The Heart Of Show Business With Alexia Melocchi

The Extra Factor: ShowRunner Jeremy Spiegel on Shaping Unscripted Television

• Alexia Melocchi • Season 7 • Episode 6

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Jeremy Spiegel is the Executive Producer  and a Show Runner of "EXTRA". In this episode he provides an inside look at the complexities of being an executive producer in Television in Hollywood, sharing his journey from New York to Los Angeles and discussing the emotional weight of storytelling in true crime. He emphasizes the power of media and the need for mentorship in the industry to inspire future creators.

• Understanding the multifaceted role of an executive producer
• The metaphor of baking a cake to illustrate daily production challenges
• The journey from New York to Hollywood and landing major producer roles
• Importance of adapting to change within a fast-paced media landscape
• The emotional responsibility of producing true crime stories
• Engaging audiences across multiple platforms in today’s entertainment industry
• The significance of mentorship for the next generation of storytellers
• Reflecting on the human impact of media storytelling.

More about Jeremy Spiegel
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-spiegel-011419170/

EXTRA TV
https://extratv.com/pages/jeremy-spiegel/

About your Host- Alexia Melocchi

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Alexia Melocchi:

Welcome to the heart of show business. I am your host, alexia Melocchi. I believe in great storytelling and that every successful artist has a deep desire to express something from the heart to create a ripple effect in our society. Emotion and entertainment are closely tied together. Emotion and entertainment are closely tied together. My guests and I want to give you insider access to how the film, television and music industry works. We will cover dreams come true, the road less traveled journey beginnings and a lot of insight and inspiration in between. I am a successful film and television entrepreneur who came to America as a teenager to pursue my show business dreams. Are you ready for some unfiltered real talk with entertainment visionaries from all over the world? Then let's roll. Sound and action All right. So here I am again on the Heart of Show Business podcast I know I haven't been doing it as frequently and in entertainment news, but he's also a kind soul who likes to give back, like I give back to the community and like all the ones that are coming up after us in the creative arts or in business or it doesn't really matter where. It's always good to get inspiration for people who have done it before, who have been through the trials and tribulations, because our business is not easy, but we're not here to put you down. We're here to inspire you.

Alexia Melocchi:

Jeremy Spiegel, who is my guest today, is the executive producer of Extra. If you do not know what Extra is, I don't know what planet are you from, because this is the leading show every day that covers everything about entertainment, pop cultures, news about celebrities, premieres, movies, awards, the whole thing. But he is also the showrunner and executive producer on something that he's very passionate about, which is True Crime Story, and it's called True Crime News, if I am correct, which just began airing, right, jeremy? And he's a journalist. He comes from new york.

Alexia Melocchi:

Uh, he's been around. Uh, jeremy, and I met at it tv, which is this awesome, uh, once a year event for heavyweights, and I hold my. I hold my position in amongst the heavyweights I'm not heavyweight, but I know how to stand my ground and him and I share the stage multiple times, obviously interviewing people and giving answers on the state of our business. And he also does this t show's called the event is called ITTV by Valentina Martelli, who's also a journalist herself, and he actually likes Italy and is pretty damn good at speaking Italian that's an understatement about liking Italy, but thank you it's an understatement because, of course, anytime somebody invites it to go there and do a show on a lab or teach on in Italy, you're like so.

Jeremy Spiegel:

I'm there, you had me a CIAO

Alexia Melocchi:

I mean, come on, I mean Italy is Italy and you actually speak it without an accent, so that's pretty good.

Jeremy Spiegel:

That's really good to hear because you know when you speak it as a foreigner who knows what you sound like? Or you don't understand a word I'm saying, I don't know. That's great to hear.

Alexia Melocchi:

No, no, it's fantastic. People are going to be pulling out their Google Translate as we go on this show. It is so great to have you here. And the first question that I'm going to ask you, because some people don't understand what an executive producer does in this sort of entertainment, lifestyle shows. So could you enlighten us as to what is the role of an executive producer in something like Extra or your true crime news show?

Jeremy Spiegel:

Well, first of all, thank you for that lovely introduction. It was very flattering and we've known each other for a long time. I'm so honored to finally be here on your podcast. I've listened to your podcast and it's always engaging. You do have great guests and I'm honored to be one of them.

Jeremy Spiegel:

Executive producer. So in Hollywood people use the word executive producer and it can have different meanings depending on the genre. So a film executive producer is different than a television executive producer in scripted television, which is different from an executive producer in unscripted television, which is what I am OK. So I think people assume or think that in film, you know, the executive producer is the one who brings the money and puts the whole thing together. So that is true. In scripted television the executive producer can be one of the writers of the show. Someone who brought talent to the project, someone who put the whole thing together, can be an executive producer. Now, in my world, an executive producer does a little bit of all these things. We're really sort of the voice of the show. So everything that happens on Extra comes through the executive producers.

