News & Updates

Wedding and party planner extraordinaire David Tutera is taking his talents to TV once more with Lifetime’s My Great Big Live Wedding with David Tutera. And this time, he’s pushing the envelope even further — each episode will be a live broadcast!

According to the network, “Every week, one new couple will share their emotional and heart-warming story live from a different city across the country.” Thinkfactory Media, Lifetime, and Tutera “scoured the country and found eight inspirational couples whose remarkable stories of love and survival redefine real love.”

Viewers who tune in will get to experience the entire wedding journey with Tutera and the couples. “It’s not like you turn on the TV and it’s just the wedding. The journey starts at the moment I tell them they’re going to get this amazing wedding,” Tutera tells TVInsider.

He’s responsible for every last detail but insists the show isn’t about him — “I’m just the messenger. It’s all about the wonderful couples.”

Read on for our chat with Tutera below.

What do you think people will connect with most about the series?

David Tutera: I think the timing for this show is perfect. It’s one hour of happiness and you’re rooting for a great couple. And it’s also about seeing the magic of what I do to making these amazing weddings come alive. It’s a feel-great show and I’m beyond excited for people to experience it.

Is the live element even more stressful for you?

Yes! [Laughs] In all the things that I’ve done in my career and personal life, I aim to do things that have never been done. So when I was talking to Lifetime about how we were going to do this, everyone was like, ‘I don’t know. It’s never been done before.’ Which makes it even more fascinating to me. It’s a lot of moving pieces. We know that when it comes to weddings anything can happen. By filming it live, we’re telling the story with heart and honesty and we’re shooting it in a way so the TV audience feels like a guest of that wedding.

Every couple is so inspirational. Is there one couple’s story that touched you the most?

I traveled around the country for two months meeting these couples and I would leave them and call my husband and say, ‘I’m emotionally drained.’ These couples are legitimately happy even though they’ve gone through life’s challenges and struggles. They’ve come to a place we’re they’re great even though they’ve experienced hardships. I think that’s what will make viewers fall in love with them even more. The couples weren’t begging for this; they weren’t asking for this. Sometimes, as a society, we don’t see these stories because they get buried by the everyday drama but it’s true that love conquers all.

Are you working with local vendors or bringing in your own people?

My whole thing was that I’m coming into your life; it’s not me bringing in my own people. It’s about me working with your community and you’re people that best represent who you are. It’s just me elevating it.

After this, what’s next on the horizon?

I’m launching my next bridal gown collection — called David Tutera Bridal — and my men’s fashion collection. I’ve upped the ante. I’ve tried to take wedding fashions and elevate the visuals. The brides on the show are all wearing my designs made specifically for them.

My Great Big Live Wedding with David Tutera, Premieres, Tuesday, February 5, 10/9c, Lifetime

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Lifetime event series My Great Big Live Wedding with David Tutera follows eight deserving couples who work with famed event planner Tutera, culminating with their ceremonies aired live. Adam Reed, CEO of Thinkfactory Media, says it truly takes a village to pull off such an ambitious project.

Series premieres Tuesday, February 5th at 10p.

The Decision to Go LIVE

At Thinkfactory, we never develop a project around a “live” hook. For us, the potential success of a series hinges completely on a strong concept and format, as well as compelling characters that viewers can invest in. In other words, the project needs to be able to stand on its own – the live component can’t be the only factor that’s making viewers tune in.

Once all the right pieces are in place, it then becomes a conversation around, “how can we elevate this further?”. That’s where the “live” discussion begins. With any wedding (televised or not), the stakes are extremely high and there are a million things that can go wrong at any moment. Now add to that a celebrity wedding planner (Tutera) who is working around the clock to bring each couple a perfect wedding that’s chock-full of surprises – plus a camera crew and production team that’s capturing every second live, as it happens – and you’ve got quite the rollercoaster ride.

In short, the live element isn’t the ice cream sundae – it’s the cherry on top.

Casting the Wedding Maestro & the Most Deserving Couples in America

In the very early stages of development, Gena McCarthy from Lifetime and myself agreed that David Tutera was the host we needed for this show. There’s no one better than Tutera, and he brings a whole new layer of excitement to the project. It’s the type of series he’s always wanted to do, and his enthusiasm shines through in each episode.

