Golden Globes Producers Interview: On Nikki Glaser’s Joke Prep, Vin Diesel Off Script and That Unusual Camera Setup
Producing an awards show is a difficult job. Balancing the awards (which are kind of the point) with creating a program that viewers at home will find fun and engaging is no small feat.
For this year’s Golden Globes, the production team of Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss once again led the broadcast for CBS, helping first-time host Nikki Glaser navigate the chaos inside the Beverly Hilton while delivering an entertainment show.
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The Hollywood Reporter spoke to Weiss and Kirshner Monday to get their reaction to Glaser’s performance, that unscripted moment between Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson, and trying to bring the party atmosphere of the International Ballroom to viewers at home.
Now that the Globes are over, it’d be great if I can get your next morning thoughts, how you thought things went last night and what you think clicked.
Glenn Weiss: My first thought is, damn, I wish I could have slept longer. Now, look, I am so proud and happy of Nikki Glaser as a host. I think she absolutely came in with a mission, and she successfully did that mission. But I have to say it was a lot of hard work and understanding what the role was, and she did her homework, she came in, and in my opinion, she slayed it.
Ricky Kirshner: Same. I mean, my initial reaction is, the Globes is a little bit unique amongst the award shows because it’s so focused on the host, because there’s not a lot of performances and other things to talk about. So the host has to come out and nail the monologue, she really did, but it was also because she put in the work. I mean, she was doing four or five shows a night for three weeks. That’s really putting in the work to shine. So kudos to her, because it all paid off.
Nikki Glaser got such positive reviews and such positive feedback from pretty much everybody. What do you think makes for a successful host of this show, and why was she the sort of person that you think was able to really thread that needle?
Kirshner: Hard work, putting in the work is very important, and we’ve said it many, many times. It sounds redundant, but she was doing literally, four or five shows a night in L.A. and other cities for three weeks to get ready for this. And she tested out a lot of the jokes and knew what worked and what didn’t work, and her team went to her and said, ‘oh, that joke will work here, or won’t, or maybe it’s too inside, only the people in the room will get it, that people at home won’t get it.’ And honed it down to the ones that work, and that’s why she did a great job, and then she hit us with a couple of curveballs along the way, but that was fine, too. They wound up being funny, like “pope-ular” [A bit where Glaser donned a pope hat and a witch’s staff and began to perform a musical bit, before taking a faux call and deciding that the bit “sucked”].
That was a moment that I think threw everyone for a loop, because it started out as what you’d think an award show bit would be, and then she kind of turns it on its head a little bit.
Weiss: It was very clever, and that is exactly her. As Ricky said, she prepared and did the sets in comedy clubs for weeks before for her monologue. That was an example of her and her writers being in the moment on our show, and that was conceived of when we were in at the Hilton, like the night before, basically. But they were really strong about reacting to our show and coming out with material. The prepared monologue, really good. But her presence the rest of the way, it wasn’t too much. It wasn’t too little. It kind of just, as you said, threaded that needle in the right way, really great instincts and really great mind for this kind of thing.
One of the things about the Golden Globes that makes them unique, compared to, say, the Oscars or the Grammys, is there are fewer performances, it is really about the host and also the interaction between the people in the room. Can you walk me through how you wanted to put not only Nikki, but also the presenters and the nominees in a position where you can kind of spark those interactions and get those moments that people remember from the Globes?
Weiss: I think part of the distinction of the Globes — for me anyway — is the room and the layout. You’re at a party, you’re not in a theater, and there’s a party atmosphere, there’s mingling going on during commercials, there’s alcohol on the table, there’s food being served. It really is like being in a party. And I think what we wanted and tried to accomplish is to bring that sense home to the viewer and let them feel the party atmosphere.
It’s not “here are your winners on stage and here’s everyone else down here in the audience.” It’s sort of a commingled thing, and I think that atmosphere alone allows for a little bit more of a connection between the person talking whether they’re a presenter, whether they’re a winner, with the folks around them, because they’re surrounded by them, and they’re almost immersed in them. So yeah, the Globes just feel like a different environment than the traditional award shows. And that’s exactly what we’re trying to capture.
I noticed during the broadcast that you had what I would describe as like an overlay, where, when you were naming the nominees, you would point out where they were in the room, was that idea related?