Jeremy Spiegel:

The executive producers decide on the vision of the show, the scope of the show, the stories that we cover, how we cover those stories, what angle we take. We oversee the on-air and behind-the-scenes staff. We hire them, we find the best people. We decide every single day what our rundown of stories is going to be, who's going to do them, what elements and assets are we going to gather, what will be the time of each story, what will be the tone of each story and then everything in between. So it's almost like we say it's like baking a cake.

Jeremy Spiegel:

Every day we come in in the morning and we start fresh and we bake a new cake. So imagine I'm the executive pastry chef and I am deciding today we're doing a chocolate cake and you're going to go get the chocolate, you're going to go get the flour, you're going to get some decorations for the top, you're going to go get some I don't know some strawberries to put on top. I want it to be three feet tall, I want to be done in two hours and I want it to be able to feed 25 people and I want it to be the best chocolate cake anybody's ever had. Go, that's how we do the show every day and during that time, everything that happens putting that show together, I have my hands in from beginning that that is the best definition of someone in tv or film.

Alexia Melocchi:

We are pastry people, people, that's what we do, we bake cakes. But I love that you clarified a little bit this executive producer title, because I get that, even as a producer, I think people automatically think executive producer produces someone who, like, has checks and bank of america and and just, oh, I have money to make this and and so, beyond what it really is, I mean there is a reason why the producers guild of america's, you know, just put up this whole campaign called producing as a job, because the same goes for executive producing. It is a job, people. It's not like we're like, oh, I got money, nothing to do.

Jeremy Spiegel:

And oh no. And in fact, when you're a showrunner in script, in unscripted, like I do imagine, when you think of a Martin Scorsese film, you know that that's the author of that film, it's his work. So, the executive producers of a show like mine, it is our work. We're laying every aspect of it together and we are living with every aspect of it, in good and bad. And everything that happens on that show, on that episode and in the bigger picture on that show, falls under me.

Alexia Melocchi:

Wow, wow. And this, this job that you have, that is so awesome and you get to meet the most interesting people. I think, from what you told me, you're sort of manifested it for yourself, because tell me a little bit about how you came to Hollywood from New York.

Jeremy Spiegel:

Well, you, know I was from New Jersey and the first time I ever you know I'm going to date myself here, but it was when I was a teenager video, home video cameras first came out. You know I had played around as a kid with the little super eight film cameras making little movies, but then came out you know these. I remember I was on a cruise with my like a jungle cruise with my grandparents in Florida. There was a gentleman on this boat with a tripod shooting video and I walked over. I'm like what are you doing? It was the first time I'd ever seen. It was a new, you know, a new advent this video camera. And I said can I look through the viewfinder? And new you know, new advent this video camera. And I said Can I look through the viewfinder? And he let me hold the tripod and look through it. And I don't know, I was drunk in the moment. I'm like I have to do this. This is so amazing that led to me using my bar mitzvah money to buy myself a video camera like that just because I wanted to play around with it. And someone asked me to videotape their birthday party, which nobody was doing back then because nobody had the equipment and I said sure, and I videotaped a party and next thing, you know, I am videotaping weddings, bar mitzvahs, events, all type of things.

Jeremy Spiegel:

And I started my own business when I was 14. So from 14 up through college, every weekend I was in church or temples doing a wedding or a bar mitzvah and I put myself through college with the money I made doing that, always knowing, you know, and as I was doing this, I was a photographer. I would edit everything together. I ran the business. I was very good on the camera. I thought I had a good eye, I was pretty smooth and good at it, I knew how to edit and I didn't really know what path I was going to take. I was sort of I knew I liked telling stories, I knew I loved the medium and it was during my junior year of college that I started.

Jeremy Spiegel:

I'm sorry, my sophomore year of college decided to look for an internship to try and find my way professionally and I stumbled upon. I mean, I showed up at in New York there's a station called WWOR. I got dressed up in a suit, drove to the parking lot and basically ambushed people as they came out of the building to say, hey, are you guys hiring? And they were all like who is this kid? Like I was like I'm just looking to break in, and that went nowhere. But then I sent a resume to WNYW Fox 5 in New York, which is still there, and didn't hear back. And one day I just called, and I called Human Resources, a woman answered, named Lori. Hi, lori, this is Jeremy Spiegel.

