Executive Producer Kari McFarland as a Production Assistant in LA

I Have A Confession 


For years, I never believed
I could make it to Executive Producer.

Or move from freelance production to the network side. 

It felt like an impossible dream.

Kari McFarland USC School of Cinema-Television Graduation 1998

At 18, I moved to LA
not knowing a soul.

I went to film shool at USC paying for everything on my own.

My dad didn’t get it.
The instability scared him.

He wanted me to get a “real” job.

I thought a lot about playing it safe and becoming a lawyer instead.

I’m so glad I didn’t.

Fast forward to today

I’m living proof that dreams can come true!

Flavor Flav and Executive Producer Kari McFarland

I Started As An Intern
When I Was 19

Worked my way up to showrunner by 26 

Spent 10 years in the trenches of freelance production in LA

Then another 15 years as Network Executive developing signature, brand-defining series for MTV, VH1 and WEtv

Big Ang and Executive Producer Kari McFarland

It’ll be hard to find someone with more experience in Reality TV than me.

Bold statement.

But facts.

But here’s the thing


For years I questioned
if I belonged in this industry at all.

Kari McFarland I Want To Work For Diddy

Doubt and fear were constant companions
on my journey.

I wasn’t the coolest one on set and didn’t have the loudest voice in the room.

Back then, I was pretty shy and unsure of myself too.

But deep down

Something kept calling me!

Kari McFarland Production Coordinator Kids Say The Darndest Things.

So I hustled my way through a whirlwind of messy and thrilling jobs, grueling hours, storms of anger, and very little pay.

I learned the ropes.

Found my voice.

And pulled something out of me that I had no idea was in there.

It’s not about who you are when you start out.

It’s about who you become along the way.

This Is A Profession That
Calls Us
Fears And All

Vice President and Executive Producer Kari McFarland

And if you’re called,
you can absolutely
make your dreams a reality!

CHECK OUT CRAZY TWISTS

IN MY CAREER JOURNEY!

  • Kari McFarland Family Feud
  • Bow Wow and Executive Producer Kari McFarland
  • Kari McFarland Love After Lockup Party
  • AMC Networks Vice President Kari McFarland
  • Executive Producer Kari McFarland on set
  • AMC Networks Vice President Kari McFarland

I've Been

  • On set (in a room by myself) with my team outside glued to the door. I was totally ok! Sometimes we all just have to vent and let it out! I love those Staten Island ladies and there will never be anyone like Big Ang!

  • I’ve done a lot of shows with Hip Hop Legends – Master P, Salt-N-Pepa, Ja Rule, Diddy, Da Brat, Waka Flocka, 50 Cent! But shoveling dirt and riding on a wagon in the middle of nowhere with Flav (clock and all) might be my favorite memory ever! And I almost died in a tornado on the way to that shoot in Wyoming.

  • Having my waist cinched by the iconic Laverne Cox in a West Virginia thrift store is a moment I’ll always cherish – and a nod to making groundbreaking series that challenge stereotypes and change perceptions!

Plus

  • Living on the penthouse floor of Caesar's Palace in Vegas for six months brought a whole new meaning to "work and play." The stories from that wild show could fill a book!

  • I always hoped working in Reality TV would land me on a beach show in some exotic location. Nope - no beaches for me. (Unless you count a jungle in Hawaii with scorpions and nasty port-a-potties). So yeah, no beaches. But it’s taken me to fascinating places, people and stories I never could have imagined.

  • As a contestant! Pictionary was my first and I won $5,800 right when I graduated from college (which was pretty much like winning a million bucks)! I also took home the Fast Money on Family Feud with Steve Harvey! Game Show Kari is my true alter-ego! So not only can I help you figure out how to work on a game show… I can tell you how to get on one too!

AND HERE’S MY FULL
CREDIT LIST!

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Braxton Family Values 

WEtv


Growing Up Hip Hop:
Atlanta

WEtv


Growing Up Hip Hop: New York

WEtv


Hip Hop Homicides

WEtv


Power, Influence & Hip Hop: The Remarkable Rise Of So So Def

WEtv


Waka & Tammy: What The Flocka


WEtv

Waka & Tammy:
Tie The Knot 

WEtv


Super Sized Salon

WEtv



Mob Wives

Mob Wives: Chicago

VH1

VH1



Mob Wives: The Sitdown

Black Ink Crew


VH1

VH1

Miami Monkey

Big Ang

VH1


VH1



Wicked Single

VH1


Jersey Shore

MTV

I Want To Work For
Diddy

VH1



My Big Friggin Wedding

VH1

VH1

Transform Me 



Let’s Talk About Pep

VH1

No Excuses w/Master P

VH1


Wedding Wars

VH1



You’re Cut Off!

VH1

SUPERVISING PRODUCER / SHOWRUNNER

The Salt-N-Pepa Show

VH1



My Big Fat Fabulous Wedding 

The Agency


VH1

A Shot At Love w/ Tila Tequila


Caesars 24/7 

A&E

VH1

MTV


Single In Vegas 

WEtv


COORDINATING PRODUCER


Family Business

Showtime

Music Behind Bars

VH1


Investigative Reports: Parole Board

A&E



Oh Baby You’re On TV

Oxygen

SEGMENT
PRODUCER

Love Chronicles


About Face: How The Military Changed My Life

PAX

A&E


CLEARANCE
COORDINATOR

Intimate Portrait

Lifetime


New Attitudes

Lifetime


PRODUCTION COORDINATOR/ ASSISTANT

Guinness World Records: Primetime

FOX


Kids Say The Darndest Things


CBS

Behind Closed Doors w/Joan Lunden

ABC


Ordinary/Extraordinary

CBS


INTERN

Loveline


MTV


Uncut

Shop ‘Til You Drop

The Family Channel

E!



The Visitor

FOX

This is my passion project for more than a decade!

The Perfect
Hospital Gift


On Amazon