Photo courtesy Krissy Wall
Krissy Wall is Director, Development & Programming, OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network. She previously worked her way up through Ashton Kutcher's Katalyst Media from receptionist to Director of Unscripted Development. After a brief stint freelance producing for Bethenny Frankel's Bravo TV show Bethenny Getting Married?, Krissy joined the network in 2010, and has been growing ever since.
We ate bowl fulls of fresh pasta at Speranza in Los Angeles’ Silverlake neighborhood, and dished about developing must-see TV.
You’ve worked with some pretty high profile people – Oprah, Ashton, Bethenny. I would freak out. Do you ever get starstruck?
In the workplace I have to turn off that part of my brain – if someone comes into the office that I admire, I'm quick to tell them I appreciate their work but always keep it professional. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule. I met Hillary Clinton on OWN's Extraordinary Moms shoot and I forgot the English language and could only speak in vowels.
I totally got that way, too, once, but it was because Ryan Phillippe was in front of me at the movie theater.
Ha! That makes sense, he is pretty dreamy. I'm also a huge music fan – I saw Jenny Lewis at a Vietnamese restaurant near my house and was so excited I had to leave.
When I think of "network executive," I think boring corporate suit. And here you are, straight from work, in a trendy outfit and RayBans. What gives?
Occasionally, people in the office will wear suits if we have an event, but most days I'm in jeans and a button down shirt.
Thank God! Getting dressed up for work is such a chore.
I definitely want to look good – I work for Oprah. But, thankfully, I can still be me.
Your job is twofold – development AND programming. What is the difference?
In development, we take pitches from outside sources – producers, agents, talent or anyone who has an idea – and then we'll decide if it's something that would be right for the brand. We also develop ideas internally — we brainstorm, cut out magazine articles, try to find trends that would make a great TV show, look for great talent, and just basically work as an idea factory.
It sounds like your input really matters.
It's pretty cool. I think everyone — the assistants and coordinators and executives really feel that. Everyone gets heard. It's an awesome thing for the group to be a think tank together. But, when you do speak, it better be about something you believe in because you need to be able to support it fully.
Back to the programming aspect. The word "programming" makes me think of robots, but I imagine it's more fun than that.
Programming is managing the shows that actually make it to air – everything from working with producers on casting, production management, and post production (editing, etc). I view cuts and give feedback to producers and editors from the network. I learned really quickly how many departments at a network are involved in the process. For one episode to go on the air, a lot of people work hard to weigh in and approve certain aspects. It's a team effort. A big part of programming is working with a lot of different people to make sure the project is on track creatively and technically.
Tell me about the notes process. Is it pretty much just your opinion? Or was there some sort of basic training involved in how to properly deliver feedback?
There's definitely a crash course to giving notes. It's a skill that I've had to learn from my bosses. It's just as important to be specific and clear about what's working and not working as it is to be thoughtful – when you give notes you want to be clear so that they can be executed properly but you want to express a sense of gratitude to people who are working on the project.
When I was working in post production, I was the recipient of network notes. Because of that experience, I have a better understanding of how my words and direction affect the people who are making the content. Almost all of us at OWN have worked in production so we have a sense of empathy.
So, you found a great idea. What happens next?
We try to actually make television! We break out a format, decide how the show would work, and then usually we film and produce a presentation or a full on pilot to see if we can prove the content has legs, and then we bring it up the food chain. If everyone thinks there's a good idea to create a series, they'll green light it.
We have a whole research department at OWN. We listen to what they have to say about what people are watching, what's happening in society, things that our core audience is already excited about, and then we try to make shows out of those ideas.
How did you get into this business? Did you always dream of one day working at a network?
I actually had no idea that I would work at a network when I first moved to LA. While I was out freelancing on my own, I got a call from OWN Senior Vice President of programming and development, Rod Aissa, a former boss of mine from Katalyst who had started working at OWN and he asked me to interview. In my mind, network executives were all suits, too, and I had this thought of, "I'm not a network executive. I won't fit in there!" But then I interviewed with the department, and they were all brilliant people, and it was a relief that I could have a fancy sounding job and also get to be creative.
Are your friends constantly trying to get you to listen to their TV show ideas? I feel like that would get old fast.
You never know where you can get a great idea, so I usually listen. But it can be hard. Recently, I met a great guy and I thought we were gonna go out on a date — and then I realized he just wanted to pitch me an idea. That was disappointing.
What if someone has an idea that they're passionate about that you don't share their passion for? How do you let them down easy?
I try to explain a real reason why the idea doesn't work for us. Everyone is human, and every person's idea is important to them. I was a producer, and I remember how important that was when I was out pitching.
What's the biggest bummer about your job?
When I've fallen in love with a concept for a show – it's like I've already married it, and had kids with it, and I'm imagining our future, and I pitch it, and it's just… crickets. But the opposite of that is also true – when I work on something that makes it to air, that win is equally satisfying.
What kind of skill set does someone in your position need to have?
You need to be creative. You need to be good with people, be a good listener, and have a passion for storytelling. I think you have to be a really curious person. A great development executive is excited about more than their job. The more plugged in I am to the world around me, the easier it is to spot trends. If I'm living and experiencing pop culture as a human, I'll realize what makes good TV. And, you have to have a ham element to your personality – you can't be afraid of public speaking, you have to be able to pitch to a large group of people.
You're in your twenties, and I have to imagine the producers you work with are older than you. Do you ever feel like the kid sitting at the adult table?
I remember I was shooting a pilot a few months after I started my job, and I was nervous being the network executive on set – I'd never done that before, and I was decades younger than the producer I was working with, and I felt a little ridiculous. I had to prove to myself that it wasn't ridiculous for me to be there. 99% of it was in my own head. It comes down to respect – if I'm respectful and grateful to my producers, it's more collaborative.
If you went into work tomorrow, and your bosses said they would give an immediate green light to any show you wanted to develop, what would that dream show be?
That question freaks me out! I'm trying to find the dream show every day. It's why I'm reading a million magazines and books and blogs and watching a lot of TV to try and find “the show” – when I do latch onto something I find myself asking “Is this idea just something that I'm obsessed with right now or is there really something there that has series potential?”
What's the best part of your day?
Any time that there's measurable success – if we get a cut of a project I worked on and it's in great shape, or if we get graphics or main titles and they're beautiful — recently I got stills from this production we worked on, and they were gorgeous, and it was really satisfying because I knew the idea was working. If I pitch something in a meeting and we decide to pilot it – or if a pilot I work on goes to series – there is no better feeling.
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Hollywood Jobs: Krissy Wall, Director of Development & Programming for the Oprah Winfrey Network
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