The Power of Authenticity and Vulnerability with Kristen V. Carter

Welcome to On production brought to you by Wrapbook. I'm Cameron Woodward, and this is where we explore every facet of bringing creative projects to life, from ideation and financing to the final cut and beyond. Today, I'm thrilled to introduce a guest whose work beautifully intertwines passion, purpose and a deep commitment to storytelling. Kristen V Carter is an award winning executive producer, entrepreneur and speaker hailing from Newark New Jersey, over a multi faceted career, she's produced and shown on everything from music specials on PBS and Docu series on HBO max to brand driven content with Kevin Hart and social impact programming with Ava DuVernay. She's also the founder of trust your magic and head of community engagement for who you know, two platforms that champion mentorship, networking and opportunities for creatives of color. At the heart of Kristen's success is a relentless drive to tell stories that matter, stories that uplift, inform and empower whether she's spotlighting black men in a docu series, hosting a gospel concert special, or helping newcomers find their way in the industry, her approach is defined by authenticity, strategic leadership and a fearless devotion to breaking new ground. In our conversation today, we'll uncover how Kristen has navigated high stakes productions, how she integrates social impact into her work, and what she's learned about leading teams through vulnerability and excellence. We'll talk about the secrets behind building a sustainable creative career, from forging meaningful relationships to embracing personal passions that energize every project. If you're eager to learn how a top tier producer balances art, community and business. This is the one for you. Let's dive in. Kristen, welcome to on production.

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2:05  

Hi. How are you? That was an amazing introduction.

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2:11  

You have a really impressive career, and I think our listeners will love to hear from you and how you've sort of navigated your career to date. You know, you've historically made it a point to choose projects that align with your own personal passions and values. How do you handle situations when a high profile opportunity comes along that doesn't quite spark joy for you or align with your mission? Can you give an example of a time you had to say no to a project or reshape it to stay true to your vision. And what that decision taught you, I'm very

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2:46  

careful about the projects that I choose, because I am a champion for authenticity, like you said, but also making sure that I'm telling quality stories that will move the community forward. And so there are a lot of different programs out here, some that are a little bit more on the controversial side, and then there's some that are more on the honest side. And so anytime a project comes to me, I take a look at one. Do I feel like I can elevate this story? Do I have the personal and professional connection to it, to elevate it. And also, will this move me forward? Will this move the community forward? So I pretty much do a checklist when I am considering opportunities and even when I'm creating opportunities for myself. So I always start there. I think that every year I get approached with a nuance. I get approached with a number of projects, and I have to do that checklist run through to make a decision. So yeah, I mean, I think that there are a lot of shows that come past my desk that I say, okay, how can I elevate this? And if I don't feel I can elevate it, or if I don't feel I'm the right person, I'll be very honest, and if I think that I am the right person, then I share all the reasons why, and then we move forward.

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4:07  

That's awesome. So in past interviews, you've championed vulnerability and transparency as key leadership traits. Can you recall a specific moment as a showrunner where being open about a challenge or mistake with your team actually improved the outcome of a project, and then conversely, was there ever a time you held back and then later realized that a little vulnerability could have led to a better result?

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4:35  

That's a great question. I have been show running since 2020 so I've been show running for five years now, and every show has its own challenge. And I would say, I worked on a docu series in 2021 where it was a first season show, and anytime you have a first season, you're breaking your format. So the show that was sold to the network isn't always the show that gets recorded and makes the edit. And so we often have. To refine the vision of the format, and so me being honest about that with my team always helps us band together to hit deadlines. Is not just about me being the front facing show runner. I have to work with my team. I get to work with my team to figure out what's the best story that we are presenting. Because as a show runner, I may have two or four other producers who are working on individual episodes, and so I have to create an environment where people feel comfortable to share what's working what's not working, and then create a solution that will be across our season. So I would say vulnerability has always worked for me even when I was coming up through the ranks, but especially now, because I cannot be a successful show runner without my team, and I make them feel heard and seen and valued, because that's the way that I would have wanted, or I wanted show runners in the past to treat me. So I always start with that. I can't necessarily say there's a time that I wasn't vulnerable, because I always start with that. Every single time that I start a show, I write a list of intentions. How do I want to feel? How do I want to present myself? And then how do I want my team to feel? And that's how I execute from there.

