What does a reality TV story producer do? How do you find work in reality show post-production? In this edition of The Confessional, Eric Reynolds shares his story.
behind-the-scenes
Exclusive reports, interviews, details, and observations from behind the scenes of reality TV productions, from soundstages to islands, Trading Spaces to Survivor.
How Antiques Roadshow works behind the scenes, and what’s changing
Antiques Roadshow executive producer Marsha Bemko on how much appraisers are paid, how the show is filmed, and why it made a major change this season.
Big Brother behind the scenes
Answers to questions about what happens behind the scenes of CBS’ Big Brother: from the casting process to live feed cuts, producer manipulation to what’s behind the mirrors in the house.
The RuPaul’s Drag Race contract
Drag queens give up everything from rights to revenue in order to appear on RuPaul’s Drag Race, and everything from per-episode compensation to Drag Race’s rules are covered in this 51-page participant agreement that contestants sign during the casting process.
Behind the scenes with the new Mythbusters
I went behind the scenes with new Mythbusters Jon Lung and Brian Louden during filming of part of their “Rock ‘n’ Roll Road Rage” episode.
Behind the Scenes of American Ninja Warrior
Behind-the-scenes details about American Ninja Warrior’s city qualifiers and city finals production: How it’s filmed, how locations are chosen, and more.
Behind the scenes of American Grit season two
John Cena’s reality show left the Pacific Northwest for the swamps outside of Savannah, Georgia, for season two.
Interview: John Cena on American Grit season two’s major changes
An interview with John Cena about American Grit season two, which changes the Fox show in significant ways, starting with the contestants themselves.
Behind the scenes of CBS’ Hunted
A person who appeared on CBS’ Hunted reveals key details about how the show works—and Channel 4’s version of Hunted also offers insight.
Fact-checking a scene from CBS’ Hunted
How does CBS’ Hunted work? How do the hunters get access to private information? CBS wouldn’t grant an interview, so I dug into one scene to find out.
Behind the scenes of The Runner’s real-time production
A behind-the-scenes report from day 29’s episode two of The Runner, go90’s cross-country chase reality competition produced by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.
Behind the scenes of Trading Spaces
The groundbreaking home decorating reality show Trading Spaces is returning. Go behind the scenes to find out exactly how it was produced when it was a hit series.
Why Project Runway is no longer filmed at Parsons, and where it is now
Parsons School of Design is no longer the home of Lifetime’s Project Runway. Here’s what changed, and where the show is now filmed.
Survivor’s composer Russ Landau on why he left, what he’s doing now
An interview with Russ Landau, composer of Survivor theme song “Ancient Voices,” on why he stopped writing new music for the CBS reality series last year.
Sharknado 3’s surprises, on screen and behind the scenes
A review of Sharknado 3 and its cameos (starring Mark Cuban and plenty of other reality stars), plus a look behind-the-scenes at production of the movie.