Since its premiere, The Late Show has raised eyebrows by booking an eclectic mixture of guests each night. Having CEOs on the show, for example, is particularly unusual. Fast Company caught up with Stephen’s longtime booker, Emily Lazar, for a glimpse into the guest-booking strategy for the new show:
“We are a long way from the era of the man in the gray flannel suit,” says Emily Lazar, co-executive producer and head of talent booking at The Late Show. “Many of the CEOs we’re going after for the show are changing the world, and at a very fast pace. Our audience is interested in knowing about the people who are harnessing technology to reorder the way we live.”
[…] As Lazar explains, what she’s looking for when booking guests like inventor and designer Dominic Wilcox—who appeared on last night’s show—is the broad description of anyone at the top of their respective games, and who possesses that catchall buzzword: “authenticity.”
“If you have ideas, or if you have interests, or you have a body of knowledge that is genuine, that you have committed your life to, we are infinitely interested in that,” Lazar says. “Because at the end of the day, Stephen has to talk to a person and that person has to represent their ideas and their beliefs and their motivation persuasively. We’re looking for authenticity like everyone else.”
Full Article: Fast Company.
It seems like elements of The Colbert Report are still having their impact on guest selection for The Late Show, in that thinkers, movers and shakers, and innovators are still finding their way to Stephen’s guest chair, in addition to the standard fare of Hollywood starlets. What do you Hubsters think of the guest roster so far? Is it staying true to Stephen’s sense of humor and intellectual curiosity, or too serious for The Late Show?
Stephen Colbert's Game Changing Guest Booking Strategy
Since its premiere, The Late Show has raised eyebrows by booking an eclectic mixture of guests each night. Having CEOs on the show, for example, is particularly unusual. Fast Company caught up with Stephen’s longtime booker, Emily Lazar, for a glimpse into the guest-booking strategy for the new show:
It seems like elements of The Colbert Report are still having their impact on guest selection for The Late Show, in that thinkers, movers and shakers, and innovators are still finding their way to Stephen’s guest chair, in addition to the standard fare of Hollywood starlets. What do you Hubsters think of the guest roster so far? Is it staying true to Stephen’s sense of humor and intellectual curiosity, or too serious for The Late Show?