Live-show veterans Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss just came off a very Democratic National Convention — more than 26 million people tuned in Thursday night to watch Vice President accept the presidential nomination. The Emmy-decorated pair (Kirshner executive produced; Weiss directed) fashioned a four-day event marked by both flash and substance. Though the DNC veterans don’t typically choose the issue-oriented speakers — this year that fell largely to political consultant Stephanie Cutter and her team — and have a huge hand in crafting the show’s feel and influencing the messages that reach us.
They also devised that viral . With the convention over, caught up with the pair on what they’re proud of, what they’d do differently and that Beyoncé rumor that wouldn’t go away. Their conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.
The whole excitement of being together after not being together four years ago [during Covid] I think played a big part in that. It’s really been eight years since we’ve been able to go through something like this. And the shifting focus too — we took a convention we had four weeks ago and, with a new candidate, threw it out so we could create new interest and memories.
We would have given a big-energy experience as well, of course. But what people were chanting was different; the signs were different. And the content was different.
I just think everything took a bit of a facelift when we went in this different direction with.