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6:16  

That's really interesting. You've said before that storytelling is your bread and butter, even for projects like a concert special or branded series. Can you walk us through an example of how you, you know, found the story in a format that others might see as straightforward or non narrative, like, for instance, how did your storytelling mindset shaped something like the voice or the heart of it all series where the content could have easily been just performances or information rather than a compelling story.

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6:50  

Sure. So with heart of it all, heart of it all was a four part financial literacy series with Chase. And so when I was brought on to show run and to direct, I had a development deck that was in front of me, so that's typically a PowerPoint or a PDF that hits my desk, and it is a written documentation of where network execs or at the time, where client execs want to go with the project. So they were very clear about how they wanted to have Kevin showcase. Kevin Hart showcases comedic tone. Will also give these financial tips that were digestible. They also wanted to fit in that he loves fitness. And so there were a lot of elements that the client came to me with. And so I really wanted to make sure that I elevated all of those elements. How are we going to find cast that has the types of challenges that Kevin can step into and really improve. And so I feel like it was my duty to figure out how to elevate storytelling in that way. And for that particular show, was all about the casting. So each show you have a different challenge. So with that branded show, it was really about elevating the client story to tell something that audiences would grab hold to. So we had a struggling single dad who was trying to figure out how to make ends meet. That's a relatable story. We also had two roommates who were in their early 20s and trying to figure it out. I think a lot of us, if you're young and you've moved away, you can identify with how do I make ends meet when I want to go out and spend money and be social? So that was a story point. And so I really looked for people that I felt could represent the types of questions that we wanted to answer on that show, and also ways to highlight Kevin. So that's one particular show. Now, if you're thinking about, for example, gospel Live, which was a gospel concert special for PBS, the storytelling there was about the rich history and legacy of gospel music. And so the way that I was able to heighten that storytelling was making sure that we chose artists, musical artists who loved gospel, who were inspired by gospel, and could also sing those songs with a level of passion, and also pay homage to different guests and different artists. So every show has its own vibe and sort of question that we're answering. And so I always look at, what are the ways in which I can elevate the story just based on the format that we're using? That's fantastic.

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9:26  

Can you tell us more and tell me more about trust your magic and your role and who you know? Sure,

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9:33  

absolutely. So I created trust your magic in 2016 and I created that actually out of a dream. So at that time I was coming together, I was putting together a stationary line. I love journals. If you went into my room, I have like 50 journals that are in a trunk, and then I have 10 more that I use. And so I was putting together a stationary line, completely different colors, completely different name, and I had a dream. Dream to trust my magic. And so I woke up, and the colors were very clear to me. The logo was very clear to me. It came honestly overnight. And so that was when I decided that, wow, this is more than a stationary line. This is an affirmation, trust your magic is an affirmation, not only just for myself, but others, and that's how I started to create offerings. So I created a merchandise line, then I moved on to workshops. Now I have the podcast, and we're going into season two, so trust your magic gives me a playground where I can elevate our mission of people remembering to use their gifts and talents that we have, everything that we need if we trust ourselves, if we trust our innate abilities. And so that's how trust your magic came to be. Q, you know, is an organization that was founded in 2017 by Bree Frank, who was a fellow production executive, and similar, she had a dream, actually, funny. Now, I haven't even put those two together before, but Bree had a dream about being able to elevate people like herself, who were kind of stuck in middle level production or middle level executiveship, if you will. And so she came up with Who you know, which was all about posting jobs on Facebook. So that's how it started, I was invited to that group on Facebook, and then I reached out to her and asked her, Do you need any help? And she said, Yes, I threw a networking event for her that holiday season, and then the rest has been history, and I've been working on the team ever since, and now we have what, 23,000 members is pretty incredible.

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11:39  

That's great. You know, with this, it means that you, you know, get to mentor a lot of up and coming talent. What's a piece of advice you find yourself giving young production professionals over and over and on the flip side, what's something that you've learned or unlearned from the newer generation in the industry? You know, in other words, have your mentees or younger colleagues influenced you as a leader and creator?