Jeremy Spiegel:

I sent a resume looking for an internship. Do you know if you ever got it? I hear her leafing through a thousand pages and she goes ah, here it is. Her leafing through a thousand pages and she goes, ah, here it is. And she said well, you know, your timing is great because someone just dropped out of our internship program. Do you want the spot? And I said, yeah, of course. And that's how it began. I got an internship. It was for a show called A Current Affair. I don't know if the listeners oh, yes, it was originally.

Jeremy Spiegel:

Morty Pulvidge. It was the original. You know they called it tabloid TV. I had never seen it, I had never heard of it. I didn't understand the genre. I showed up for work on the first day and felt like I had found my life's calling.

Alexia Melocchi:

It's the way they say adult.

Jeremy Spiegel:

You don't pick a dog, and dog picks you. The business picked me. I walked in and I knew I was home. This is what I want to do. I walked in and I knew I was home. This is what I want to do.

Alexia Melocchi:

Oh, my goodness. And then though you, you went a step further, because I think you came to Hollywood.

Jeremy Spiegel:

And I was in New York for several years working my way up, you know, as a production assistant, a storybooker and associate producer. On A Current Affair. I got hired away for a new competitor that was coming up. They had heard about me. They recruited me over there. It was my first producer job, did that for a couple of years and then I came out to LA, just because I had always loved LA. I asked my boss can I work out of our West Coast Bureau, wouldn't you know it? I come out here and the OJ Simpson case happens and I never left. I was here covering OJ and that brought me to Los Angeles and I've been here ever since.

Alexia Melocchi:

That is incredible. How is that Is there still? Because, of course, you told me about picking up the camera as a kid at the Jungle Crescent, Disneyland or Disney World because Disney World. Is there a part of you that has like this inkling, when they were filming extra or you're filming the new show, like you want to get behind the camera, you want to see what the director is doing, you want to be able to give your opinion. Maybe you want to say I want to direct this episode. Have you ever?

Jeremy Spiegel:

I mean, I don't need to pick up the camera specifically anymore, but I do have a voice in that and I do very often pick up the phone and call the director and say too much headroom. We need to see more of this. When I'm on the red carpet, say, I'm going to the Oscars, I am watching what we're shooting and I am setting the shot and the lighting and signing off on it, but we have such amazing people here that you know I bow to them. I simply give a. If I think something's not right or if I have an idea, I'll say it. But we have, we have a great team. And I still do think that having that sensibility is really valuable as a producer, because and you know, I work with so many great people and we will be in a meeting screening a piece and I'll look at one of my other producers and we'll go oh, why is this shot so wide? This is such an emotional. This should be tighter. Or, oh, the angle's not good on this. Why didn't we shoot it this way? So that sensibility is important. Still, um, and I'm glad that I have that experience, having been a shooter and an editor for so many years and being in the field, I mean I've been all over the world shooting stories. I mean so I've been with crews when Princess Diana died, packing into the media pit outside Buckingham Palace where we have this much room and I'm standing and basically holding on to a railing to be able to stand next to the camera so I can talk to my reporter as we're doing the story. So all that experience, when you have that field experience and I'm sure you have a similar type of a thing, having many years of doing what you do when you have that kind of field experience, it gives you expertise that when you're not there anymore, when you're back where we're sitting now, I know what's possible.

Jeremy Spiegel:

I know what things should look like, I know what things can look like. I also know what can't be pulled off. I also know, like when a reporter calls me from a red carpet and says, oh, it's so tight here. There's like we're packed in like sardines I don't know if I can shoot my standups, which is, you know, when they look in the camera and talk, I know what that's like.

Jeremy Spiegel:

I've done it and I can say okay, here's what you do. Just turn your body a little bit. A camera turn to its left I don't care if we see the other crews behind you. Just shoot it that way. Or I'll say, shoot it on your iphone. Make it look like a selfie video, like an instagram video. Shoot it like that, and I think part of that is having done it myself and having to maneuver those kind of situations so many times yeah, and I think it also has to do with balancing the technical, the technicality of shooting a show with a storytelling aspect like you said you are, first and foremost, a storyteller and I think the storytellers, our main interest, is our audience and it is how are we going to get our audience to enjoy, react, have a connection with whatever it is we're filming?

Alexia Melocchi:

you know, and I think it's, it must be an interesting balance and I think both, obviously, from your crime show to extra, which are completely different, and I'm sure no difference is is your kardashian in the morning and serial killers in the afternoon I know, but believe it or not, that's the same audience it really is there.

Alexia Melocchi:

The line has blurred for sure I mean, the line has definitely blurred and and you know, obviously, as as what you're telling me, shooting in a closed space during covid, when obviously you guys, you know, could not be on the road, you could not do so much. You have to think outside the box. Yeah because, sure there was nothing to cover, like how could you cover a thing? You have to organize Zooms with the stars.

