#MediaMonday – Rebecca Guldberg

Today’s #MediaMonday comes to us from Breakthrough Video’s own Rebecca Guldberg, a producer on the Emmy-winning PBS show Plate & Pour, which airs Thursdays at 7 p.m. on Arizona PBS. Her work is a treasure trove of WOW programming. In the past, she has worked as a freelance field producer for various shows including: The Rachael Ray Show, NBC Nightly News, ABC World News Tonight, Good Morning America, The Today Show, HGTV’s ‘My First Place,’ The Doctors and Crime Watch Daily. She also created and served as the executive producer on the television show series ‘AZ Million Dollar Homes.’

Rebecca, time to share:

Tell us about growing up? What were your passions?
I grew up in north Phoenix back when the valley was a lot smaller and before most of the freeways were built. After high school, I attended Glendale Community College for a couple of years and then transferred to the University of Arizona where I was the ‘media relations director’ in student government and an intern at KVOA, Tucson’s NBC affiliate. At the time, the U of A didn’t have many opportunities for students to work in television, so I posted flyers around campus (the internet didn’t exist), announcing a meeting for anyone interested in helping to produce a student-run television show. More than 120 students showed up. We used public access camera equipment to produce two pilot shows and KVOA agreed to air them. When I graduated, a professor said he would like to continue the show and teach it as a class. It’s still at the U of A today, almost 25 years later, as Journalism 390. I visited The Cat’s Eye studio a year ago with my kids and we got to meet the current students. That was fun!

Tell us how you got your start in television?
While interning at KVOA in college, I would ride my bike to the news station at 3 a.m. and write stories for the 6 a.m. news. They eventually hired me as an associate producer making $16,000/year, which was barely enough to live off of but I absolutely loved it. I had to have roommates in order to cover living expenses. I went on to produce newscasts at KPNX (12-News) in Phoenix and then I was an executive producer at KPHO (TV-5). When KPHO hired me away from KPNX, I had to sit out a six-month non-compete contract. During those six months, I started working as a freelance field producer for local production companies who did shoots for various network shows. I returned to field producing and started producing my own projects later on, when I stopped working in local news.

Tell us how you came to work on Plate & Pour?
PBS came up with the concept of ‘Plate & Pour’ and they were looking for producers to help with season one. ‘Plate & Pour’ is hosted by chef Mark Tarbell, who is one of the nicest guys I have ever worked with. He takes you into the kitchens of valley restaurants and introduces you to incredible chefs. The show also features other types of food-related businesses such as farms, gardeners and makers. We’re wrapping up season two now. Unfortunately, this is an incredibly challenging and heart-breaking time for the restaurant industry due to the Coronavirus. I hope our economy can return to normal as soon as possible after all of this.

Tell us about the types of story pitches you want, if any?
Beyond Plate & Pour, I would love to produce some television shows and see if I could get them picked up by a network or hosted on streaming services. The trick is financing the production of projects like that. If anyone has an idea for a television show and a way to finance the production, such as sponsors, please let me know.

Favorite type of music?
It may sound strange but I have never been the type of person who listens to much music. It’s a strange hang-up I have, I feel like I’m wasting time. But I love podcasts! Some of my favorites are: ‘Best to the Nest’ – hosted by Plate & Pour series producer, Margery Punnett, I also like listening to Boss Files, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, Exec Producer with Noah Pollack, Happier with Gretchen Rubin, How I Built This, No Limits… I could go on and on.

Favorite color?
I really like clean/neutral colors like whites, grays and beiges for clothes, cars and the home.

Favorite TV shows or movies?
I binge-watched ‘Morning Show’ on Apple with Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon. So good! I just started watching ‘Love Is Blind’ on Netflix. It’s such an interesting concept. Thirty men and women spend 10 days in a speed dating format where they can talk to each other but not see each other. If they propose, they meet face-to-face for the first time and go on a retreat and later live together. At the altar on the day of the wedding, they make their final decision on whether or not to get married. My 13-year-old daughter and I have also been watching RuPaul’s Drag Race. I’ve also always been a Shark Tank addict. That is another incredible concept for a show.

Favorite local restaurants or other haunts?
We have so many amazing restaurants here in Arizona— Talavera at The Four Seasons, Barrio Café, Mora, Atlas, Glai Baan, Southern Rail, Fat Ox, Pa’ La, Vincent’s, Confluence, Nobuo at Teeter House, Tratto, Cotton & Copper and Little Miss BBQ. My kids both love The White Chocolate Grill.

Any foods you hate?
I can’t think of one food I hate. I’ll eat pretty much anything and I love everything!

Best email: Rebecca@BreakthroughVideos.com