Live entertainment veterans Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss are fresh off a highly rated Democratic National Convention — more than 26 million people tuned in Thursday night to watch Vice President Kamala Harris accept the presidential nomination.
The Emmy-winning duo (Kirshner as executive producer and Weiss as director) crafted a four-day event that was equal parts flash and substance. While DNC veterans don’t typically choose issue-focused speakers—this year, that was largely attributed to political consultant Stephanie Cutter and her team—Kirshner and Weiss played a significant role in setting the show’s mood and influencing the messages that came through. They also crafted that viral Lil Jon roll call moment.
The convention being terminated, The Hollywood Reporter I caught up with the duo to discuss what they’re proud of, what they’d do differently, and that Beyoncé rumor that just won’t go away. Their conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.
The DNC had a little bit of a different tone this year: the energy, the pomp. How much of that was intentional?
RICKY KIRSHNER I think the excitement of being together after four years of not being together (during the Covid crisis) played a big part. It’s been eight years since we’ve been able to experience something like this.
GLENN WEISS And the change of direction too: we took a convention that we had four weeks ago and, with a new candidate, we cancelled it so that we could create new interest and new memories.
How would these broadcasts have been different with Biden in office?
White We could have had a very energetic experience, of course. But what people were singing was different, the signs were different. And the content was different. I just think it all took on a little bit of a new meaning when we took this different direction with a newly unified party.
Did you also pivot during the week?
White Well, one of the things we did was expand the use of the DJ before the final night in response to the evolution of the venue.
Wasn’t this planned?
KIRSHNER It was Wednesday after midnight and we were like, “You know, if we had a DJ tomorrow night, this place would be awesome.” So we called the Chicago Bulls and said, “You got a DJ?”
How much do you adjust everything for social media now? It seems hard enough to produce a convention that is broadcast both in the room and at home, let alone the possibility of broadcasting it the next day as YouTube clips.
White That’s the change in the last few years. I ask myself with every artist, “How can we cut these images?” I no longer think, “Well, we have a wide shot at the beginning of the last hour, I don’t need it anymore.” Everything is autonomous.
While of course ensuring that everything is consistent.
KIRSHNER I think we managed to do that for most of the speeches. We had some difficulties on the first night (when the debates were long and important passages were omitted). But we asked Stephanie and the scriptwriters to shorten the speeches and we were able to organize ourselves. Back then, we started at 4 p.m., there was a parade of speakers and it was endless. We have to think differently now.
How much do you have to pivot, even in the room? It feels like everything at a convention is scripted, but the best moments are completely unplanned.
White Ricky and I have spent our careers in live television and pride ourselves on being able to adapt to a changing scene — it’s the old improv philosophy of “yes, and.”
Like the moment with Gus Walz: how planned was that?
White It wasn’t planned at all. I just saw what was happening and I said to myself: “Let’s get straight to it.”
Many people were touched to see him cry and say, “That’s my father.” But then there was the negative reaction from some on the right…
White I think that defines both camps of the race. It says a lot more about them than it does about him.
What other moments surprised you with their virality?
KIRSHNER For me, it was the call (in Georgia) with Lil Jon. It just took on a life of its own. We were just trying to get the room pumped and we woke up the next morning and were like, ‘Holy shit.’ We asked a couple of people from other states if they wanted to do something and they didn’t want to. But Lil Jon really leaned into it.
White I knew Lil Jon was going to walk when Sean Astin stood up (for Indiana) and people started chanting, “Rudy, Rudy.” But it’s important to remember that we don’t want every moment to be a DJ-slap-you-in-the-face moment — we also want something that’s touching. What you want is to create a show where your hands are clapping but your tears are flowing. That’s a big part of what we do — flash and dazzle are great, but if we can get your heart and your emotions, that’s what we really want.
The speech by the parents of the young man detained in Gaza by Hamas, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, seemed to fit that profile. It resonated differently than so many other moments at the convention past.
White I was in control of a lot of the footage. As I was trying to do camera shots and cuts, I was suffocated and couldn’t even call a camera. That’s when I felt such emotion. Our mission is to make people at home feel a little bit of that suffocation, and I’d like to think we achieved that.
KIRSHNER “Oh man, I can hardly breathe in here.” You know, when you do a show like the Tony Awards, you rehearse everything and you know all these people. But here, there are a lot of people you don’t know and speeches you don’t know. It’s a surprise for us, too.
Speaking of surprises…
KIRSHNER (laughing): Oh no.
I mean, I have to say it. Beyoncé. Was this going to happen Thursday night? What really happened here?
KIRSHNER We never said anything about Beyoncé. We denied it every time the media asked us, even though, by the way, people on my staff I didn’t believe it. I kept getting messages from media outlets asking, “When is Beyoncé coming out?” But hey, we have the biggest star, the Democratic presidential candidate. Why overshadow her?
White It’s the Internet coming alive and people taking something as fact, literally to the point where people in my booth are like, “Is she coming? You can tell me.” And I’m like, “I don’t know she’s coming.” And they’re like, “I don’t know? So there’s something to know!” It was pretty crazy. But she wasn’t coming. In the end, even TMZ (who was the first to report it) had to apologize.
Sure, you had other celebrities, but there seemed to be a constant debate about how often they should be featured.
RK: We’re smart enough to know that our mission is to get the message out from the Democratic camp. Celebrities help us do that, sure, but we have to keep the ultimate goal in mind. We had Pink (Thursday). She was incredible. But that was Pink with a beautiful song, not Pink coming out of the blue. She sang the right song at the right time and it fit the moment perfectly.
What was the best political moment from your point of view?
KIRSHNER Michelle definitely rocked it. And Doug’s speech. He was so warm and human.
Do you think a convention moment can change anything in terms of voting? trying do this?
KIRSHNER If TikTok has a huge roll call and 100 people or even one person in Georgia decides to vote because of it, I think we’ve made a difference. With the Tony Awards, we want you to go to a Broadway show. The goal here is to get you to vote for the right person.
White For me, it’s not just a job. It’s a cause. I’m just trying to use my skills to contribute to it.
If you do this again in 2028, to what extent will you continue to repeat what you did here?
WEIS:The biggest change if we do this again in 2028 will be to ask ourselves, “What’s the right way to look back on President Harris over the last four years?”
So on message!
White (laughing): Sure.
KIRSHNER The biggest change I hope for is that the Television Academy adds a category (Emmy) for best live political event.
It could happen.
KIRSHNER (laughing) You never know.
