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Oh, hi!
At MTV in New York, I worked with some of the most incredible talent of my career. Some kept climbing the ladder. Others built their own companies. And every so often, one of them does something that reminds me why I fell in love with storytelling in the first place.
Danielle Medina is one of those people.
This week on the Oh, hi! Stories Podcast
🎧 Listen to the full episode on Spotify | Apple Podcasts or watch on YouTube.
I sat down with my friend and former MTV colleague Danielle Medina — the producer behind shows like My Super Sweet 16, True Life, Cribs, and Diary, and now the founder of her own production company building shows for Bravo, HGTV, and Food Network.
We came up together at MTV in News & Docs in the early 2000s, on the cusp of reality TV. More than 20 years later, Danielle is still producing the kind of television that connects with people, proving that real stories, told well, are the only thing that’s ever actually mattered.
The conversation goes everywhere: cold-calling an MTV alum at 11:30 at night to land her first job, why My Super Sweet 16 ran for 10 seasons without a single angry parent calling the next day, how she hires producers today, and why Real Housewives of Rhode Island is suddenly the most exciting thing on television.
But the part that stuck with me is the part that applies far beyond TV.
As long as the story is relatable in some way, people are going to want to watch. It's just finding that thing that can touch people and make them see themselves in what you're producing.
That's the whole job. In television, in government, in anything. Find the real story. Tell it like a human. Let people see themselves in it.
We were lucky to come up at MTV, where they trusted 23-year-olds with real responsibility to tell real stories. Danielle never stopped doing it. I'm grateful she made the time to share what she's learned along the way.
🎧 Listen to the full episode on Spotify | Apple Podcasts or watch on YouTube.
Thanks for listening,
Dana
About Dana
Emmy-winning television producer and Chief Digital Officer. Built Gilbert, AZ's national award-wining Office of Digital Government. Now helping city communicators tell stories that build trust.
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