Unscripted And Unprepared: A Realscreen Podcast

Throughout her career, Liz Gateley has found herself at the center of pop culture defining moments. Jimmy and her talk through the origin stories of Jersey Shore, Laguna Beach, The Hills, 16 and Pregnant, Ridiculousness, Surviving R. Kelly and a recent Academy Award win for Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl).  Plus, Liz gives us a snapshot of content's future describing what she has learned in her time at Spotify Studios.

Two years ago, Alex Piper left his position at FOX and joined the YouTube Originals team. What has he learned in his time working for Google and how has it changed his view of the content creation landscape? In this engaging interview Alex revisits his career path starting out at a local news station in Philadelphia before getting his big break to work for NBC Sports. What was it like working for Jonathan Koch and Steve Michaels at Asylum? What was the key piece of advice he took away from the FOX experience that changed his career? It's all covered in this new episode! Twitter: @IamJimmyFox // @realscreen Instagram: @Jimmybfox // @ realscreen

The many journeys of producer extraordinaire Rob Bagshaw are highlighted in a fun conversation with Jimmy. They discuss Rob's transition from longtime showrunner to network executive while overseeing unscripted content and live events for Nickelodeon. Rob shares his stories from running Project Runway All-Stars, working closely with Oprah and what it was like first coming to America and seeing a botox station in the FOX offices while waiting for his meeting with Mike Darnell. Twitter: @IamJimmyFox // @Realscreen Instagram: @Jimmybfox // @Realscreen  

From his days introducing the world to The Osbournes, Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica and Punk'd at MTV, to working for Ashton Kutcher, Oprah Winfrey and now NBCUniversal, Rod Aissa has had quite the journey in the reality TV business. He relives the most notable moments in a candid sit down with Jimmy. Twitter: @IamJimmyFox // @realscreen Instagram: @Jimmybfox // @realscreen

Fremantle's Jayson Dinsmore stops by for a wide ranging discussion including nearly becoming a pastor, managing a near death experience on set as a young reality executive, how everyone in town passed on Dancing with the Stars and the current broadcast TV "age of the reboot" we find ourselves in. Twitter: @IamJimmyFox // @realscreen Instagram: @Jimmybfox // @realscreen

The talented Michael Bloom joins Jimmy for a lively discussion spanning the key stops along his television journey including the classic MTV Spring Break and Beach House era, working with 50 Cent and Paris Hilton, co-creating the Nickelodeon animated series Rocket Power and running the unscripted departments for AMC, Fox Sports and Turner Networks. Twitter: @IamJimmyFox // @realscreen Instagram: @Jimmybfox // @realscreen  

From the earliest days of NBC reality, to the pre-launch of OWN, to running ABC's comedy department, Jamila Hunter has a wealth of experience to share with our listeners in this engaging episode. What made her take a break from the reality business and move into scripted? What was her first meeting with Oprah like? And how key is a GREAT title to a buyer when hearing a pitch? (spoiler alert: VERY). Twitter: @IamJimmyFox // @realscreen Instagram: @Jimmybfox // @realscreen  

From the creation of Vh1's Behind the Music to Netflix's Rythm + Flow and a LOAD of NBCUniversal stories in between, Jeff Gaspin sits down with Jimmy to relive some of the most prominent moments of his prolific career. Highlights include his contribution to Pop Up Video, what was the view of Donald Trump when The Apprentice was first pitched, how did Biggest Loser come together, what was it like being placed in the middle of Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien during The Tonight Show retooling and did Jeff really request a $200,000 bathroom for his office while running NBC?? Short answer... no. Twitter: @IamJimmyFox // @Realscreen Instagram: @jimmybfox // @Realscreen

Recorded 5/12/20 - Producer/Director Brian Volk-Weiss, CEO of The Nacelle Company and Comedy Dynamics joins Jimmy from his very impressive toy collector's room! Brian discusses the business of producing and distributing stand-up comedy specials and the seven year process of how Netflix's The Toys That Made Us came to be as well as its successful spin-off, The Movies That Made Us. Twitter: IamJimmyFox // @realscreen Instagram: jimmybfox // @realscreen

