Hi, I'm Megan Zagora. And I'm Airy J. Mac. And this is the Daily Dish, Bravo's official podcast.
All right, guys, we are here with two of the producers behind Bravo's Race in America special. I'm so excited to have them on today. Dorothy Turan and Leslie Farrell. How are you guys?
Hi. How are you guys? I'm good, thank you. Thanks so much for having us.
Thank you. Of course. Thank you so much for coming on. So before we get into the Race in America specials, our listeners always love to hear how producers kind of got into the positions that they are in.
So I know it's probably quite a journey for you both, but could you each give us just a brief history of how you got started in your careers and what sort of brought you to where you are today? I always knew that I wanted to be a producer long before, like, even when I was a little kid and I had no idea what producer was called. But I've always been a super type A personality, and I always wanted to understand, like, the behind the scenes of how things work. And so I.
I went to film school and studied film and television. It's so funny. So, so many people say, oh, my God, I didn't know that FIT had a film program, but they did at the time when I was there and I started, you know, my first job in television was working as a switchboard operator on the MORI publication. Yeah.
Speaking of reality tv, you know, back this was after he had made Maury had made the switch from. From hard news to, you know, completely salacious reality politics. You are not the father. Exactly.
And I just kept going. I worked in post production for probably four or five years and always knew that I wanted to eventually transition into live action, which is being in the field because. Because I love post, but I also wanted to understand what needs to happen in the field in order for you to bring good content back into post, to make content or programming. Great.
Let's keep going. I line produced commercials for 10 years. I've also produced a couple of short independent feature films and produced music videos for a really long time and a couple documentaries and then found my way into unscripted. And we are so grateful for that.
Thank you. Leslie, what about you? Yes, you know, it's so funny. So Dorothy started with.
By saying that she kind of always knew she wanted to be a producer or something. I didn't know what I wanted to be, but I was bossy. I was born a bossy woman. So, you know, that kind of worked out for me, I've always been a writer.
Started writing when I was young and I really started my career in documentaries. And for many years I was a documentarian primarily for pbs, but then went on to HBO and made things for History Channel and all kinds of things like that. Lots of, lots of celebrity profiles when they were big, the hour long celebrity profiles, I did many of those. I moved into scripted and made a produce a scripted series for Spike Lee and his wife Tanya Lewis Lee.
So done kind of a lot of different things. Always sort of was an indie kind of person, though. I had my own little company for a while. I was working on and this is.
This sort of ties in, so it's kind of funny. I was working on an independent documentary called Electoral Dysfunction. So interestingly, for the 2000. Yeah, yeah.
And we just happened to be covering the 2008 election. So we covered it from the conventions all the way through the Electoral College. So a little bit that's coming back to haunt me right now. But for sure, during that time, lots of things were going on.
The world and the sort of the whole world economy kind of tanked. I ended up going from making that film to overseeing original programming for NYC Media, which is kind of like a little pseudo PBS station in New York. From there, Bravo gave me a call one day and I went to Bravo and that was my first foray actually into unscripted. And that's how Dorothy and I met.
I was on the network side, the executive in charge of the Real Housewives of New Jersey, Mansard with Children and Thicker Than Water. And those were all shows that Dorothy was overseeing on the production company side. And that's how we met. Right.
I love your intertwined Bravo history. But then talk a little bit about the, you know, partnership that you guys have now with Lauren Grace Media. I love the backstory there. How.
Right. Leslie kind of tricked Dorothy into it a little bit the other way around. The other way around. That's what it was.
Dorothy definitely tricked me. It wasn't kind disorder. I just want to say that I listen and I. And whenever Leslie says this, when we do interviews, I proudly stand by it and say I absolutely trust her because she is such a brilliant, phenomenal woman.
However I could get her, I was going to. So I totally accept that. Leslie and I, of course, you know, worked on Jersey Housewives, but had also worked on a few other Bravo's shows before that. So Leslie and I worked on Yanza with Children and Thicker Than Water.
I was on Jersey for almost seven years and Leslie was on for a little over five. So in all that time, we really had been through the fire together. You know, when you are one of the executive producers on one of Unscripted Television's biggest juggernaut hits, you go through them. You know, you go through some stuff after years.
