estate. Both Susan and Irina worked in television before switching careers to become realtors and own their own brokerage firm. They talk about why they made the move, what skills they learned in TV helped them become successful realtors and what’s it’s like to be partners in business and life. Follow Susan and Irina on IG: https://www.instagram.com/susanirinarealestate/ Follow me: Instagram Twitter realityofreality.com

Rosie Mercado is a true inspiration – a proud Latina woman who’s struggled with self esteem issues her whole life. When she decided to join the cast of Curvy Girls (now streaming on Peacock), she got serious about losing weight and changing her life. She talks about her journey to losing 240lbs, her new book and podcast “The Girl with Self Esteem Issues” and how she had another baby at 40 years old in the middle of a global pandemic! Follow Rosie here: https://www.instagram.com/rosiemercado/?hl=en Watch Curvy Girls here: https://www.peacocktv.com/watch/home/asset/tv/curvy-girls/8165907777727910112 Follow me: Instagram Twitter realityofreality.com

It’s our bi-annual end of year TV recap with my friend and TV blogger Brian Samuels. We’re talking about all the shows we’re watching and recommend. From The Queens Gambit to Murder at Middle Beach to Shark Tank, we tell you about everything we love from the last few months. And of course we’ll tell you what we love to hate watch (looking at you Emily in Paris) and what you definitely want to miss. Enjoy! Brian’s blog: http://tvuncovered.com Follow me: Instagram Twitter realityofreality.com

Journalist, writer and podcast host Vanessa Grigoriadis joins me to talk about her new podcast Chameleon: Hollywood Con Queen about a con artist who fooled Hollywood players big and small for years with elaborate and often nefarious schemes. We also talk about her podcast about Ivanka Trump on Luminary which is very juicy and illuminating and discuss her book about men, women and consent on college campuses. Enjoy! Listen to Chameleon: Hollywood Con Queen: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/chameleon-hollywood-con-queen/id1532225667 Listen to the Ivanka podcast on Luminary: https://luminarypodcasts.com/listen/new-york-magazine-in-partnership-with-transmitter-media/tabloid-the-making-of-ivanka-trump/863b4d44-41c5-42db-97be-3fae13885da1?country=US Buy Vanessa’s book: Check out Vanessa’s work: http://www.vanessagrigoriadis.com Follow me: Instagram Twitter realityofreality.com

You don’t want to miss the four part documentary THE REAGANS on Showtime directed by my guest Matt Tyrnauer. We do a deep dive about shattering the mythology around Reagan and his presidency and what it was like to produce this film in a pandemic. What is happening in politics today makes a lot more sense after you watch this amazing series. Plus, you’ll find out that global decisions about our democracy were being made by…an astrologer?! . All episodes are now available on Showtime and Showtime to Go! https://www.sho.com/the-reagans Follow Matt on IG: https://www.instagram.com/tyrnauer/ Follow Matt on Twitter: @mtyrnauer Follow me: Instagram Twitter realityofreality.com