Jeremy Spiegel:

You know what. This is a great point and I think one of the most important things someone in my position has to know how to do is pivot Right, because whether it's something major like a pandemic, where there is no stories, there's nothing to shoot in the field, but I still have to put out 30 minutes a night and we stayed up throughout the pandemic. Extra did not go down. Our staff went remote. A small group of us came into the studio with our host. We all were masked and separated, but we shot the show and we would get viewer responses and celebrities that we'd interview would say thank you, guys, for staying on the air and reminding us the world is still there. So, whether it's something major like that and figuring out how to do that, whether it's the day of 9-11, where Extra is a show that covers celebrities, what are we doing on 9-11? That's not going to seem trite and insignificant. How do we do that? The beauty of that is our team all comes out of news and when something happens that's more of a news event than this, you know, an entertainment or celebrity news event, we can pivot, we can customize our entire show, shift the focus, shift the tone and tell that story and we've done it over and over again.

Jeremy Spiegel:

When the queen died, billy Bush our host was on a plane at the second day, announced she had officially died. He was on the next plane and we had a show the next day from London for the next several days. You know that comes out of experience. In news we have news. People you know it's people like to, you know may think entertainment news is light and it's not, you know, hard hitting journalism. Fair enough, but we all come out of news and we all know how to do both types of stories and we treat everything, whether it is a celebrity interview or it's a famous death that impacts the world. It's all storytelling. We take it very seriously and journalistically.

Jeremy Spiegel:

And then there's the third version of pivoting, which is you know, when something goes wrong and there's a disaster and it's happened, it does happen. You know you can't sit there and cry in your spilled milk oh, what am I going to do? You know there's a hundred people working here and this is a very high budget show. You can't throw in the towel and say, oh, what happened. You have to have a plan B and a plan C and a plan D. So that's how? What'm sure you think this way too. What is our backup plan? Okay, this happened. What am I going to do now? And you know what? Because we've been doing this a long time and we have such a great team, we know what to do. We figure it out and the show goes on.

Alexia Melocchi:

Exactly exactly. And I think that is definitely a reflective of what our society is about, because, if we look at everything that happened the new companies, the new entrepreneurs, the new celebrities they were people who were able to pivot. Ultimately, they were able to basically go okay, I need to change my image, I need to change my brand, I need to change my show, my lifestyle, whatever it's all about that it's.

Jeremy Spiegel:

It's staying current and reinvent and that's, I think, one of the secrets of extra. We've been on, for we're in our 31st season. It's a current and reinvent and that's, I think, one of the secrets of Extra. We've been on, for we're in our 31st season. It's a long time for any show, and especially in this genre. I've been here since season three. That's amazing. We're in season 31. And you know people always ask me how has the show stayed on air for 31 years? And the answer is pivoting and reinvention.

Jeremy Spiegel:

We have always changed up the show. We keep evolving it every single day and every season and you know competitors have come and gone. When I started here, there was no internet, there was no social media, we were still faxing documents and we didn't have voicemail literally no internet. It was crazy when I think about what it was like then to now. And you know what we did. We didn't cave to it, we evolved with it. Okay, so social media now will break a story in real time that back in the day people would wait until we came on at like 7 o'clock or 7.30 to hear the news. That's not the case anymore. They're going to hear it already. We're not news anymore at seven o'clock or seven thirty. So we didn't throw in the towel and say, oh well, they beat us in our own game.

Jeremy Spiegel:

No, we evolved, we figure out, we figured out how to lead into what happens on social media, on the Web, et cetera, et cetera. And how do we advance that? How do we take the stories that people are talking about and give them more, give them an extra angle, go deeper. People are talking about and give them more, give them an extra angle, go deeper. We pay attention to social media. What's trending on Twitter? What's trending on TikTok? What are people saying? What is the conversation of the moment? And then we lean into those. Because if someone on their phone is watching, you know is following a story all day you know we're going to work 10 times as hard to deliver more. When we come on, you're already hooked on the story. Now watch us and we'll give you the official account, the official coverage of the story.

Alexia Melocchi:

That goes deeper yes, because you are right. I mean, right now, everything is yesterday's news. By the time you blink, we are yesterday's news, that's correct we have to think, but also, like you were saying, the pivoting of the blessing of having things like iPhones that can shoot, you know, almost feature quality video.

Jeremy Spiegel:

Shows have been shot and films have been shot on iPhones.

Alexia Melocchi:

Exactly, and you can go to someone in your team and say, hey, you don't have a camera, but go there, even with your phone, and shoot something and you'll have something to add on to. You don't have to go. Oh my god, I have a crew and things in the boom and the thing and the mic, everything is small on the crime.

