DNC Executive Producer: Even My Staff Believed Beyoncé Was Coming

Live-show veterans Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss just came off a very strongly 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-decorated pair (Kirshner executive produced; Weiss directed) fashioned a four-day event marked by both flash and substance. Though the DNC veterans don’t typically choose the issue-oriented speakers — this year that fell largely to political consultant Stephanie Cutter and her team — Kirshner and Weiss have a huge hand in crafting the show’s feel and influencing the messages that reach us. They also devised that viral Lil Jon roll-call moment. 

With the convention over, The Hollywood Reporter caught up with the pair on what they’re proud of, what they’d do differently and that Beyoncé rumor that wouldn’t go away.

The DNC felt a little different this year — the energy, the glitz. How much of that was by design?

RICKY KIRSHNER The whole excitement of being together after not being together four years ago [during COVID] I think played a big part in that. It’s really been eight years since we’ve been able to go through something like this.

GLENN WEISS And the shifting focus, too — we took a convention we had four weeks ago and, with a new candidate, threw it out so we could create new interest and memories.

How would these telecasts have looked different with a Biden nomination?

WEISS We would have given a big-energy experience as well, of course. But what people were chanting was different; the signs were different. And the content was different. I just think everything took a bit of a facelift when we went in this different direction with a newly unified party.

Did you pivot at all during the week?

WEISS Well, one thing we did was expand the use of the DJ before the last night in response to how the room was changing.

That wasn’t planned?

KIRSHNER It was Wednesday after midnight and we said, “You know, if we have a DJ tomorrow night, this place would blow.” So we called the Chicago Bulls and said, “You guys got a DJ?”

How much are you calibrating everything for social media now? It seems hard enough to produce a convention that plays both in the room and at home, let alone as a set of YouTube clips the next day.

WEISS This is the shift of the last few years. I’m thinking with every performer, “How can these get clipped?” I no longer think, “We have a wide shot at the top of last hour; I don’t need it again.” Everything is a stand-alone.

While of course still making sure it flows as one piece.

KIRSHNER I think we were able to do that with most of the speeches. We had some trouble on the first night [when the proceedings went long and some key stuff was skipped]. But we got Stephanie and the writers to cut the speeches down, and we were able to get it together. Back in the day we would start at 4 in the afternoon, there’d be a parade of speakers and it was interminable. We have to think differently now.

How much do you have to pivot even in the room? It feels like everything about a convention is so scripted, but the best moments are totally unplanned.

WEISS Ricky and I have spent our career in live television and we pride ourselves on being able to adapt to a changing scene — it’s the old improv philosophy of “yes, and.”

Like the Gus Walz moment — how planned was that?

WEISS Not planned at all. I just saw what was happening and said, “Let’s cut to it.”

It felt touching to a lot of people that he was crying and saying, “That’s my dad.” But then there was the backlash from some on the right …

WEISS I think that defines the two sides of the race. It says a lot more about them than it does him.

What other moments surprised you with their virality?

KIRSHNER For me it was that [Georgia] roll call with Lil Jon. It took on a life of its own. We were just trying to energize the room and we woke up the next morning and it was like, “Holy crap.” We actually asked a couple of people from other states if they might want to do something and they didn’t get into it. But Lil Jon just really leaned in.

WEISS I knew Lil Jon would work when Sean Astin got up [for Indiana] and people started chanting “Rudy, Rudy.” But it’s important to remember we don’t want every moment to be an in-your-face DJ moment — we also want something that’s touching. What you want is to craft a show where the hands are clapping but also the tears are flowing. That’s a big point of what we do — the flash and dazzle is great, but if we can have your heart and emotion, that’s what we really want.

The speech from the parents of the young man being held in Gaza by Hamas, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, seemed to fit that bill. It resonated in a way that was different from so many other past convention moments.

WEISS I’ve been at the helm of a lot of segments. As I tried to call camera shots and cutaways on that, I got choked up and I couldn’t even call a camera. That’s how deep it was for me. Our mission is to make people at home feel some of that choked-up-ness, and I’d like to think we did that there.

KIRSHNER That, “Oh man, I almost can’t breathe here.” You know, when we do a show like the Tonys, we rehearse everything and we know all those people. But here there are a lot of people we don’t know and speeches we don’t know. It’s a surprise to us, too.

Speaking of surprises …

KIRSHNER (Laughs.) Oh no.

I mean, I gotta. Beyoncé. Was it ever going to happen Thursday night? What actually went down here?

KIRSHNER We never put out anything about Beyoncé. We denied it every time the media asked us — even though, by the way, people on my staff didn’t believe me. I kept getting texts from news organizations saying, “When is Beyoncé coming out?” But come on, we have the biggest star, the Democratic nominee for president. Why would we overshadow that?

WEISS This is the internet taking on a life of its own and people taking something as fact — literally to the point that people in my booth are saying, “Is she coming? You can tell me.” And I would say, “I have no knowledge she’s coming.” And they would say, “No knowledge? So there’s something to know!” It was pretty crazy. But she wasn’t coming. In the end even TMZ [which first reported it] had to issue an apology.

You did have a bunch of other celebrities, of course. But it seemed like there was a constant push-pull on how much to feature them.

KIRSHNER We’re smart enough to know that what we’re there to do is get the message out about the Democratic side. The celebrities help us do that for sure, but we have to keep the ultimate goal in mind. We had Pink [on Thursday]. She was amazing. But it was Pink with a beautiful song, not Pink flying in from the rafters. She was singing the right thing at the right time and it fit the moment beautifully.

What was the best political moment from where you guys sat?

KIRSHNER Michelle [Obama] killed it, obviously. And Doug [Emhoff]’s speech. It was so warm and human.

Do you think a convention moment can change anything voting-wise? Are you trying to do that?

KIRSHNER If TikTok is blowing up with the roll call and 100 people or even one person in Georgia decides to vote because of that, I think we’ve made a difference. With the Tonys, we want you to see a Broadway show. The goal here is to get you to vote for the right person.

WEISS For me, this is not just a gig. It’s a cause. I’m just trying to use my skill set to contribute to it.

If you do this again in 2028, how much will you keep iterating on what you did here? 

WEIS The biggest change if we do this again in 2028 will be saying, “What’s the right way to do a retrospective on President Harris over the last four years?”

So on message!

WEISS (Laughs.) Of course.

KIRSHNER The biggest change I hope for is the TV Academy adding [an Emmy] category of best political live event.

It could happen.

KIRSHNER (Laughs.) You never know.