Claudia Cagan Is One Of Hollywood's Most Powerful
By Jillian Leff -- 03/06/10
In the heart of Los Angeles is the "it" channel for entertainment, E! NETWORK. And in the middle of it all is one of the industry's most powerful women. Senior Segment Producer Claudia Cagan is one of four people in charge of content at E! News, Daily 10, and special programming. One of the many stops in her path to success was at "Entertainment Tonight" as a Senior Segment Producer. Six years ago, she joined E! where she now serves as one of the segment producers on one of the channel's highest rated shows.
Cagan has been in the entertainment news industry for over twenty years during which time she says the landscape has completely changed. In the beginning, audiences were happy with journalists visiting sets and movie premieres while reporting what was happening with the stars in their element. Then, Cagan says, publicists got involved in telling reporters how the stars acted behind the scenes. Suddenly, the public was yearning to know what happens in celebrities' personal lives.
Bringing it back to what happens today, Cagan says that reality television is taking over the E! NETWORK. One of its most popular shows is "Kendra." It follows a former Playboy playmate as she transitions to married life and having a baby. Instead of caring about what she does for work, the public wants to know where she shops, how she will decorate the baby nursery, and how her marriage is going. This creates a new breed of viewers who wants to know everything, as if they were a part of the star's life.
Besides reality television, E! provides full coverage of all the major award shows including the Academy Awards. For the Oscars, Director of Talent, Karyn Wulbrun, and the segment producing team have been hard at work for months trying to line up this year's top interviews. Stars like Best Actress nominees Sandra Bullock and Gabourey Sidibe will be making a stop at the the E! News stage where there will be 8 hours of Oscars programming. That is more than any other news outlet.
Cagan decided to leave aspiring entertainment reporters with one piece of advice. She says the industry is all about whom you know and with whom you build relationships. She assures that if anyone tells you differently, they are lying. Her knowledge of television and candid nature makes her a true pro and veteran of the fast paced entertainment industry.
E! NETWORK is the only cable channel to run a constant stream of entertainment television, and has reached a milestone of twenty years in the business.