And we had just been through the fire togethers, and she being our network executive, and we just really connected. And I felt so much safe synergy and kindred spiritness with her and felt like she was such a incredible reflection of myself and so many of the things that I wanted to do and so many of the stories I wanted to tell. You know, when she left, I said, leslie, you know, I'm thinking about starting my own production company. Will you consult for me?
And I was, like, very low key about it. I was like, no big deal. Just like a couple phone calls here and there. The net is about to fall over my head.
Get your advice and, like, you know, like, no worries. Because she was, you know, you know, she'd moved and she and her husband were, like, having the best time. And then it quickly became like we were owning this company together. And that's what happened.
And so now Leslie and I are officially co founders of Orange Based Media. Well, congratulations. Thank you. Thank you.
Can I just add one thing? I never saw it coming. It was incredibly stealthy. I'm very happy to be here.
I'm very happy. So disappeared. I want to add that I was still spiritual. I'm impressed.
I'm impressed. So what are some of the projects that you guys are working on now? Well, we just. Just literally finished our second installation of Race America for Bravo, Every Vote Counts, which aired.
So that was really, really, really super exciting. And we're so thankful that we're so thankful and honored to be able to do that. So, you know, we really are just honestly recovering from that. We have a very full development slate, which we are, you know, working on and chipping away at every single day.
And so we're just. We're super excited. We've got a bunch of, you know, stuff coming up that we can't really talk about yet, but that you'll hear about in the world soon. So we are, you know, we're really having such an incredible time together.
We really are having just the best time. We really are. And we could give a couple hints, no details. We have some unscripted things in the transgendered space that we're looking at.
We're also looking at some really cool, fun people, strangely, in the cat space. Yes, that's what I said, Cat. Really, really fun. We also have some scripted things.
We have scripted crime drama, like a sci fi crime drama and some comedy. So it's across the board with the things that we are developing. But all of them, what they have a tie together. And this is one of the ways that Dorothy really, when she came to me with this, really spoke to me, is that all of the stories that we're trying to tell, somehow we were trying to have not only a perspective, but a perspective from a source that maybe their story hasn't been told as often as others.
So for race in America, a movement at a moment, you both felt very strongly about having a multi ethnic panel for the show. So why was it so important for that particular conversation? Let's get one of you first. Yeah, sure.
Absolutely. You're absolutely right. We thought from the beginning it was very, very important to have, when we're talking about race, to have a multi ethnic panel, because race and RA is not a black problem. It's an American problem.
And so we thought it was really important that we had voices from different backgrounds, different coasts, different ethnicities, so that everyone could come together. And our hope and goal for that show was that we could be an example of how we can have open dialogue about sensitive topics in a safe space. That was important to us. The other thing that was important was everybody on that panel, this will be true later as well, had what I like to think of as authority, meaning that they were already vocal in this space.
They were talking about race, they were opinionated publicly, they were working, they were protesting, they were out front. And that was also really important because we wanted to have people that really had been thinking about these issues and were able to really go deep and be vulnerable and open because this is such a difficult space subject for Americans, all of us, to talk about in mixed crowds. And so that was really the goal. Hopefully we did that.
That's, you know, that was a goal there. Leslie said it all. It just was really important for us to have a very inclusive conversation because you can't get to the root of racism without, you know, having everybody be a part of that conversation and being a part of that work. Yeah, absolutely.
Now, do you want to talk a little bit about the different approach that you took for our vote counts? Because that was an all black panel for this special. Yes, it was. What we decided with our vote counts is that the African American community has such a unique relationship and a historical experience with voting.
We felt like for this one, it was important to really let the voices of our black Bravo talent and then this universal talent really speak to that, in part because it's a shared experience and also in part because we felt like it was important for our black talent to be the only voice in the convers one, because the shared experience in black history in terms of voting is so specific and unique. And also we thought it would be helpful for everybody, no matter what race or ethnicity you were, to hear that perspective from them. So that's why we did something different this time. I would just add to it, you know, in our discussions about who should be on the panel, when we talked about this, like I said, when we did the first half, you know, a movement at a moment, it was important to under.
