Unscripted and Unprepared: A Realscreen Podcast

Happy Holidays! It's the "12 Docs of Christmas" in this special episode with Oscar nominated producer and documentary veteran Justin Lacob as he joins Jimmy to present his curated list of 12 essential documentaries we should all see before it's too late!

Jimmy is joined by former Food Network president Courtney White as the two of them draft competing lists of the greatest food shows of all-time. Plus, Courtney offers her unfiltered take on the differences between west coast TV execs vs east coast TV execs!

After polling executives, producers and agents across the industry, Jimmy and guest Ben Bitonti compile a list of the "New Rules" for the Reality TV business. From phone call/email etiquette, zoom meeting protocols to how many pages should your pitch deck be - the business will forever be changed from this day forward... or not.      

Recorded earlier this year, Allison Wallach discusses the many hats she has worn in the industry from producer, to agent, to network executive.  Allison and Jimmy discuss their favorite all-time FOX reality franchises and how their current crop of reality series differs from the past and why "earnest" is no longer a bad word.

Executive Producer, TV host and podcast personality Carlos King is one of the busiest men in the industry! In this sit down with Jimmy, Carlos traces the beginnings of his career back to him completely hustling the system to land a coveted internship at Def Jam Records. Before too long he found his way to The Real Housewives of Atlanta where he began at the very bottom of the food chain before ris...

In 2005, Scott and Deirdre Gurney founded their production company and quickly grew into one of the biggest success stories the reality TV business has ever seen including the monster hit Duck Dynasty. In this episode, Scott Gurney walks Jimmy through how he got his start in entertainment and lessons learned along the way. Twitter: @IamJimmyFox // @realscreen Instagram: @jimmybfox // @realscreen  

Casey Brumels and his business partner Brad Kuhlman started their production company on a whim. But before long Ping Pong Productions grew to become one of the most successful operations in the nonfiction business and one of Discovery's biggest partners with hits like Expedition Unknown and the smashing success Dr. Pimple Popper. After 100+ episodes, Casey looks back on how Dr Pimple Popper came t...

The undisputed Queen of Reality TV, SallyAnn Salsano, retraces the major steps in her career in a lively and unfiltered conversation. From her baptism working on The Bachelor to the creation of Jersey Shore to the unlikely series of events that lead to her pairing up Martha Stewart and Snopp Dogg, The Notorious SAS imparts advice and lessons learned along the way for all the aspiring storytellers...

Jimmy goes back in the time machine with one of his oldest friends in the business, Amazon Studios's CJ Yu! Recorded at 2023's Realscreen Summit in Austin, TX, the globetrotting executive walks Jimmy through his early days as an assistant at Mark Burnett Productions, the leadership principles of Amazon and how he found a job that marries his love of content with his passion for the international m...

Aaron Saidman is coming in hot! The newly inducted Realscreen hall of famer sits with Jimmy to discuss the wildly successful run he and his business partner and friend Eli Holzman have been on since launching their company IPC in 2016. Aaron relives his experiences first meeting Leah Remini, executing a premium cooking show for Selena Gomez during a global pandemic and what it's like to have not o...

Jimmy chats with one of his all-time TV heroes, Phil Rosenthal, the creator of Everybody Loves Raymond and host of Netflix's food & travel series Somebody Feed Phil. Phil discusses the moment he knew Raymond would be a hit, the one liner he pitched networks to sell himself as a TV host and what he has learned since entering the Netflix universe. Twitter: @IamJimmyFox // @realscreen Instagram: @Jim...

The prolific Chris Culvenor joins Jimmy for a discussion spanning Chris's origin story in the business adapting US formats in his native Australia to the co-founding of Eureka Productions with his partner Paul Franklin. Chris addresses where his best ideas come from and how highly inventive series such as Holey Moley, Frogger, The Real Dirty Dancing and the upcoming The Real Love Boat came to be....

Jonathan Sinclair joins the program to discuss the wild story of coming to Los Angeles to oversee development for Oprah Winfrey Network without having previous experience as a network buyer! Agents, fielding pitches, filling out a network slate... he approached all of it as an outsider and came away with some incredible lessons learned he wants to share with the U&U peeps! Twitter: @realscreen //...

The delightful Julie Pizzi joins the podcast to discuss the shows she would put on the "Mt Rushmore" of reality TV, taking the reigns at Bunim/Murray after beginning at the company early in her career and the future of content as B/M looks to develop in the NFT space. Twitter: @IamJimmyFox // @realscreen Instagram: @jimmybfox // @realscreen

The Father of Paranormal TV, Jim Casey joins the show to talk about all he has witnessed over his 25 years running Painless Productions including his wild experiences with the supernatural!! Twitter: @IamJimmyFox // @realscreen Instagram: @jimmybfox // @realscreen

What is it like to executive produce the Super Bowl Halftime Show? Or the Grammys? Jesse Collins discusses his rise through the industry; from starting out as a writer to developing one of the most diverse portfolios in our business spanning formatted series such as Netflix's Rythm + Flow and Hip Hop Squares to scripted series such as Kevin Hart's Real House Husbands of Hollywood as well as the bi...

What is the greatest American created reality format in history? If you could only work on ONE show the rest of your life - what would it be? Corie Henson sits down to answer these topics and more in a far reaching conversation spanning her stops at E!, ABC, FOX and now running the unscripted slate for three networks at WarnerMedia. Twitter: @IamJimmyFox // @realscreen Instagram: @Jimmybfox // @re...

In this episode Jimmy meets Danny Gabai, the Head of VICE Studios who oversees their scripted, documentary and reality TV business. Danny relives his experience working with Jim Carrey on the film Jim & Andy as well as his relationship with director Chris Smith who he worked with on Netflix's documentary Fyre. Plus, Jimmy couldn't resist asking about VICE's upcoming ESPN documentary on American Gl...

One of the the greatest entrepreneurial success stories in the history of the unscripted business was the formation of Jingle Punks, founded by "Jingle" Jared Gutstadt in 2008. In this episode, Jared tells the story of how he launched and eventually sold his first company, created the theme song for Pawn Stars in 30 minutes, learned to market himself to the reality TV community in the most unexpec...

Executive Brian Tannenbaum sits down with Jimmy to discuss the future of content for the Roku platform as well as his most memorable experiences during his tenures at both Lionsgate and Quibi.   Twitter: @IamJimmyFox // @realscreen Instagram: @Jimmybfox // @realscreen

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 sh...

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...

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 b...

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