Case Studies
Ask Ilyce – Questions from Equifax Customers
As the Managing Editor of Broadcast for Think Glink Media, I supervised the production of several videos for Equifax which featured nationally-known money and real estate expert Ilyce Glink. The credit reporting agency wanted to use short online videos to help educate its customers about a variety of money topics. We used a question and answer format with Ilyce posing a question from a viewer and then giving a short but detailed answer.
When Weather Changed History – Bombing of Nagasaki (Weather Channel)
A dream of mine as a producer was to work on a long-form documentary. I got my chance in 2008 when I was hired by Towers Productions in Chicago to produce an episode of the popular Weather Channel show “When Weather Changed History.” My topic was sobering – the dropping of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki. I spent months researching, interviewing and writing the hour long show. I traveled the country, talking with experts about atomic energy, World War II battles and the weather. But the interview that has stayed with me is the one I did with a survivor of the Nagasaki bombing. She shared her harrowing story – one minute playing outside with friends, the next being buried under her house that collapsed when the bomb exploded. She lost family and friends and saw unspeakable things. But yet, she had positive feelings for the United States. She had in fact married an American soldier and come to the U.S. to live. She hoped that by telling me her story, she would help convince people to never drop another bomb. I was humbled in her presence … a true honor to have interviewed her.
Standing Desk Part 1 (You & Me)
Morning show producers get pitches about new products dozens of times a day. Most of the emails get deleted. However, occasionally, a product will spark an idea that goes outside the box. That’s what happened when I got pitched a segment on a new standing desk made by a Chicago company. I could have easily just had the owner and one of the desks in-studio and called it good. But that would have been boring. So instead, I had the company deliver a desk for one of my colleagues to use for a month. We put a camera in the newsroom so we could see her working at the desk live during the show and interviewed her about why she wanted to give it a try. We then followed her progress and had her give a live review at the end of 30 days. The company was completely open to the whole process and our creativity and ended up giving her the desk.
Glennon Doyle Melton Interview (You & Me)
Glennon Doyle Melton is one of the hottest names in the publishing world. Her books have sold millions of copies and Oprah is one of her biggest fans. So having her as an in-studio guest on You & Me was a dream come true. But it was also stressful because we wanted to make sure the interview was meaningful and that she had time to share her story. Jeanne Sparrow and I worked together on questions, reading and researching into the wee hours to get it right. Glennon was thrilled with how it turned out and so were we!