We wanted everyone to understand that this is a broad American problem, voting. Like Dorothy said, there are very specific experiences with different ethnic groups. Right. And black folks have a very specific history with voting in this country and very specific experiences.
We really thought that, you know, if we had a multi ethnic panel for that discussion, it would be a much broader, very different conversation. And we didn't. We felt like in some ways we wouldn't be able to really hone in on some of the issues that are happening with voting in America and that which is now translating to different ethnic groups. We're seeing voter oppression and suppression in across the board in some way now that we never saw that before.
But I think to understand that and understand the history of groups that have done those sorts of things, we need to hone in on the black experience for that to really resonate for people to have a historical perspective. And that's why we decided that this panel should be all African American to bring out those that sort of historical truth and unfortunate truth of some things that have happened around voting in this country. Absolutely. And it's so important because I feel like so many people, you know, don't realize that.
And I think the one thing that's really interesting about these specials is that, you know, we're really talking about the reality of what's going on. And as much as Bravo is a reality tv, you know, network. Right. Like, we become Bravo for the escapism.
So can you talk a little bit about, you know, putting this right in front of the masses, you know, and why it's so important for people to not shy away from these conversations and really kind of face it head on? Absolutely, Dorothy. I'll take the first part of this. That's why that gets back to what I was saying about authority.
Right. We needed to make sure that the people on the panel in both parts had experiences and had been thinking about it because these are our Bravo liberties, right? These are the people, like you said, we go to for escapism, or we go to because we want to judge this person and, you know, or we like the way they dress or whatever it is. So for Bravo audiences, for us to create a show that would appeal to Bravo audiences, we needed to make sure that when the people on those panels, even though they are your Bravo liberties, they are those people that they have this aspect of their lives that maybe hadn't been brought out before, or maybe it had some of the women from Potomac, you know, Giselle and Dr.
Wendy. Part of that was covered, actually. And so maybe people were aware of that, but maybe not so much some of the other people on the panel. So I think that that's, you know, we really thought a lot about that, like, how do we make.
Make shows. Make shows that are of this sort of really serious nature, but make them appeal to Bravo audiences. And I think that that's part of it is when you get to that truth. And that's the thing I love so much about Bravo, especially coming from documentaries.
Bravo. One of the amazing things about Bravo programming is whatever it is, I don't care how silly or not silly it is, it's always really trying to get to the truth of human intention, personality. And, you know, and that's. We try to keep that tradition, even though we were talking about subject matter that's quite.
That's very different and very new for Bravo audiences, Leslie, is something you write, you know, it was about having our talent talk about their personal stories. Because by telling their personal stories, you are engaging the audience about a topic that's the serious, without making them feel like they're being lectured or making them feel like, you know, they're, you know, they're in school and there's something that's being forced upon them. Because when you are. When you hear, you know, this special, when you hear Zuri hall or you hear Justin Silvestri talk about the experiences that they've had, and Zuri talks about the experience her father has had, you know, doing backbreaking work, that feels different when it's someone that you feel like, you know, and audiences certainly feel like they know our NBCU talent.
So I think the power and the key to being able to tell, to talk about these kinds of very serious issues with. At a destination where people come to. To kind of get away from it all, is to couch it in their favorite celebrities. Talking about them.
Yeah, absolutely. And speaking of Robbiles, I know that Kandy was also involved in. In helping to put these specials together. So can you talk about her involvement in the.
So Kandy was, you know, Kandy. Hats off to her in that, you know, Kandy shared with Bravo, you know, the very. I think it had to have been at some point in very early June, after the country was reeling off of reeling from George Floyd's murder in the world, seeing it. And, you know, Kandi said to Bravo, like, you know, there are so many black Bravo talent that are part of so many different shows under this network umbrella.
You know, it seems it's important that Bravo have a voice in this very, very important conversation. And Bravo really took her up on that and, you know, came to Leslie and I with the idea of really having these conversations. So it was. It was a great opening to be able to really dig into these topics.
