The Bravo Upfronts: TV, Content strategy, Nene and Armani

Press upfronts, which are best described as the Millionaire Matchmaker of TV execs and potential advertisers, can be a chore for some, but as a true media nerd, I love being in a room full of people who shamelessly love to create it, write about it and sell it. This week I went to NBC Universal's presentation for Bravo, Oxygen and Esquire Network. When modern day visionaries come to mind, Andy Cohen is definitely one of my industry idols; say what you want about reality television, but not only did he conceptualize a now unrecognizable identity for Bravo's programming, he simultaneously developed his personal brand. From concept to production to talent to advertising, content and the retention of viewership is built on all these levels of trust within the system, so my hat is forever tipped to Andy. By making "the executive" a personality, he's made his rendition of reality TV all the more "real." When the brains behind the operation breaks the fourth wall, it enhances that trust for viewers and advertisers, making you think ...humm is it the magic of media or does this guy put himself in the thick of things because he's got nothing to hide, maybe there's some new level of authenticity here, and that's interesting - it reminds you authenticity in this business is all relative.

Ha and it's funny, you tend to notice the higher you go up in entertainment, and obviously I've been everywhere from your Bushwick DIY show to Fashion Week, that man, does the quality of people's clothes really get insanely better at every level. The DIY scenesters range anywhere from not caring to trying way too hard to stand out, while the bloggosphere is generally frumpy to casual; sometimes I wonder if film production people own anything other than naturally distressed jeans, and yet music producers are always fashion conscious and usually pretty fly looking, while promoters, understandably so, just look like they're on the brink of death. TV people always look incredibly sharp though, and this was no exception. I swear I spent as much time admiring fabrics as much as I did taking notes. Either way I got to meet NeNe and Kim from The Real Housewives of Atlanta, see some really cool drag queens and talk to a lot of people about how we love content development and strategy, and how whether it's online or TV, we could stare at screens all day... without any caveats, about how sculpture and cartography and stuff is uh... really cool.