Jeremy Spiegel:

Show we, um, when we have to do a like, say we're we're trying to door knock somebody there's an elusive subject that we're trying to get an interview with and we haven't been able to and we'll send a camera crew. Maybe and you know, after've repeatedly tried to contact them we'll send someone to knock on their door and see if we can get an interview. We always have the phone rolling. In addition to the real camera, it's a safety security blanket. We have a backup and we have a different angle On the red carpets, our reporters are always shooting and our producers are always shooting video.

Jeremy Spiegel:

You know, the other thing is a show like Extra, which started as a television show, is now a multi-platform brand. You know, we have multiple platforms that we produce for, whether it's YouTube, snapchat, tiktok, instagram, facebook, television. So, knowing that, how do we amortize our material? You know, budget shrink, costs increase. We have to do a lot more with a lot less and we have to serve, we have to feed all these new platforms. So, yeah, we shoot.

Jeremy Spiegel:

So we shoot video on our cell phones. We use it in different ways. Maybe it doesn't make it to the show, but it's on our TikTok and it's on our Instagram. You know, when we do a red carpet now, like you said, the news is old before it happens when we're shooting at a red carpet. We may be shooting an event you know, tonight at seven o'clock that's not going to air until tomorrow night at seven o'clock. In that time every media outlet on the planet will also be covering it, and if you follow these types of things on social media, you'll have seen it already. So we have a whole team that takes those moments from the red carpet and post them immediately.

Alexia Melocchi:

Wow.

Jeremy Spiegel:

And you know, at the beginning of doing this it's like is this going to cannibalize the show? Are we going to run our stuff before we run our stuff? You can't think that way anymore. They're different audiences and they're different platforms. So we'll take a clip of something newsworthy that came out of our interview and that gets posted immediately on our social media channel so that'll be up within an hour of it happening in real life, and then we'll cut a much more extended, in-depth segment that will run on the television show the next day.

Alexia Melocchi:

Which is amazing. It's like, obviously, the formula of repurposing content and you know you have plenty of content in 31 years, 31 years.

Alexia Melocchi:

You can even spin it and bring things from the past and do new stories. But how do you shift? Because obviously I know, when you and I met um, you talked to me about your crime show and I'm excited you're aware that it was finally green lit. So is it? Is it hard I mean obviously as a producer but personally, to split yourself from covering something a little bit lighter lot. I am literally.

Jeremy Spiegel:

I was thinking about before we got on the Zoom we're producing multiple shows right now going into the holidays so people can be off for Christmas and New Year's and I literally I think we shot five shows today between the two shows and I'm literally jumping in and out. I still do a lot of the writing myself, but I also sign off on all the writing and copy edit. I was jumping back and forth between extra doing you know, mariah's, you know I'm sorry, sabrina Carpenter's Christmas, oh yeah, and then jumping into a story of you know, this poor girl who was kidnapped and found dead on the side of the road trying to find her killer. I have a weird brain. It drives my friends and family crazy because I'm so like attention deficit disorder, but in a weird way it serves me. I can kind of go in and out of little compartments. I can go into a crime story. I can pull out, I can go to it and it actually helps because the crime material is very hard to. As you said, it's heavy material.

Jeremy Spiegel:

We are very, very conscious of the stories we tell. We are very victim friendly, victim, family friendly. We want to tell their stories with compassion and kindness and we have to remember every story is not a story. Every story is a human, it's a person, it's a life, whereas extra you know those stories kind of they come and go. Okay, the crime stories don't. So that's the biggest challenge for me is being at the speed I go for extra and then knowing when I get into the crime show I have to stop everything and I have to focus because this is someone's life, this is the loss of someone's loved one, this is something very, very sacred and I have to uphold that. I have to make sure that the way we tell those stories honors all of that, and I do have to slow down for that a little bit.

Alexia Melocchi:

And obviously I am wondering whether and I don't know, I'm sure it has happened. But have people come forward, as you were reporting the story, that maybe by something that was not solved or there was an element to that mystery whereby someone watching them put a call and say I have something to give you, something extra to that I'm sure?

Jeremy Spiegel:

that's a great question and you know that is the goal on so many of our stories is that someone watching knows something and will help solve a mystery. We've had a number of really incredible examples. One just today actually. We did a story of a doctor in Oregon who was accused by over 100 patients all of them underage women of being molested in his care sort of like the Dr Nassif story. Incredibly, he's never been prosecuted. The medical board did revoke his license but he's never been prosecuted and women cannot understand why. So the women got together, they filed a billion dollar civil suit against him, which is ongoing. But what they want is justice. They want him to be prosecuted. We did the story a couple of weeks ago. We interviewed four survivors of this situation and we learned late last night that the prosecutor is now pursuing charges. And you know we can't take full credit for it. Obviously it's the wheels of justice. But we are very, we're very proud to have had a hand in telling that story and spreading awareness and letting these women have their voices heard and tell their stories. So that's very rewarding. We're going to keep following that story. And then we did a story once where we actually got a man out of prison, a man who was wrongly convicted. It was a story of a woman murdered in front of her two daughters. They were hiding under the bed as their mother was murdered. One of the daughters became the key witness against the suspect. She testified against him as a child and he was convicted of murder and put away for life.