Yeah, no, absolutely. You know, as we move forward from this presidential election, what's one of the key messages from the Race in America special that you want to share with our listeners? Like, what's one takeaway that has really stuck with you both? For me, I would say so.
Right. Like, especially today, all days, to be having this interview as who our next president is seems to be hanging the balance since last night. But I think for me, the most important thing, I think from every vote Counts is really just that. It's that every vote really does count.
And I know that sounds super cliche, but everyone's voice really matters. Because a lot of times, I think when we see how incredibly divisive the country is right now and how divisive politics seem and feel right now, it's easy for people to forget that their vote really has power. Right. Because it's so easy to say, ugh, it's not going to matter.
And I think, if anything, our vote count shows that it really does matter. And even as we have this conversation today, as you know, electoral votes from all around, from so many states, are still being counted. Every vote really does count. For me.
I think that's what was super. I would say for me that although that is very important to make another point, I think that bringing out. We made a point of doing this because we believe this local elections, we have made the presidential election, the super bowl, and everyone pays attention to it in many ways, especially for people of color, but really for anybody, the presidency is obviously important, but local elections really affect daily lives, from education to zoning to police, but to mayors and then your state Congress People. But when it comes to making sure we have fair and open elections and that people abide by the rule of law, that is often, most often, the local elections affect that.
So we can't emphasize more how important it is to vote every single time. So if it's every 100 years for some people, depending on their marriage and all that, you can end up voting every year. But you gotta get out there and you have to vote because those are the people that then move up the chain. And if you're voting for them as mayor, next thing you know, maybe they're a state rep and then onto, you know, federal.
And these are people then that you believe have your best interest apart, wherever it is that you live, you know, you then you end up having a say in the federal government. And I think that we have lost to a large extent in this country the understanding that local elections may be the most important elections. Yeah, no, absolutely. It's funny.
My dad always makes this joke about presidents being temporary employees. Right. Like that. You need to start paying attention at the other levels of where you can have influence and where your vote really does matter.
It's not just, oh, every four years, you gotta get out and vote. There are so many other opportunities to make your voice heard, and people need to remember that that's important. So true. So true.
Absolutely. And hopefully that message got out from the special. You really tried to drive that message home. Yeah, of course.
Okay, well, obviously I have to ask about Real Housewives of New Jersey because you guys were working on the show for some major moments. So, you know, I guess we could start with Teresa's return from prison and what it was like being with the family at such a, you know, critical time. Yes. Theresa's return from prison probably one of the most intense shoots I ever have produced ever.
You know, it was really interesting. You know, the show had been off air for, you know, a couple of years or a little over a year, because Theresa was serving time at that point. And so there was so much anticipation about bringing her home, you know, from fans, and obviously was a huge part of the show, actually was the beginning of season seven. So what was so interesting about that?
One of the many things to me was that normally when you are producing any reality show, but particularly Housewives, usually it's at the middle, at the end of the season when you're having this really huge, what we call tent poles that it's like this thing that you're building to all season long, and you use so many creative storytelling tools to build the suspense to get to that moment while this was bringing Theresa home was completely the opposite. We brought Theresa home the second week that production started on season seven, and so we were totally flipped in reverse. So it was just, you know, really intense time. It's.
It's. It's. No one had really ever had to deal with trying to film on prison grounds and getting access and all of those things. And then there was just, you know, the frenzy of paparazzi.
I mean, we basically, we slept for, like, two hours in a hotel that was like, five minutes away from the prison. And when we got to. We got on the grounds of the prison. I mean.
I mean, I can't. Maybe 600. I have no idea. Like, there was just endless paparazzi everywhere and traditional news outlets as well.
So just trying to, like, navigate all of that and trying to do that all with having Theresa, like, not be seen and just try to, like, get her into a vehicle and, like, get her home safely was. It was really, really something. You know, as a network executive, I. Very calm and quiet and comfortable in my office.
A little different, but, you know, like, with anything for all of these sort of wild craving. Not for all of them. Sometimes I'm there, but mostly it's Dorothy and team keeping me abreast. Sometimes the phone calls are amazingly calm and saying, okay, this is what we're dealing with.