Weiss: Absolutely. There were things that we wanted to add this year and take some chances, frankly, to add value for the viewers at home. People always comment about the walk ups and again, it’s not like you’re sitting in an aisle and you just walk right up that aisle and you’re on stage. There’s a different kind of layout with these tables and the paths that different nominees need to take. So we thought it might be a fun idea during the call out of the nominees to show where they are and have these pins dropping so that you as a viewer at home, could take in the relationship of where they’re sitting and the path they might have to take to the stage.
The other point about that was it was a concept to add value to the viewers, but without detracting or taking any time away from the show. In other words, it was being done during a moment of announcement that would happen anyway. So we tried to add value without consuming time. And this was one way that we thought that we would bring the viewer at home into the room and really kind of understand the geography of it.
You also had the announcer [Entertainment Tonight’s Kevin Frazier], break in with fun facts and speak as the people were walking to the stage. Do you have a sense yet for some of the things that you tried this year that you really liked and think might work again in the future?
Kirshner: I just woke up! We’ll take a look. Kevin Frazier was totally perfectly the right guy, because he had the knowledge of seeing most of the films or interviewing most of people before he got there, and then talking to them on the red carpet. So he had so much interaction with these people, he had facts that we didn’t even know because we were in the middle of starting the show, and he was out on the red carpet, and someone would tell him that so and so … I don’t know if you know Kevin, but he has all these facts in his head to begin with. So it’s pretty amazing.
One of the trickiest parts of producing something like this is the fact that it’s live and you don’t necessarily know what’s going to happen. Surprising things can happen. Was there anything that caught you by surprise? I’ll throw out a couple. I don’t know if they were scripted or not, but people noticed that when Vin Diesel walked out, he quipped to Dwayne Johnson, and you did have a camera ready to go on Dwayne, and there was Zendaya, who had an engagement ring. What do you do to plan and react to things that are happening in the room?
Kirshner: Because Glenn’s the director, he can tell you about camera shots, but there are many times where, like, when Vin walks out and says, ‘hey, Dwayne,’ it’s not hoping, because I know Glenn will have a camera on Dwayne, but you’re just like, ‘oh, I hope we get that shot and and he does.’ So it’s also a testament to our camera team, who’s always ready.
Weiss: I’m glad that you said from your from your perception that the shot was right there. It wasn’t, but our camera team, you know, is that quick and responsive that by the time we it all registered that he’s talking to him, the camera was repositioned, and we were able to get the shot. And it is a testament to having an ace team on this.
With award shows, so much of the the chatter is driven by what people are talking about on social media. Is that something you pay attention to? Again, I’m thinking about Zendaya’s engagement ring, or how Timothée Chalamet and Kylie Jenner were kind of talking to each other in the room. Do you pay attention to that? Does that influence how you cover the event live?
Weiss: At least in my mind, this is how the Globes are a different kind of show than some of the other award shows, where we’re in this party atmosphere. On pre-show, everyone is up and mingling, and there’s some really great interactions that we try to capture as much as we can, and play them in bumpers when we’re going to commercial. Traditionally, you know, put up one image, we put up four at a time, and change them because there’s so much going on in the room, and there’s so much star power in the room, we really wanted to share as much of it as we possibly could. And that wasn’t even all of the interactions and mingling, but you capture moments, and you see how people interact with each other, and that also is informative of people who might be coming up to stage, who might have an interaction when they’re on stage.
Can you explain what went into the decision to have the presenters speak to the camera with the audience behind them? It seemed like an unusual setup for this type of show. Why did you decide to frame it like that?
Weiss: We’re in the mode of trying to take this show into a place where this is really a party atmosphere. It’s not a traditional theater proscenium separation between, we’re trying to blend it more together and on camera being immersed in the party, instead of, you know, someone being on stage and shooting it from back of house like you’re at a football game with a big, long lens, is a real distinction. What we are, what we are attempting to do is have the people at home feel like they are immersed in this event, and it is a party atmosphere more than it is a traditional theatrical presentation.
One of my colleagues in the room noticed that there was a studio scoreboard on the wall that counted and tallied up all the wins by the studio. As someone who works at a trade publication that’s right up our alley, but that feels like an industry kind of thing. Why’d you decide to kind of include that?
Kirshner: I don’t know if you heard, we kind of work for a company that has trade publications [Dick Clark Productions, which produced the Globes, is owned by Penske Media Corporation, which also owns The Hollywood Reporter].
Weiss: It is in our minds, a little bit more of an industry kind of thing. And when the suggestion came up, it’s more appropriate for people in the room than people in Iowa and Missouri and wherever. I’m not sure that this was as appropriate for TV as it would have been for people in the industry.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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