Jeremy Spiegel:

Fast forward many, many years. We're doing a story interviewing a true crime author, and she tells us about this story and she said you know, there's a man serving life in prison for this crime, but I don't know if they ever looked at this. But you know there was a serial killer in the neighborhood at the same time and I don't know if they ever looked at him. And we went what? And we were like, wait, let's take a closer look at this. We did the story and we went and interviewed the daughter, who is now grown, obviously and she swore in the interview he knows he killed my mother. I know he killed my mother. God knows he killed my mother.

Jeremy Spiegel:

And we ran that story. We actually interviewed him in prison as well. The convicted killer who said I did not do this, it was not me, he's an old man now. Fast forward, the story airs and the woman, the key witness, the daughter watches the story. Inside the story we raise the possibility that this serial killer was in the area and she something goes off in her head, gets chills up her spine and realizes she had it all wrong this entire time. She sees the face of the serial killer. Oh my god, that's, that's the killer. I was wrong. Oh, she recants her story. We do a new interview where she recants the entire thing and then goes and recants it officially with the court and this leads to a man named Rodney Lincoln getting out of prison after decades behind bars.

Alexia Melocchi:

Oh, my God.

Jeremy Spiegel:

Isn't that incredible.

Alexia Melocchi:

Imagine that Yep and the serial killer is now long gone.

Jeremy Spiegel:

So he had. You know this woman had never seen his story until we did the story and raised the possibility of him as a suspect.

Alexia Melocchi:

This is amazing. Well, I mean, that's the power of the media people.

Jeremy Spiegel:

I mean that is.

Alexia Melocchi:

You know, there's always, like you know, the double edged sword. You know, yes, hot seat lately, you know, because of so many reasons of our world you know being the way it is. But at the same time the media has contributed a lot to I mean, look at even ryan murphy now and the melendez brothers and all of a sudden they're trying to open up that case again but, it's not been ryan murphy telling that story and being the showrunner that he is, and all of a sudden, people are thinking wait a minute.

Alexia Melocchi:

Yes, of course that's interesting. Okay, that's what happens when you do podcast interviews and watch.

Jeremy Spiegel:

look at you, pivot, as the host. You just keep going, don't worry about it.

Jeremy Spiegel:

Exactly, exactly, yeah it is true, it is the power of the media and that's one of the things I learned very early on in this job is the power of what we do, no-transcript, realizing the incredible power that when a voice comes out of a screen, a television, whatever you're watching it on, it has an enormous power to impact the viewer and the listener. You have to. You can't take and the listener you have to, you can't take that for granted, you have to be, you have to be responsible about that.

Alexia Melocchi:

Absolutely not, and I actually think this is also a life lesson.

Alexia Melocchi:

I think for everyone is that we have to learn to humanize one another, because the point is we are humans, you know, and, and we make mistakes and we get triggers for life events, but ultimately, it is our humanity that keeps us, that keeps us united and keeps us together as as people. And I think you know, whenever there is, even with celebrities, you know, people have this idea of celebrities oh, everybody's selfish, everybody's about making money, me, me, me. Yes, there is a part, but there's also those artists that work all their life because they want to be storytellers, because they want to act, because they want to tell incredible stories, they want to film with camera, whatever that is, and I think that's the beauty, which is why I also created this podcast is because I wanted to be on the side, to understand. Hollywood is not this vapid, you know, just people about, you know, becoming famous. There's so many people out there who are working hard at their jobs and they have life missions, they have life purposes.

Jeremy Spiegel:

Well, for them it's a calling, in the same way that this was a calling for me and this was a calling for you.

Jeremy Spiegel:

You can't question my feeling that this was a calling for me. I wouldn't question theirs, but you know, another thing that's very interesting about that is, yes, there are elements of that. There's always going to be. In any business. There's going to be people in the periphery that are, you know, whatever you want to say, they're vapid or they're not really in it, but even actors, actresses, musicians are people. They're just people. Their jobs are on a world stage, but they're people and you have to remember that. And I think the best thing I've learned about you know working, you know doing stories with celebrities for all of these years is that ultimately, they're people. Even if they like being famous, even if they enjoy all of that, ultimately they're people and they need to be. You need to interact with them as people and understand that their motivations are the same as anybody else. They're people, they're human beings.