And then we, you know, we just have to talk about logistics and what's gonna happen and what are you getting? And don't forget to get this and get that. And then other times, you know, it's a little more wild. Like, we need, you know, approvals immediately because something is going on, I say.
Or security. Or security. Yes, or security. So it's a very experience for me.
But that was. That was a huge moment. I mean, and the storytelling of it and having everyone watching, you know, in the cast really paying attention and, you know, doing their phone shoes and shihomi and all that. I mean, that's all real stuff, right?
Like, that was happening at that moment. They were worried about her and all the paparazzi to get her home and safely and excited that she would then finally be home. So kudos to really, honestly the production team for capturing every aspect of that. The moment that Teresa walks in her kitchen and sees Joe.
I mean, can I have chills, right? That comes through the screen at you. And I was so funny. Les, you say that I was standing right behind Teresa when Joe is sitting there and he's being Joe and he's not getting up Right away.
And he's at the table and he's like, hey, honey, welcome home. And Theresa puts both of her hands over her face and the girls come bolting down the stairs and Adriana's shrieking at the top of her lungs. I mean, I don't think that there was one camera person, one producer that was dry eyed. So it was a really, really powerful moment and a powerful day.
Yeah, of course. I mean, even thinking of last season, I feel like our heartstrings were just tug at every moment that, you know, Teresa would talk to Joe and the girls would talk to Joe and you know the trip to Italy that they took for you guys, did that feel like closing a major chapter in Jersey history? It didn't at the time. I think now that you're saying it, Erica's as reflecting back on it, it certainly was.
You know, we had been in this, you know, if you're talking about sincere came home. We had spent four years being with this family at every significant moment. Moments that were joyful and moments that were incredibly painful for them. And so, you know, we kind of were on such a roller coaster for such a long time.
You don't really like process like exactly what whatever the next scene or the next trip means. But certainly like, you know, taking Teresa and the girls to Salerno in Italy, where Joe was is living. I think he's still there. It was the same, it was the same type of moment in a way because, you know, Salerno is just like, like slander was like two city blocks, like it's so small.
And where Joe's grandmother lived, which is where he was staying. It's just like you've got to walk up all of these stairs to get you like further and further high up on a mountain, which is worth. And no cars can even. Cars aren't even allowed because cars can't just.
There's no traction to get a car up that steep. So we were like on foot walking up all of these stairs with the girls, trying to get them to the top with their dad. And then, you know, having to. I was actually with Theresa and the girls doing and our showrunner Luke doing this like track to get up there.
But then we had advanced other producers to, you know, hide Joe and tuck them away so that what you got was exactly what we saw, which is that reveal when the girls, like they see the house and they don't see him. And then Joe kind of peeks through that little curtain and, you know, really so funny. I mean, Ariana shrieked almost the Same way that she did four years before, followed by Melania doing the same. So it was.
Again, know, there were no dry eyes. We were exhausted. But it was all worth it to be able to see that family, be able to come together like that, and for the girls to be able to see their father. Yeah, no, absolutely.
And I think, you know, from the closing the chapter perspective, I think all of us as viewers were sitting there and waiting for Teresa and Joe to have this conversation of, like, what happens next? Like, are you guys going to try to make this work or is it over? And I think we've seen Teresa grow so much since her return from prison that we're all just, like, waiting with a breath, like, what's coming next? Like, did you guys suspect in that moment that their relationship was just.
That was it. It was over? Yeah. You know, I mean, listen, I think that Teresa was always really transparent when she was back home in New Jersey before we took the trip, saying she didn't know.
You know, she said she. She needed to get there and see him. She hadn't seen Joe in over three years. Other than, you know, seeing him in prison in this really obviously stressful climate.
It's not a real place to be able to gauge anything. And so she always was honest and saying she didn't know how she was gonna feel or how he was gonna feel. But I will tell you that once we got there, I have to say, you know, Joe and Teresa really are. They really do love each other from a family perspective.
