Good Morning Dream Job
Brandon Bodow has a talent for finding talent
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Good Morning America producer Brandon Bodow (COM’06) takes viewers behind the scenes as he produces a segment with musical guest Ingrid Michaelson, who is currently on tour with her band promoting her newest album, Everybody.
Two years ago, Brandon Bodow noticed a fair amount of chatter on music blogs about a singer named Ingrid Michaelson. Even though Michaelson was not signed to a major label, Bodow, then a producer at Good Morning America, decided that so many bloggers couldn’t be wrong and invited her on the show. These days, Michaelson’s songs are being heard in some strange and wonderful places, like the popular TV series Grey’s Anatomy, The Hills, and One Tree Hill, and her self-released album Everybody reached the number-one spot on iTunes. Recently, Bodow brought the singer back for a second segment, where her talent, as well as Bodow’s talent for finding talent, were abundantly clear.
In his dream job come true, Bodow (COM’06) is paid to know what’s cool. To do that, he scours newspapers, magazines, and the Internet, and he spends plenty of time at Broadway shows.
“I brought on the original cast of Rent, my favorite musical, and the cast of Hair for the Summer Concert Series,” he says. “We built a huge set in Central Park, thousands of people came to enjoy the show.”
Bodow credits landing his current position to two internships at Good Morning America during two consecutive summers while he was at the College of Communication.
“It was very hands-on,” he says. “The contacts I made ultimately led to a job here.”
Curiously, Bodow didn’t always want to be a producer. As a television major, he preferred the technical side of production — working with crew, cameras, and audio gear — and he had his heart set on directing. Then he enrolled in Producing 1, taught by Garland Waller, a COM assistant professor of film and television. “I learned about the editorial side of production, developing concepts for shows,” says Bodow. “Educating and entertaining viewers is a major part of my job now, and with breaking stories and new artists coming on the show, every day is different.”
He says it’s the intensity of working on a live show that most excites him, even when things go awry, as they do. “We’ve had performers fall off stage, some show up late,” he says. “Prince, a.k.a. the artist formerly known as Prince, missed rehearsal, but it didn’t matter. He’s an experienced performer and was ‘on’ as soon as he took the mic.”
Robin Berghaus can be reached at berghaus@bu.edu.
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