Alexia Melocchi:

Exactly, exactly, and I know that we also have a great responsibility of giving back and and, and you know, showing the road or showing the path, not not, as you know, this is the way, but maybe giving some insight and guidance. I know that you like you are a celebrated speaker you like to offer your knowledge to those who are dreaming to become honest.

Jeremy Spiegel:

I think I might have told you this once before my next life after this is going to be as a teacher. I've been a mentor in various different organizations. I think it's one of the most important parts of my job. Everybody needs a mentor and I have several in my career that believed in me that, you know, said I see something here and actually helped me get to that next level. They took me seriously, let me watch them and learn, helped me improve my game and then helped, you know, shepherd me to my next level when they knew I was ready, even if I didn't know.

Jeremy Spiegel:

I was ready, and I can think in my head right now of at least five people along this journey, at different stops along the way, that were so pivotal whether it was teaching me how to cold call someone and get them to do an interview, or it was someone making my writing better, someone giving me a perspective that I hadn't seen before, someone teaching me about leadership and how to lead people and inspire and how to do all of the different parts of this job. So, in my opinion, how are we going to have a next generation of storytellers, of producers, writers, if we don't teach them? You know, and unfortunately, thanks to you know, for better or for worse, social media in many ways has empowered people. It's allowed people to do things that I couldn't do. I always think, like, what if there tiktok when I was a kid, all these little movies I used to make? I would have had a crazy tiktok or youtube channel or something, because I have hours of of stories, you know movies and things I made, um, but at the same time, there's the ability to shortcut.

Jeremy Spiegel:

Now, you know, these kids have the technology, good quality technology, and the ability to produce very high quality content, whether they're making a short film or it's a video or a music video.

Jeremy Spiegel:

We have musicians who can have their music heard now and get it out to the masses in ways that musicians back at one time could not.

Jeremy Spiegel:

But the only thing that's missing there is maybe they're missing a couple of the steps along the way that people like you and me had to take to get to here, which is kind of doing all of the. It's like doing a math problem and doing like the chat GBT version or doing the long division that we had to learn. I think there is something there and for that reason I really do like to teach, because I want these people, the future generations, to kind of learn the steps that go into this, that I didn't just fall off a truck and become an executive producer. I put in years and years and years in every possible type of scenario you can imagine, with tremendous sacrifice, tremendous stress, sometimes tremendous pain, sometimes tremendous joy. But all of that shaped and prepared me to do my job now and I want to teach the next generations about all of those things that maybe they're not being exposed to now because it's done differently but they're still important.

Alexia Melocchi:

And as well it's about about live communication and I think, like you said, it's some of your mentors are your mentors because you develop human interaction with them and sometimes we can be great at the technicality of shooting films or being an actor and looking at social media, but ultimately you know what's going to make you get ahead.

Alexia Melocchi:

It's like knowing how to network, knowing how to build authentic relationships with others as humans first and then as potential, my future employer or my future person to write me a check for my movie is. Do that first. And in closing, before I give you your famous question, I do have one, one last one, because you were mentioned in the JFK Jr biography.

Jeremy Spiegel:

I was yeah.

Alexia Melocchi:

Why is that?

Jeremy Spiegel:

That was such a full circle moment for me because when I was an intern at that first job we talked about at A Current Affair, I came up with this crazy idea. I found out about this Brazilian superstar named Xuxa, who was a we called her Captain Kangaroo in Hot Pants. She was this beautiful blonde Brazilian performer who was the number one show in all Latin Spanish-speaking countries around the world. And I found out that she had a secret crush on JFK Jr, who at the time was a DA in Manhattan. And I contacted I mean, this is the workings of an earnest, unjaded 19-year-old kid from New Jersey who thinks, ok, this is what I'm going to do. And I write a letter to JFK Jr and send it to his office at the Manhattan DA's office saying hey, we interviewed this woman named Shusha. She wants to meet you, would you be interested in meeting her? I send it off, never expect to hear anything.

Jeremy Spiegel:

Fast forward. One day someone says, jeremy, there's a call for you on line one. I pick it up. So is this Jeremy? Yeah, hey, it's John Kennedy. And I'm like. I look around the room, I'm like someone's putting me on right now. This is a gag. It wasn't, it was him. It was John Kennedy Jr and he said I'd love to meet this woman, shusha. What do we have to do? Fast forward.

