{"id":12311,"date":"2019-02-27T09:00:29","date_gmt":"2019-02-27T14:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev2.worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/worldscreen.com\/"},"modified":"2019-02-27T17:56:12","modified_gmt":"2019-02-27T22:56:12","slug":"thinkfactorys-story-factory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/thinkfactorys-story-factory\/","title":{"rendered":"Thinkfactory\u2019s Story Factory"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thinkfactory CEO Adam Reed talks to <\/em>TV Real about the company’s new event series <\/em>My Great Big Live Wedding with David Tutera, which puts the stories of the \u201cmost deserving couples in America\u201d front and center.<\/em><\/p>\n

No matter what genre Thinkfactory Media is tackling, story comes first. And that certainly holds true for its new event series, My Great Big Live Wedding with David Tutera<\/em>, in which the production company is telling the stories of the ten \u201cmost deserving couples in America\u201d as they throw them weddings they\u2019re likely not soon to forget.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a two-time cancer survivor. A son of a Charleston church massacre victim. Two wounded warriors. A lung transplant recipient. Resilient victims of Hurricane Irma. Survivors of the Route 91 Harvest festival shooting in Las Vegas. And nonprofit organizers committed to helping at-risk youth. Thanks to My Great Big Live Wedding<\/em>\u2014a brainchild of\u00a0\"***Image***\"Reed and Lifetime\u2019s Gena McCarthy\u2014they\u2019re all getting the weddings of their dreams, planned and officiated by wedding maven David Tutera.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was one of the most difficult castings we have ever done because you have to treat it with the respect it deserves,\u201d Reed tells TV Real<\/em>. \u201cYou have to give the wish fulfillment but also tell the backstory. You don\u2019t want them to be dark; you want it to be a hopeful, uplifting, amazing story of humans who are so well-deserving because of who they are and what they\u2019ve been through in life.\u201d<\/p>\n

The premiere episode on Lifetime brought My Great Big Live Wedding <\/em>to Southern California, where Redmond Ramos, a former Navy Corpsman combat medic who lost his leg after stepping on an IED in Afghanistan, married his firefighting partner Krista Cona. Speaking to TV Real<\/em> just days before it aired, Reed says, \u201cIt\u2019s like literally every day this show gets bigger and bigger because these stories we\u2019re telling, they\u2019re so incredible that the deeper we \"***Image***\"get, we just want to do a more amazing job for their wedding. And now I\u2019m going, Okay, it\u2019s time to go live, so here we go!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTypically, when you\u2019re running a show, you go, Here\u2019s your showrunning team, here\u2019s your creative and you go. [With My Great Big Live Wedding<\/em>], we have to make sure the casting and story teams are interfacing with the live team, who is interfacing with David\u2019s vision and his team, and putting the wedding on,\u201d Reed adds. \u201cIt really takes a village on this show to seamlessly integrate to pull this off.\u201d<\/p>\n

While My Great Big Live Wedding<\/em> has its unique set of challenges, unscripted programs are familiar territory for Thinkfactory, which has been behind the successful Gene Simmons Family Jewels<\/em>, Marriage Bootcamp\u00a0<\/em>and Mama June: From Not to Hot<\/em> series, all of which have sold internationally.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything we develop and sell here at Thinkfactory, we really try to look at it from a global perspective,\u201d says Reed, who has little doubt that My Great Big Live Wedding <\/em>will follow the same route. \u201cYou can easily go, Hey, who are the most deserving couples in the U.S., and now who are the most deserving couples in whichever territory that you\u2019re in.\u201d<\/p>\n

The idea of celebrating the nuptials of the \u201cmost deserving\u201d couples sets My Great Big Live Wedding<\/em> apart from other wedding-genre series\u2014as does the fact that it’s live. Audiences, who serve as an extended guest list, root for the couples in real time and get to partake in surprises the show has planned for the newlyweds, while also being taken aback by twists even they don\u2019t know are coming.<\/p>\n

Though Reed acknowledges that a segment of the audience will tune in for the \u201cwhat could go wrong\u201d factor inherent in a live show, My Great Big Live Wedding<\/em>\u2019s live element isn\u2019t the bedrock of the series.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you lead with live, you\u2019re dead. This show has got to stand alone,\u201d says Reed. \u201cAt the end of the day, we\u2019re telling a story, and we\u2019re sharing characters with the world. And if you don\u2019t love a story, if you don\u2019t love a character and there aren\u2019t real stakes\u2014if those three things aren\u2019t available, it doesn\u2019t matter how live a live show is; no one is going to watch. We really try to look at it as: live is the cherry on top, it\u2019s never the ice cream.\u201d<\/p>\n