Once he was onboard, we cast a wide net in our search for the “most deserving couples in America.” Our team met with so many different future brides and grooms, and a lot of people actually referred us to other couples with incredible stories. In multiple instances, we had different folks pointing us in the same directions, and as a result, we’ve landed on eight amazing couples whose backstories and journeys to the altar are nothing short of remarkable.

It Takes a Village

With most cable series, you have a core production team in the trenches, pulling it all together. For a series like My Great Big Live Wedding, it really takes a village. We have three separate teams on the show who need to focus on completely different tasks, all while moving forward in lockstep.

First, we have our producing and showrunning team, which executes the creative vision for the series through every phase of production. Then, we have our “live” team that focuses on pulling off the live broadcast and leading the charge on the night of the wedding. Of course, this team needs to stay aligned with our producing/showrunning team at every turn – in order to seamlessly blend our taped packages with the live broadcast.

And both of those teams need to stay in constant communication with Tutera’s team, as he’s developing and executing his own creative vision for the wedding that needs to mesh with the overarching vision for the series.

It’s an intricate production, and you need a top-notch crew (which we’re very lucky to have) to pull it off.

Capturing the Love Story

While the live wedding broadcast will be the anchor of each episode, this show doesn’t work unless viewers are invested in our couples from the onset. That said, we needed to be surgical about piecing together each couple’s love story – finding the most compelling approach to capturing their history together and their engagement, as well as the massive physical and emotional challenges they’ve overcome on their path to the wedding.

If the audience isn’t emotionally hooked five minutes in, we haven’t done our job.

Staying Light on Your Feet 

Of course, it’s absolutely impossible to control everything for a live series. Anything can happen at any given moment, and our team needs to remain nimble and be prepared for every possible scenario. There’s a Plan B, Plan C and Plan D for everything, and even then, you need an experienced team that can improvise in the moment and create an entirely new plan on the spot. It’s what makes live television so great and what keeps viewers tuning in.

As a producer, you just prepare and rehearse like a maniac, knowing that in the end, it all may need to go out the window.

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Thinkfactory Media has promoted its longstanding unscripted executive Adam Freeman to president of creative as part of a rejig at the US prodco.

The outfit has also upped its VP of unscripted development, Brian Dale, to senior VP, while Ashley Kolpack has become VP of unscripted development and Justin Nichols is now head of casting.

The moves come a few months after ITV America took full control of the company, with former CEO Leslie Greif being replaced by current chief Adam Reed.

Freeman joined Thinkfactory in 2006 and most recently served as executive VP of creative affairs. He has exec produced a number of the company’s hits including 12 seasons of WE tv’s Marriage Boot Camp franchise and Gene Simmons Family Jewels for A&E, on which he was also showrunner.

He was previously an MTV exec for 11 years, working on music video show Total Request Live for more than 800 episodes.

Dale, who has been at Thinkfactory for eight years, has been key to the firm’s unscripted development growth, working on TLC’s Married by Mom & Dad and Lifetime’s Preacher’s Daughters, among other shows. Kolpack worked at UTA and MTV before moving to Thinkfactory in 2015.

“Having been a part of Thinkfactory from the ground up, it has been simply amazing to watch us grow from four people above a bakery to a full-service production company with more than a decade in the business under our belts,” said Freeman. “This is a tremendous opportunity to lead the company’s creative efforts, as we further expand and diversify our slate.”

Both Freeman and Kolpack have played integral roles in Thinkfactory’s forthcoming project My Great Big Live Wedding with David Tutera, which was greenlit by Lifetime in September 2018.

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Marriage Boot Camp producer Thinkfactory Media has elevated Adam Freeman to president of creative, in addition to bolstering its development and casting teams.

Freeman joined Thinkfactory in 2006. Having served as executive VP of creative affairs, he has helped to shape the company’s slate and has executive produced many of Thinkfactory’s biggest hits, including 12 seasons of WE tv’s Marriage Boot Camp franchise and Mama June: From Not to Hot. Freeman also executive produced and was showrunner on more than 150 episodes of Gene Simmons Family Jewels for A&E. He is executive producing Lifetime’s upcoming My Great Big Live Wedding with David Tutera.

The company has also promoted three key team members, with Brian Dale elevated to senior VP of unscripted development, Justin Nichols named head of casting, and Ashley Kolpack upped to VP of unscripted development.