Jeremy Spiegel:

I set the, I set them up on a date, send cameras in a van outside the restaurant and we get this beautiful story for Valentine's Day the two of them holding hands, walking through Tribeca, talk and then talking after the date about their date. So when the woman who was writing this book found out about this story, I was contacted and it was Liz McNeil and Rosemary Terenzio. The authors of the book called me, asked me the story, I told the story I just told you and it became included in the book, which has a really, really. I mean I don't know how I got into this book, because there's some really impressive I mean like Obama level people are in this book. But yeah, great, great, great full circle moment and such an honor to be included in that story.

Alexia Melocchi:

Well, maybe you're going to be a matchmaker in the next life.

Jeremy Spiegel:

I don't know, it was weird. They all came together this way, right?

Alexia Melocchi:

That is incredible. That is incredible. This has been such a great conversation and of course, you know God, god knows I would love to bring you back and there need something to get us out of it, or at least sort of perspective in whatever our state of mind is at the moment, so that you can pivot, like we're talking. Is there something that either a quote, a book, something your parents said to you that is your go-to sort of little basket of goodies to shift your perspective?

Jeremy Spiegel:

I do, actually you know there there is um something that maya angelou said that I kind of. When people say, do you have a motto or a life, you know, way of living? And the one that I always go to is people will forget what you said, they They'll forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel.

Alexia Melocchi:

So true.

Jeremy Spiegel:

And I really believe that's true, because at the end of this, when it's game over, who cares? Do people really care what you did? Do they really care what? How many? You know how much money you had, what you owned they don't. They'll go. I've noticed this. So this is weird, but it's so many funerals. When someone talks about that aspect of the person, how they made them feel, how they believed in them, how they were supportive, how they were kind, how they, you know, it's like that's what matters. Yeah, you know, I have, I feel, very fortunate in my life between my job, my family, my friends, my children, everything. But you know, at the end of the day, it's like people are going to remember how you made them feel. So I remember that pretty much every day and in whatever type of interaction, whether it's a passing with a stranger or a deep conversation with a close friend you know, I know they're going to remember how they felt in that moment and that's how I will be remembered to that person.

Alexia Melocchi:

You will be remembered by many, but you know you still got a long life ahead of you, I'm sure, but that's one of the things that I loved when I first met you just at the get go is because you had such kind energy and you weren't entitled and you were real. And I think real people recognize real people, whether we like it or not.

Jeremy Spiegel:

You're definitely right. At the end of the day, I'm a kid from Jersey who saw a video camera on a boat in Florida. That's where this all starts, and you know. So at the end of every day I'm still that kid from New Jersey and I'm equally excited coming in here every day and getting to do this. Because, you know, I don't forget the time when I dreamed if I could just do this someday, if I could someday work in TV. And I come in every morning. Guess what I get to every day?

Alexia Melocchi:

So I get to, I don't have to, and that is the most thing that we have to remember. You almost define yourself. I don't even need to ask you the three words, but you can go ahead and if you thought them through, my three words yes, your three words of self-definition passionate, yes, flexible, yeah, and always curious.

Jeremy Spiegel:

I always want to know more about everything wow, that is so great.

Alexia Melocchi:

and you are still that kid. Yes, I, I am, though that's four words, but that's OK, you can say I am that kid, that's four. That's going to be my. He's not kid, you know. Now I'm like this whole jungle cruise in Disney World. Disneyland would never be the same, because now remember how people make you feel. I'm going to start thinking about you, because that's so beautiful.

Alexia Melocchi:

Wonder right of. Like kids, and you know what makes them dream about something as possible you know, so it's been so great to have you oh, my god for me.

Jeremy Spiegel:

Thank you so much for having me and asking the great questions.

Alexia Melocchi:

Was a really enjoyable conversation for me as well oh, thank you for being on the show and for everybody who's listening, because obviously this is going to be a little later when it gets posted. But you know, do subscribe, subscribe, rate, review.

Jeremy Spiegel:

Everybody knows Everybody needs to listen to Alexia. There aren't many podcasts like this. I love you ask the questions that people that are interested in this business, not the technical stuff, the really interesting questions that get to the heart of show business.

Alexia Melocchi:

Oh well done. Oh, that is so good. Oh, my goodness. I honestly feel very honored and flattered, because when it comes to somebody who has a background in journalism, you know, for me it's always about making my guests feel special and seen, and for more than just their title, and it's also for my audience to get some inspiration, and I think we accomplished that in the show.

Jeremy Spiegel:

I hope so. Thanks everyone for listening.

Alexia Melocchi:

Thank everybody for listening, and this is the Heart of Show Business over and out, and we'll catch you on the next one. Thank you for listening to this week's episode of the Heart of Show Business. If you enjoyed it, please share it with a friend. You can also subscribe, rate and review the show on your favorite podcast player. If you have any questions or comments or feedback for us, you can reach me directly at theheartofshowbusinesscom.