Kelley Shepherd is the Co-Creator and Executive Producer of Celebrity Drop, a YouTube channel showcasing celebrity interviews. Kelley is also currently working as a Post Producer on the Masked Singer, and was previously a Post Producer on Big Brother and the Supervising Producer of Entertainment on Channel 10's morning program Studio 10, as well as a Senior Producer on Channel 9's The Today Show.
I can see from your Medianet profile that you've had extensive experience working in TV - could you talk about some of the biggest highlights of your career?
I’ve been blessed to have worked with some of the best in TV and to have worked on some incredible programs but picking a favourite is easy – The Midday Show. There is nothing like live television. It’s dangerous, exciting and anything can happen. Every day was like a smorgasbord of A-list talent – from homegrown to internationals. As professional as we were, things sometimes went awry and that’s when you have to step up. We also got to take the show overseas and who doesn’t want to be paid to travel! And talking about travelling, I have been lucky to visit some incredible countries through work – from having lunch on a glacier in Iceland to eating the famed Black Eggs of Hakone’s Hell Valley in Japan. And then there was the time Kerri-Anne and I interviewed Donald Trump in Trump Tower. To say that was an eye-opener is an understatement.
What is Celebrity Drop, and how did it come to be?
I’ve always enjoyed researching and pre-interviewing guests and for six years, I was lucky to travel to LA several times a year to interview celebrities for a morning television program. Unfortunately, there are time constraints in commercial television, and some of the best stories never made it in the five minutes allocated. So, the idea of Celebrity Drop came one night in a restaurant in LA. I was with entertainment reporter Craig Bennett and we started talking about giving these stars a platform to tell their stories – in full.
Why YouTube and why the move away from TV into the digital space?
While researching why YouTube, I was interested to read that six out of ten people prefer online video platforms to live TV and that, around the world, we watch over a billion hours of YouTube videos a day. So, it was an easy decision to head that way. We wanted to think globally, not just domestically, and I love when we receive comments from viewers from as far away as Ohio or the UK. And YouTube provide plenty of tools to help improve our channel.
Everyone loves insights into the behind-the-scenes of reality television...! I was wondering if you could share any fun facts or experiences from your work in reality TV?
I’m currently working on The Masked Singer and it is such a terrific show to work on. I guess I love programs that bring joy and entertainment and this does that in spades.
Finally, we always ask about people's pitching preferences. For example, if someone were to come to you with a celebrity interview pitch, what would make it catch your eye?
If someone was sending me a pitch, I would hope they knew who our target audience is. Keep pitches to a minimal, make sure you spell people’s names correctly and use the same font – otherwise it looks like you have just cut and pasted from a presser.
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