Are You the One? is undoubtedly one of the most successful reality formats of the modern era and in this episode Jimmy meets two of the brains behind the hit series, Jeff Spangler & Rob LaPlante. The two producers open up about their relationships with Lighthearted's founder Howard Schultz and the legacy he left behind as well as choice stories from both their career paths. But before Jimmy meets Jeff and Rob he invites a close friend on to the show to discuss the ESPN/Netflix documentary series "The Last Dance" all about Michael Jordan and the '97-'98 Chicago Bulls championship season. Twitter: @IamJimmyFox // @realscreen Instagram: @jimmybfox // @realscreen

In front of a live audience at 2020's Realscreen Summit in New Orleans, Jimmy sits down with newly inducted Hall of Famers Jane Lipsitz & Dan Cutforth the founders of Magical Elves and executive producers behind such iconic series as Top Chef, Project Runway, Cold Justice and recent hit series Sugar Rush, Nailed It! and Brain Games. The two discussed the history of their partnership, the inside stories behind the launch of these well known shows and their new venture, Alfred Street Industries. Twitter: @IamJimmyFox // @realscreen Instagram: @jimmybfox // @realscreen  

From the Realscreen Summit in New Orleans Jimmy kicks back with Brian Speiser of APA to discuss the biggest stories and trends in the non-fiction space over the past year and... they hand out their own special awards! Twitter:@IamJimmyFox // @Realscreen Instagram: @jimmybfox // @Realscreen

Unquestionably one of the most prolific producers in the history of reality TV, Tom Forman sits down with Jimmy to go over the "greatest hits" including Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Gigolos, Catfish and many more. The producer talks through his pitching philosophies, how he benefited by coming up in the news world, the wild experience at Relativity and most recently the acquisition of Jenny Daly's T Group into the Critical Content Studios fold. Twitter: @IamJimmyFox // @realscreen

Brant Pinvidic sold and executive produced notable series such as Bar Rescue, Extreme Weight Loss and Valley of the Boom. He held major positions at GRB, 3 Ball and TLC, but after a career of working in reality TV Brant decided to take his talents elsewhere and leave the business. Jimmy and him talk about the fears everyone in the reality TV world secretly has and what life is like on the outside. Also... he wrote a book! Twitter:@IamJimmyFox // @Realscreen  

Howard T. Owens invites Jimmy into his home for a trip down memory lane and offers a high-level perspective from both the buying and selling side. From his early days in the William Morris mail room to the start of Reveille (Biggest Loser, Nashville Star, American Gladiators, MasterChef) to his days running National Geographic (Brain Games, Killing Lincoln, Life Below Zero). Howard is now the Co-CEO of Propagate Content the studio behind Amazon's Lore, Food Network's Chopped and History Channel's In Search Of.  Twitter: @IAmJimmyFox // @Realscreen  

"It's all happening!" Troy Searer joins Jimmy to share some fantastic stories from a diverse career spanning both the scripted and unscripted genres. Starting off in the NBC Saturday Morning program world before going on to produce series like Biggest Loser, Breaking Bonaduce, Shooting Sizemore, The Two Coreys and Manhunt:The Unabomber.

Adam DiVello came into MTV as an assistant and left as the creator of one of the most successful reality franchises of all-time, The Hills! Jimmy and Adam discuss the creation of the show, how much was authentic vs scripted, and the thinking behind that memorable series finale. Plus, Adam talks about recent Done and Done Productions hit series Music City for CMT and Selling Sunset for NETFLIX.  Twitter: @IamJimmyFox // @Realscreen

The delightful Cori Abraham joins Jimmy for a lively discussion on why she doesn't go to amusement parks, what it took to sell a show to Vh1 before the reality business "evolved", the golden era of Bravo and Oxygen's recent transition to a crime network. Twitter: @IamJimmyFox // @realscreen  

The quick-witted Jason Sarlanis joins Jimmy from 2019's Realscreen Summit in New Orleans. The two discuss his obsession with Kelly Clarkson, his rise through the ranks early in his career at E!, what it was like working with Joan Rivers and the biggest differences between being an executive in cable versus broadcast. Twitter: @IAmJimmyFox // @realscreen  

The highly entertaining Nancy Glass (Tanked, Pope: The Most Powerful Man in History), stops by for a lively career-spanning conversation. The former on-camera news anchor and host discusses how she began her transition to producing and why basing her company in Philadelphia allows for a unique corporate culture. Also, Nancy's President & General Manager, J.C. Mills, makes an (impromptu) appearance to mixed results. Twitter: @IAmJimmyFox // @realscreen