On the Digital Entertainment Forefront with Will Reid

Brand identity and awareness reigns supreme. That’s as true in the world of entertainment news as it is with any Fortune 500 company. A trusted name is worth its weight in gold, but it only remains in high regard if those behind that name are delivering at the highest level. Producer Will Reid has been working in the entertainment industry for a decade. With productions like the Canadian Screen Award-Winning Big Brother Canada and Canadian Screen Award-Nominated Best in Miniature populating his resume, he’s a recognized and respected member of the television industry. However, his early work with Entertainment Tonight Canada and his present-day position with E! News (NBCUniversal) illustrates just how much entertainment news delivery has changed while still retaining the public’s fascination with celebrity and the industry. The digital world still has its roots in that of the analog days but the talent of recognizing what makes a great story and how to best communicate it rests solely in the mind of those like Mr. Reid.

Canada has a well-established lineage of very talented artists who have attained fame in the United States and the world stage. While ET Canada certainly paid attention to talent from all corners of the planet, it justifiably shined the spotlight on its native sons and daughters who ascended to stardom. Will concedes that the sheer deluge of headline topics vying for attention on a daily basis sharpened his ability to identify the topics and trends that were most fascinating to an audience. Successfully gathering stories and pitching them became his calling card and Will quickly became one of the most valuable online producers for ET Canada. He specifies that one of the most important elements of his approach was being mindful of the public’s interaction with the stars they admired. He recalls, “My fondest memory of working at ET Canada was during the Toronto International Film Festival in 2018. Every year, the festival drew major star power to my hometown and a palpable electricity filled the air as locals waited outside venues to catch a glimpse of their favorite celebs. That year in particular, I remember feeling like I was going nonstop for the full ten days of the festival, but I was motivated by the adrenaline of getting to be at the centre of all the action. In fact, I produced a number of red carpet interviews including ones with Emmy nominee Issa Rae and two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali, which made the experience even more memorable. When you experience how the public sees those they admire and feel that electricity, it inspires you.”

Will Reid’s time at ET Canada began in the early days of Vine, long before TikTok had ever launched. Whereas digital content captured on a smartphone was in its infancy, today it is essentially the standard for much of the content that is consumed. Pop culture has become a massive umbrella under which a great deal of content falls. As a present-day producer for E! News, Mr. Reid manifests many of the stories which crossover these delineations. Following the LA wildfires earlier this year, he interviewed reality stars Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt (of ASCAP Film and Television Award–Winning series The Hills) about the loss of their home in the blaze. At the intersect of hard news and reality television, the interview received upward of 35,000 views on YouTube alone. From the interview of Teen Mom star Kailyn Lowry’s talking about her teenage son coming out (100,000 views) to the discussion of Dancing with the Stars pro Gleb Savchenko’s months-long romance with his celebrity dance partner, model Brooks Nader (nearly 40,000 views) the audience for this content is large. Will Reid has worn many hats in pursuit of these types of stories over the course of his career. An innate curiosity and inner drive has served him well.

While much of the entertainment industry pushed back against digital content in the early days, as one who wholeheartedly embraced it, Mr. Reid has become one of its most proficient champions. He sees this evolution as a path to new possibilities stating, “I remember in my early days, working for ET Canada and pitching and producing a segment about a celebrity doing a charity project in Winnipeg, Manitoba. My best friend worked with this celebrity and we were able to travel there together and collaborate on the partnership. As my career has evolved, these kinds of collaborations have become more common, because more and more colleagues have become treasured confidants. At the end of the day, pop culture is rooted in what’s popular, and people often find community in their common interests, so forming my own connections through my work has been extremely fulfilling. I think that possibility is out there every day if you look for it.”