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12:04  

That's a great question, so I'll start with the first one. So in terms of advice that I give young creatives often, it is to do the work. I think that a lot of people get used to saying, I'm an emerging producer. I'm an emerging writer. But then when you say, well, may I see your material, they don't have any material. Sometimes we get into the notion of speaking about we're aspiring, we're up and coming. But like, are you actually doing the work? And so I often have to say, wear your samples, try new things. Hit, send, do the work, and that is not only from a creative standpoint, but also doing the work of networking, being community minded, reaching out to people and making sure that you are well rounded. So that's number one. I would say something that the young ones are telling me, Wow, I'm a professor now, which is pretty crazy, so I I love it. I have, I have. I'm in week three of being a professor, and so I think my young ones, they haven't necessarily given me any advice, but I feel like what I learned from being around the younger generation is to be myself. I think that when I was early on in my career, I was way more quiet. I did a lot of work, so I took that advice. I did the work, but I often was like, Did I do the right thing? I feel like I was a little bit of a nervous Nelly, and I probably didn't even present that way, but I felt that way, whereas now, no matter what's going on, I am myself, so even as a show runner and a leader, if there's something that I don't know, an aspect of production that I may not be well versed on, I'm happy to share you know your show runner doesn't know 100% of everything. We're constantly learning new programs and things like that. So I'm okay to say, Hey, show me that. And I think that that has really worked just in being authentic.

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14:07  

That's awesome. So in your work profiled the black man, you were deliberate about showing Black joy and excellence on screen, and not just trauma. How do you as a producer strike the balance between portraying harsh realities authentically and then also highlighting hope and positivity. Is there ever tension for you in deciding how much of the painful truth to show versus focusing on uplifting elements? And how do you navigate that? In practice, when crafting a story, I

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14:39  

think as a person of color is really important for me to show the aspects of black joy. I think there's a lot of black pain that we see, and we have been traumatized, but we've also been programmed to expect it, and so when I am in network rooms, when I am in meetings, it astonishes me how. Often the pain people want to see, the pain they don't realize they've been programmed. And so I often look to reprogram and re examine how we showcase blackness, how we showcase diversity, and how we showcase the voices, the diverse voices across our nation and our world. So it's really important for me to have a well rounded point of view. So if we're going to show the pain and the trauma, then we need to eventually get to the sunshine. We need to eventually get to the joy and the triumphs. That's what I've lived. That's what the people around me have lived. And so that is incredibly important to me as a storyteller. We are not a monolith, and so that is something that is very, very important to me. So

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15:47  

you've worked on competition shows, documentaries, live events, digital series. It's a wide spectrum. What is a surprising skill or insight you picked up in one genre of production that ended up being invaluable in a completely different genre. So for example, Did you learn something while producing a reality competition that later helped you in directing a documentary or vice versa? Yes,

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16:13  

I will say I was a field producer for a show called America's Best Dance Crew. It was a dance competition show on MTV, one of my favorite shows, and I was responsible for directing the home videos, or the home packages for our crew members. So if you think about any competition show, there's always these background moments that you see where you go to people's homes, or you go to their communities, you hear from their parents, you hear why they want to be on the show. And so I was responsible for those home packages, as well as the weekly challenge packages, where we went behind the scenes to showcase how they prepared for their big night on the stage. I loved directing those scenes and also editing those scenes, and the work on America's Best Dance Crew actually inspired my first short film, first date, because it was my first time directing consistently. So I was getting comfortable with working directly with a director of photography, setting up shots, directing my talent. So even though it was a competition show, that is actually what inspired me to direct my first short film.

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17:26  

So everyone talks about successes, but I'm curious about a challenging moment that you've had in your career. Can you tell me about maybe a project didn't go as planned, or a major setback you encountered in production, and how you responded, I want to know, you know, was there a valuable lesson that you took away from those experiences that you might not have learned anything had the production gone smoothly?