And what I mean by that is, like, yes, everybody was anticipating this big conversation, and we got the big conversation on that trip. But that's not what Teresa or Joe, to be honest, was focused on. When we got. When we got there, like those girls, it just changed.
They just. They've been waiting for their father for so long, and Teresa wanted them to be with their dad because she knows how much they love their father. So Joe, Theresa, really, it really was about the kids for a vast majority of that trip. You know, we waited.
We were there, I think, five or six days, and we really waited, like, till day four to really get them to sit down and have that conversation, because, you know, we just wanted to watch the family play out in terms of enjoying each other. Joe had missed so many of the milestones that the girls had had, so it was just like, you know, there just wasn't enough time the day for them to catch up with their father. And Teresa was catching Joe up on all the things that were going on with the girls, too. So we knew the conversation was happening, but we were very patient for it because it was important to us, you know, them was to respect that this was, like, really a family.
And, you know, they weren't actors. Like, this was happening for. Yeah, I'm kind of getting clenched over here. I also want to add, I wasn't there for that last season.
I was gone. Okay. But I just. For the seasons prior to that, with Teresa coming out of prison and Joe going in, you know, she changed so much.
You know, when you think about here's a, you know, raised very traditionally traditional marriage, her husband goes away, she becomes a single mom, she's got to figure out, how do I support my kids? How do I be mother and father to them? Like Dorothy was, you know, Joe missed a lot of milestones, which means Theresa to do everything for them. I really think, and this is just my opinion, that Teresa couldn't have known for sure what she wanted to do until she saw Joe again, because I don't think she fully knew how much she had grown until she saw him again.
Yeah. Wow. She had to process really what that growth period was for her. She was a very different person by the time she got to Italy from that woman that came out of prison that day.
And I don't think she could have really fully understood that until she was there with him, and. Absolutely. So that's just my teachers. Yeah.
No, I think that's a great observation. I think it's so true. You almost see it in her eyes. Right.
I feel like people have been watching Jersey from the beginning and know Teresa so well. Like, we all really felt that shift in kind of who she was fundamentally. That's right. That's right.
Well, Leslie, you also worked on early seasons of Southern Charm, correct? Yes, I came on season three, so I did three, four, and five. Okay. So how have you seen that show evolve over the years, like, working on the show and knowing, especially with this particular season.
And there's definitely a different tone in, you know, what we're going to see based on, like, the Super Tease and everything that episodes we've seen already. You know, it's so funny because Southern Charm, when it first came on was, you know, kind of different for Bravo in the sense that it was, you know, sort of putting the male story first. Although you had Cameron, who, you know, keeps everybody in check. But it was really kind of a different show for Bravo in that sense.
And although very refreshing and obviously has done really, really well, you know, it was this. I think the first two seasons probably Like, I didn't work on them, but just having gone back and looked at them, they were trying to figure out what this group of people were. And I think we really hit the stride in three, four, five, and, you know, and six with the group of people that we had. And Catherine, you know, she really did just work her way into this group of people that was all sort of unfolding on camera.
No one could believe it, quite frankly. You know, and they became the story. And so, you know, and then as she matured and, you know, Thomas going through all the issues he's gone through, you know, it's just. I think it's just interesting.
I feel like in many ways, they all were growing up on camera before our eyes, which sounds weird because they were all adults in the first place, except for Shep. I mean, let's face it. I love him. I really do.
He's a great guy, but he is never. And he's committed to never going out. So that's just who he is. Yeah, but, you know, like, even.
I could say that, you know, like, even about Craig, he was very lost in the beginning. Remember, he used to lie that he lied about so many things. We didn't know what was true with him. And Shep will try to catch him in the lies to try to help him.
Whether you agreed with him, how he did it or not, you know, who knows? But look at him now. He has actually turned that sewing pillow venture into something. I know.
Who knew what the heck is going on here, you know? So I find that really interesting. I just. I love the show so much.
I still love it. I just thought it was so interesting that we get inside of these men who are still trying to figure out who they are. They're all scams and all that, but I just. I mean, trying to figure out who they are.
And I think that it was just such a great window, to me into the male mind, which you don't necessarily see on the other shows, because they're focused on things. They're focused on different things. It's such a great. It's such a fun show.