The stories, of course, are the ice cream in this metaphor. \u201cThe stories that we can tell, and the backstories of these people, that\u2019s what\u2019s going to suck you in,\u201d says Reed. \u201cIf you\u2019re not crying three minutes into the show, we haven\u2019t done our job.\u201d<\/p>\n

With My Great Big Live Wedding<\/em>, Thinkfactory has put together a wedding-genre series, a human-interest docuseries about some of America\u2019s most inspiring individuals, a potential global format\u2014and a live show. It fits in no genre and many genres. These are the sorts of formats, the sorts of programming risks that Reed is animated about.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited to see more and more networks not only willing to take those risks, but recognizing that Thinkfactory is kind of on the forefront of trying to bust genres, and think a little bit extraordinary and figure out how do we elevate and stand apart from all of the noise that is out there,\u201d says Reed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re known for literally producing in every genre of programming, and it\u2019s the way we built the company,\u201d Reed adds. \u201cWe never wanted to be, Hey, we\u2019re just a doc company, or we\u2019re just a format company or just a live company. We\u2019ve done every genre of programming, and that\u2019s why we\u2019ve been so successful and continue to be.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thinkfactory CEO Adam Reed talks about the company’s new event series My Great Big Live Wedding with David Tutera.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1033,"featured_media":12312,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,69],"tags":[3490,3491,3489],"class_list":["post-12311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-profiles","category-top-stories","tag-adam-reed","tag-my-great-big-live-wedding-with-david-tutera","tag-thinkfactory","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nThinkfactory\u2019s Story Factory - TVREAL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/thinkfactorys-story-factory\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Thinkfactory\u2019s Story Factory - TVREAL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Thinkfactory CEO Adam Reed talks about the company's new event series My Great Big Live Wedding with David Tutera.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/thinkfactorys-story-factory\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVREAL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-02-27T14:00:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-02-27T22:56:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2017\/07\/2019-02-26-David.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"319\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Chelsea Regan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Chelsea Regan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/thinkfactorys-story-factory\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/thinkfactorys-story-factory\/\",\"name\":\"Thinkfactory\u2019s Story Factory - TVREAL\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-02-27T14:00:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-02-27T22:56:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#\/schema\/person\/2a2c6d8fb3c7c8b4220b8877ecffb79a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/thinkfactorys-story-factory\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/thinkfactorys-story-factory\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/thinkfactorys-story-factory\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Thinkfactory\u2019s Story Factory\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/\",\"name\":\"TVREAL\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#\/schema\/person\/2a2c6d8fb3c7c8b4220b8877ecffb79a\",\"name\":\"Chelsea Regan\",\"description\":\"Chelsea Regan is the managing editor of World Screen. She can be reached at cregan@worldscreen.com.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/author\/chelsearegan\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Thinkfactory\u2019s Story Factory - TVREAL","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/thinkfactorys-story-factory\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Thinkfactory\u2019s Story Factory - TVREAL","og_description":"Thinkfactory CEO Adam Reed talks about the company's new event series My Great Big Live Wedding with David Tutera.","og_url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/thinkfactorys-story-factory\/","og_site_name":"TVREAL","article_published_time":"2019-02-27T14:00:29+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-02-27T22:56:12+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":319,"url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2017\/07\/2019-02-26-David.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Chelsea Regan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Chelsea Regan","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/thinkfactorys-story-factory\/","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/thinkfactorys-story-factory\/","name":"Thinkfactory\u2019s Story Factory - TVREAL","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-02-27T14:00:29+00:00","dateModified":"2019-02-27T22:56:12+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#\/schema\/person\/2a2c6d8fb3c7c8b4220b8877ecffb79a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/thinkfactorys-story-factory\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/thinkfactorys-story-factory\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/thinkfactorys-story-factory\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Thinkfactory\u2019s Story Factory"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#website","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/","name":"TVREAL","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#\/schema\/person\/2a2c6d8fb3c7c8b4220b8877ecffb79a","name":"Chelsea Regan","description":"Chelsea Regan is the managing editor of World Screen. She can be reached at cregan@worldscreen.com.","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/author\/chelsearegan\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1033"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12311\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}