Thinkfactory CEO Adam Reed said: “In our roughly 12 years producing television together, I’ve witnessed first-hand the expansive creative instincts and unparalleled format knowledge exercised by Adam Freeman on a day-to-day basis. As we press forward into a new year and an exciting new chapter at Thinkfactory, I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have helming creative. I’m also delighted to have Brian, Justin and Ashley leading our development and casting charge, and look forward to continuing to push the boundaries of traditional programming, creating more unexpected, splashy content.”

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Los Angeles-based prodco Thinkfactory Media has elevated long-time unscripted executive Adam Freeman to the role of president of creative.

Freeman (pictured, left), who was formerly EVP of creative affairs, has executive produced some of the company’s biggest hits since joining Thinkfactory 13 years ago, including the unscripted series Mama June: From Not to Hot, which delivered 2.3 million viewers on premiere night, making it the highest series premiere to date for WE tv.

He has also executive produced over eight seasons of WE tv’s Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars along with Million Dollar Matchmaker, #Preached, Vet School, Preachers’ Daughters, Married By Mom and Dad and Queens of Drama.

Prior to Thinkfactory, Freeman spent 11 years at Viacom’s MTV.

“In our roughly 12 years producing television together, I’ve witnessed first-hand the expansive creative instincts and unparalleled format knowledge exercised by Adam Freeman on a day-to-day basis,” said Thinkfactory CEO Adam Reed in a statement. “As we press forward into a new year and an exciting new chapter at Thinkfactory, I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have helming creative.”

In addition, the company has restructured its executive ranks with the promotion of three key members.

Brian Dale (right) has been upped to SVP of unscripted development; Ashley Kolpack is to become VP of unscripted development; and Justin Nichols has been named head of casting.

Dale, who has spent eight years with Thinkfactory, most recently served as VP of unscripted development. His past credits include TLC’s Married by Mom & Dad and Lifetime’s Preacher’s Daughters, among others. Prior to joining Thinkfactory, he spent six years producing unscripted content at Time Warner.

Kolpack, meanwhile, joined Thinkfactory in 2015. In that time, she has overseen development deals with a range of networks including Lifetime, TLC, A&E and VH1, among others, and is also currently on the development team behind Lifetime’s My Great Big Live Wedding with David Tutera. She began her career at UTA before holding positions at MTV and Core Media Group.

Nichols oversees casting on all of the company’s unscripted series and development. He began his career at Studio Lambert, working on CBS’s Undercover Boss.

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EXCLUSIVE: Unscripted TV producer Thinkfactory Media has upped 13-year company veteran Adam Freeman to President of Creative and promoted three other executives.

Freeman, who was EVP Creative Affairs, has been integral in shaping Thinkfactory’s slate and has executive produced many of the company’s most popular shows. They including 12 seasons of WE tv’s Marriage Boot Camp franchise – as well as Here Comes Honey Boo Boo spinoff Mama June: From Not to Hot. He also executive produced and showran Gene Simmons Family Jewels for A&E, with other credits including WE tv’s Million Dollar Matchmaker, TLC’s Married by Mom & Dad and Lifetime’s Preacher’s Daughters along with that network’s upcoming My Great Big Live Wedding with David Tutera.

“In our roughly 12 years producing television together, I’ve witnessed firsthand the expansive creative instincts and unparalleled format knowledge exercised by Adam Freeman on a day-to-day basis,” Thinkfactory CEO Adam Reed said. “As we press forward into a new year and an exciting new chapter at Thinkfactory, I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have helming creative.”

The company also announced promotions of eight-year Thinkfactory vet Brian Dale to SVP Unscripted Development; Studio Lambert and TMZ alum Justin Nichols to Head of Casting; and former MTV, UTA and Core Media staffer Ashley Kolpack to VP Unscripted Development.

Time Warner alum Dale was VP Unscripted Development at Thinkfactory. His credits include Married by Mom & Dad, Preacher’s Daughters, NatGeo Wild’s Vet School and Discovery’s Big Giant Swords. Nichols oversees casting on all Thinkfactory unscripted series and development, with credits including My Great Big Live Wedding with David Tutera; TLC’s Hodges Half Dozen; and, during his CBS stint, Undercover Boss. Kolpack joined Thinkfactory in 2015 and has shepherded development deals with networks including Lifetime, TLC, A&E, History, E!, WE tv, MTV and VH1.

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