It really is. I know. I do love Southern charm. Could you each share with us maybe a favorite moment with a housewife or a Bravo Liberty, Whether it was on camera, like something that happened on camera or even off that we might not know about.
Dorothy, want to go first? Oh, that's a tough one. I'm thinking of all the countries and all the places and all the things that we've done. You think Dorothy and I Have one that I dislike.
This was. Was it before reunion? I guess it was before reunion. Like the night before a reunion or whatever.
And we were out. We were over at the hotel where all the ladies were staying and we were sitting in the. I don't know, it almost like the rec room. It was a rec room, but it was, I don't know, some sort of.
Just wasn't a conference room because we had couches, but it was just sort of a room that they had there at the hotel. And I remember Melissa coming in and I think that. I don't know if people realize this. She was just so sweet and playful and youthful in a way that I think she doesn't always come across on the show.
She feels a little more reserved sometimes. And you know, she just. She sat on the floor with no shoes on and she. You know what I mean?
Like, it was like girlfriends. It was really, really fun. I think that was. It was just a simple moment, but it just struck me she just as the sweetness in her really came out.
And I was worried that sometimes we don't get to see that. Softer side. Yeah, the softer side. Yeah.
Dorothy, did you think? I did. And I actually thought Leslie was good to say what I. I feel like it was season nine reunion.
And so just as Leslie said, you know, we. For the seasons that I oversaw the show, we shot the reunion at a soundstage on West Barry, Long island. And we typically stayed at the hotel a night or two before the reunion just because they're like, you know, 500 million details and all that. So historically what I did was take the showrunners and the network to dinner the night before the reunion just like as a catch up.
And it became like this kind of tradition that we did every year. And so we were. I had booked like a big room and they kind of like made the room because there were so many of us into like a. Into dinner.
For us, it was like a private space. Space. And so Leslie, I feel like you had gotten there then. Leslie and Noah and I and so.
And so many of the producers. Luke was there in the production team. And we're having this really private dinner with just us. And the doors were locked and I look up and the door opens and there's this like shadowy looking figure with a hood on that like has their head down and they're walking towards our dinner table.
And I have. Yeah, I was like, literally I sat like, I remember like holding my fork like midair. And I was like, what is happening? And the security is upstairs and it was Jennifer Aiden in a boxing room.
Oh, my God. Oh, my God. She's got her head down, right? And her hair is back.
You don't know if it's a woman. You don't know if it's a man. You don't know who it is. And so this shadowy figure in a row and, like, a silk boxing robe with boxing gloves comes in, and she lifts her head up, and it's Jennifer Aiden.
And she's, like, pretending to be a boxer. And she's got this robe that she said she ordered off Amazon that had RHO and J in, like, big glitter letters, sequin letters on the back. Of course. Right, of course.
With her name on the front. And I have to tell you, it is funny. Then the next morning, she wore. And this is why she really did this.
Like, she wore it because she wanted Andy to see it. Because, you know, every reunion before we start, Andy comes in and does a check in with all the ladies, becomes part of the packages. But we got the first, like, preview of this robe, and I was like, only Jennifer Aiden would bust into a network dinner with a production company in a boxing robe with, like, rho and J in box. Oh, my God.
That's amazing. But that's a moment that no one ever saw, you know, in terms of being on television, but was really, really memorable and funny. Jennifer's always such a good swirl. I love that.
So something tells me maybe she had a little bit of tequila before that, because we know she gets a little crazy after tequila. But Jennifer's really so funny. She honestly, like, it's very funny person in the morning without tequila. Oh, interesting.
Okay. Morning person. Okay, yeah, she actually is a morning person. She's just really funny.
She is. I mean, she just is hilarious. Well, before we wrap up, I want to talk a little bit about the podcast that you guys launched, Producers Confidential. Tell everyone what it's about and actually how it originated, because I like, kind of how it started.
Oh, yes, absolutely. Producers Confidential, Dorothy. And I hope it started, because Dorothy, once we had decided we were teaming up and starting our company, I think it was a month later, Covid shuts down. Like, we're like, oh, my gosh.
