Live entertainment veterans Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss just wrapped up a well-watched 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 executive produced; Weiss directed) created a four-day event that had both pageantry and substance. While DNC veterans don’t typically choose issue-focused speakers (this year, that fell largely to political consultant Stephanie Cutter and her team), Kirshner and Weiss played a major role in setting the tone for the show and influencing the messages we hear. They also engineered that viral Lil Jon plea moment.
With the convention over, The Hollywood Reporter spoke to the couple about what they’re proud of, what they’d do differently, and that rumor about Beyoncé not going away. Their conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.
The DNC felt a little different this year: the energy, the pageantry. How much of that was intentional?
RICKY KIRSHNER All the excitement of being together after not being together four years ago [during Covid] I think that played a big part in that. It's really been eight years since we've gotten through something like that.
GLENN WEISS And the focus changed, too: we took a convention we had four weeks earlier and, with a new candidate, we shelved it so we could create new interests and memories.
How would these broadcasts have been different with Biden's nomination?
WHITE We would have also offered a high-energy experience, of course. But what people were chanting was different; the signs were different. And the content was different. I just think everything got a little bit of a facelift when we went into this different direction with a newly unified party.
Did you also change direction during the week?
WHITE Well, one thing we did was to increase the use of the DJ before the last night, in response to the way the room was changing.
Was it not planned?
KIRSCHER It was Wednesday after midnight and we said, 'You know, if we had a DJ tomorrow night this place would be awesome.' So we called the Chicago Bulls and said, 'Do you have a DJ?'
How much are you calibrating for social media now? It seems hard enough to produce a convention that works both in the room and at home, let alone a bunch of YouTube clips the next day.
WHITE That's the change in the last few years. I think with every performer, “How can they be cut?” I no longer think, “Well, we have a wide shot at the beginning of the last hour; I don't need that anymore.” Everything is autonomous.
Of course making sure everything flows as one piece.
KIRSCHER I think we managed to do that with most of the speeches. We had some problems the first night [when the proceedings went long and some key stuff was skipped]. But we asked Stephanie and the writers to shorten the talks, and we were able to get back together. We used to start at 4:00 in the afternoon, and there was a parade of speakers, and it was endless. Now we have to think differently.
How much do you have to change direction even in the room? It seems like everything at a convention is so planned, but the best moments are totally unexpected.
WHITE Ricky and I have spent our careers in live television and pride ourselves on our ability to adapt to an ever-changing landscape—it’s the old “yes, and” improv philosophy.
Like the Gus Walz moment: how planned was it?
WHITE It wasn't planned at all. I just saw what was happening and said, 'Let's get to it.'
It was touching for a lot of people to see him cry and say, “That's my dad.” But then there were the backlashes from some on the right…
WHITE I think it defines the two sides of the race. It says a lot more about them than it does about him.
What other moments have surprised you by their virality?
KIRSCHER For me it was that [Georgia] appeal 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 shit.” We actually asked a couple people from other states if they wanted to do something and they didn't try. But Lil Jon really tried.
WHITE I knew Lil Jon was gonna work when Sean Astin got up [for Indiana] and people started chanting “Rudy, Rudy.” But it’s important to remember that 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 create a show where the hands are clapping but the tears are also flowing. That’s a big part of what we do: flash and glitz are great, but if we can have your heart and your emotion, that’s what we really want.
The speech by the parents of the young man held in Gaza by Hamas, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, seemed to fit this pattern. It resonated in a way that was different from so many other moments at past conventions.
WHITE I was at the helm of a lot of segments. As I was trying to call out the camera shots and cuts, I felt suffocated and couldn’t even call a camera. That’s how profound it was for me. Our mission is to make people feel a little bit of that suffocated feeling at home, and I like to think we’ve accomplished that.
KIRSCHER That “Oh man, I can hardly breathe here.” You know, when we do a show like the Tonys we rehearse everything and we know all these people. But here there are a lot of people we don't know and speeches we don't know. It's a surprise for us too.
Speaking of surprises…
KIRSCHER (laughing): Oh no.
I mean, I have to. Beyoncé. Would that have happened on Thursday night? What really happened here?
KIRSCHER We never said anything about Beyonce. We denied it every time the media asked us, even though, by the way, people on my personal she didn't believe me. I kept getting messages from news organizations saying, “When's Beyoncé coming out?” Come on, we have the biggest star, the Democratic presidential nominee. Why should we upstage her?
WHITE This is the Internet taking on a life of its own and people taking something as fact, literally to the point where people in my booth are like, “Is it coming? You can tell me.” And I'd say, “I don't know if it's coming.” And they'd say, “I don't know? So there's something to know!” It was pretty crazy. But it wasn't coming. Eventually even TMZ News [which first reported it] he had to apologize.
There were plenty of other celebrities, of course. But there seemed to be a constant tug-of-war over how much to feature them.
RK: We are smart enough to know that we are there to spread the message on the democratic side. Celebrities certainly help us do that, but we have to keep the end goal in mind. We had Pink [on Thursday]. It was amazing. But it was Pink with a beautiful song, not Pink flying from the rafters. She was singing the right thing at the right time and it fit perfectly into the moment.
What was your best political moment from where you sat?
KIRSCHER Michelle hit the nail on the head, of course. And Doug's speech. It was so warm and human.
Do you think a convention moment could change something in terms of voting? trying to do this?
KIRSCHER If TikTok explodes with the roll call and 100 people or even one person in Georgia decides to vote for this, 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.
WHITE For me this is not just a concert. It's a cause. I'm just trying to use my skills to contribute.
If you did it again in 2028, how much would you continue to repeat what you did here?
We are:The biggest change, if we did it again in 2028, would be to say, “What’s the right way to do a retrospective on President Harris over the last four years?”
So the message is consistent!
WHITE (laughing): Sure.
KIRSCHER The biggest change I hope for is that the TV Academy adds a [Emmy] category of best live political event.
It could happen.
KIRSCHER (laughing) You never know.