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17:52  

Yes, I was the executive producer for a project in 2022 that ended up not making air for a cable network. I was really excited about a project, but the format that was created, and I actually was the person that developed the format by the time that the show was shot, I was not the showrunner in the field, but by the time the show was shot, we realized that the subject matter had shifted and changed and evolved, and so that's a tough conversation to have, with your client, with your network, to say we are not actually getting the coverage that was in the original, original development materials. That's an extremely hard conversation to have. And so for me, I was the executive producer on the post side, trying to figure out, how do we make this work? How do we have a successful show for the network? But also, how do we stay true to what's actually happening in real time? Because we're documenting real lives. And so I was in the middle of a very challenging conversation, because, again, you have your client expectations. You also have what's happening in real time in production, and me in the middle, and me championing my team to figure out, to problem solve, to reshape this format again and again and again. And ultimately, the show ended up not making air. And I understand why. A lot was going on around the time of the strike. That show was a year long, that we were pounding the pavement trying to figure things out. And so I feel the valuable lesson that I learned was to always stay true to the story that is authentic. Because even though we knew what the network wanted, we could not facilitate what they wanted, and we were trying to figure out how to massage the material to get it to a certain place, but at the end of the day, the rubber meets the road, and so it was disappointing when the show got canned, but I also understood what happened to get us there again, those types of conversations. Conversations with higher ups as well as your team, are very challenging, because for me, as the show runner, or in that case, the executive producer, on the post production side, I'm championing, I'm rallying. I'm constantly having these team meetings like, Okay, this is what we're going to try this week to make this work. Let's see if we can make this work. And then on the flip side, like, why are you guys not getting what we thought you were going to get? That's incredibly challenging. That was probably my least favorite moment of my career, to be honest, because I understood that I was translating on both sides, and I needed to stay true to what the story really was. I couldn't can it into the format that was sold. So we had to accept, you know, where we were by the end of that. You

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20:50  

know, you once shared that negotiation and resilience were key to some of your own breakthroughs. When you look back, was there one negotiation or bold ask that significantly changed the trajectory of your career. How did you approach it, and what can others learn from that experience about advocating for themselves?

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21:13  

One event that stands out to me really changed the trajectory of my life. It was the end of 2010 and I had just applied to a screenwriting fellowship at USC called the Hanks and Miller screenwriting fellowship program. I had submitted my first feature film, and I found out that I was a finalist, and so I got a phone call asking if I could do a phone interview. And at the time, I was actually coming out to LA to be a contestant on Wheel of Fortune, and what I did, I said, Thank you so much for wanting to do a phone interview. I'm actually going to be in LA in a day. Is it possible for me to meet you in person? And they said, Yes. So initially, the choices that they were giving me to do the phone interview were maybe days away or maybe a week away, but I renegotiated meeting with them in person, and I feel like that really shifted the connection that I had in that final interview, in that finalist interview. And so I got off my flight again to be here for wheel of fortune, and I went right to USC, and I interviewed for an hour and a half, and I told my mom, I really feel I got that fellowship because they wouldn't have spoken to me for 90 minutes. And ultimately, I did get that fellowship. I didn't win as much money as I wanted to on Wheel of Fortune, but I had the dream of my life. That was one of my bucket list dreams, to be on Wheel of Fortune. So I got the fellowship, and I also had the opportunity to be on my favorite game show that

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22:43  

is amazing, that's hilarious. You know, Kristen, you've accomplished a lot across different media. As you look ahead, what's your next leap of faith or new challenge that excites you? Is there a type of project or a role you haven't done yet, say, a narrative feature or innovating in digital space that you feel drawn to in this next stage of your journey. What kind of impact do you hope to make in the industry in the coming years, and what would make five generations of your family proud?

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23:13  

I love that question right this moment, I'm really focused on acquiring funds. So last year, I put together a publicity tour called gospel live screening and Q and A talk back tour, which was an opportunity for us to share with the community why they should watch gospel live. So this show was a show on PBS and I funded a four city screening tour that ultimately got 18 million additional impressions, won some awards, like it was just an amazing experience, and that was really an opportunity for me to have a proof of concept around being able to utilize funding to tell great stories and to create community experiences. And so for me now I want to do that on a broader scale, and so what that looks like is acquiring funds for a big music special, as well as also doing a community component, like a tour. So that's one aspect that I'm really excited about. Currently, what I feel like will make generations proud. Moving forward, I am consistently doing education, and I'm moving in that space. So I'm currently the site director for a new program called Hofstra la semester, I am a proud alumna of Hofstra University, and so I am an adjunct professor, but also helping mentor 16 film and TV students who are here in LA for a semester. And I say that to say that I believe I've always wanted a program that champions arts education, financial literacy and also entrepreneurship. So I'm really excited to see how life flows, because I've always been equal parts. Entertainment, entrepreneurship and education. So I'm interested to see how this is all going to unfold. Kristen

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25:05  

V Carter, that is fantastic. Thank you so much for joining me on on production and sharing with us a bit of your story and insights of producing across all these different types of media. Thank you so much for

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25:18  

having me. This was such a fun conversation. I really appreciate it.