We were starting our development site and all those things. We had no idea when could anyone go into production again. I had been already planning a podcast, which was completely different, and I had not watched it or anything. And so I thought, well, gosh, maybe we can at least do a podcast.
So I go to Dorothy. I was a little nervous because we hadn't like, actually worked in this venture yet together. And I said, okay, so, you know, it's Covid and we have to stay inside and we can't go out and shoot. I was thinking, what do you think about if we started a podcast?
We're producers. We have a lot of friends in the business in front of and behind the camera. I love the making of kind of stuff. You know, I think a lot of people do.
How fun would it be if we talk to people in front of, behind and behind the camera to find out behind the scenes about what it's like to be in the business, what it takes to make it in the business. We can talk about, you know, breaking down scenes or, you know, films and all kinds of things. And I go through this whole spiel thinking the whole time, Dorothy, at the end of this, Dorothy's gonna say, what are you nuts? You know, and she's like, I love that idea.
So Producers Confidential was born and we've had a great time. We've had on Shaquille o', Neal, Felicia. Yes. Felicia Rashad, Vanessa Williams.
Good from Goodfellas, Paul Sorvino. We've had Art Bell, the man who created Comedy Central, has been on our. And we've had people behind the scenes, like really, really cool people. Kevin Lassen, who has.
Who's our next podcast by? We're launching a whole podcast series with him called the Making of. He's a prop master and he has worked on every spike film since do the Right thing. He did seven seasons of 30 Rock.
He's the guy in the movie Signs, which is one of my favorite favorite all time sci fi movies. He's the guy, you know the scene with the kids and Joaquin Phoenix under the stairs when they have on the tinfoil hats. Oh, yeah. Though Kevin made those hats the shape of his own head.
Oh, my God. And those are the hats that the tinfoil hats you actually see in the movie. I mean, how cool. That is so fun, right?
And so that's our new podcast coming up. And so, yes, we've become podcasters in all the craziness of COVID and trying to produce and just loving television and movies. So we're having a ball, right? That's so cool.
Yeah. And the thing that I would say to that, to put a button in that, Eric, is that what is the most fun and hysterical? So we do, we record video as well and use the video for promos on social. And Leslie and I are the two least competent technical people ever.
And so instead of like trying to like like you and Emily are. You guys are so like, this is what you guys are so, like, on it. And so together with it, our cold opens. On the podcast, I'm always like, leslie, the speaker's not working.
It's not working. Leslie, something is wrong. It's not working. And she's telling me to plug in here.
It's not turned on. And I'm like, oh, so we just have so much fun. And we totally just play into the fact that we barely know what we're doing. And it's really fun.
And I think our listeners really enjoy that. That transparency and fun too, right? Yeah. Kind of like breaking the fourth wall, right?
It's a trend on Bravo right now. I think people appreciate that little glimpse behind the curtain and just being like, oh, these are real people, you know? Right. Absolutely.
Exactly. Exactly. No, we cop to all of our weaknesses. We have no problems with that because, you know, that's part of what it takes to make shows whatever they are.
And I think that's fascinating. I love behind the scenes. Anything? Yeah, no, absolutely.
I think our listeners will love that too, because anytime we have producers or other Bravo execs on the show, they're always so interested in, you know, the journey of how you guys got to where you are and just all of those behind the scenes elements. And we get so many responses from people when we do talk about episodes that break the fourth wall. So our fans love every aspect of our show. So anytime that they can get that, you know, insider info, they absolute sure a lot of people will want to check that out.
Well, let's hope so. Producer's Confidential. And it's on any place you get your podcast. Awesome.
Well, thank you guys so much for chatting with me today. This has been so much fun. I feel like I've learned a lot. I love the Jennifer Aiden ropes story.
That's so amazing. And anyone come back on our show, you are absolutely welcome. Oh, thank you so much for having us. This has been really fun.
You guys are great. Really fun. Thank you so much. We'd love to come back one time.
Okay, thank you. Thanks, Dorothy. Thanks, Leslie. We'll talk to you soon.
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