January 15, 2020 • 9 mins
James Kotecki of C Space Studio speaks with Mindy Zemrak, Supervising Casting Producer, Shark Tank.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hi, I'm James ko Techie. You're listening to the C
Space Studio podcast interviews with technology, media and marketing leaders
from c ES. Hi, I'm James k Tech, your host
in the C Space Studio here at cs and with
us is Mindy's Imraq, supervising casting producer of one of
(00:23):
my favorite shows, Shark Tank. Hello, thanks to have you here.
Thanks very much for being Thank you for having me
so many What is Shark Tank? What are you doing
here at CDs. Yes, so we are actually casting four
season twelve here at c E S. We are scouting
today down in Eureka Park for different types of companies,
and then tomorrow we have our very big open calls,
So first of the season, first of the year, and
(00:45):
uh we're expecting big numbers as usual. Okay, and so
and anybody can come and get in line. Can come.
You do not have to have a c S S
c e S badge. It's open to the public um
and we're taking companies across the board. If they have
a prototype and the investment to get to the next step,
or if they're company is making a couple million already,
everyone in between, we take it all. Start, grow or
save their business. That's um. So, how many people do
(01:10):
you see or does your team because you have a team, right,
you have multiple casting producers, you supervise. How many people
do you see before you find one that's actually worthy
to get through the doors of Shark Tech oh Man.
Each year we have about thirty people apply for the show,
and that's from January until the end of July Tomorrow.
We'll see last year when we had our open call,
(01:30):
wait about four hundred pitches, which is about six hundred people. Um.
And I think we had a couple that ended up
ultimately on the show. And we're still airing episodes for
the rest of this year, for the start of this year,
for another four months, so there could be some more.
But I mean, we don't put a limit, we don't
have any sort of quota that we have to fill.
We just take everyone, look at everyone, and then we
(01:51):
re pitch everyone back to the producers in l A
and then they decide who they want to move forward
to the next round. So you see so many pitches,
I imagine so many people thinking that are seeing or
doing something clever. But you've seen a million times well yeah,
I mean I've been on the show since season one
and we're in season twelve, so we for us, what
we're looking for is at this point, everything's kind of
already been done, so it's really just what makes you
(02:13):
different and unique from X, Y and Z. We tell
everyone with Shark Tank, it's about your business or your
product and about your backstory. So you know, chances are
the reason why they're probably built this company or product
is because of something in their back story. So we
want to get to know all of it um and
that even if it's not the coolest thing since slice bread,
their backstory could be really uh, you know, intriguing and
(02:35):
kind of hit home with boss or reviewer or a
shark and it just you know, resonates with with our viewers,
and so we'll put them on the show and then
they could end up with an investment. One thing I
love about the Shark Tank is that even if they
have a great backstory, it doesn't necessarily mean that the
Sharks will bite at that investment. Yes, but as as
a TV producer, you're thinking about a combination of backstory
(02:55):
and business, but the Sharks are just thinking about it
from a business perspectively. Yeah. Yeah, because the Sharks money,
so they invest it. It's their personal money. No one's
telling them what to do or not to do. Uh.
They asked the tough questions. But from our perspective, yes,
it is is very much about that backstory resonating because
that obviously makes great TV. But there is the business
side of things of Okay, would the Sharks invest in
(03:16):
this or maybe they will, maybe they won't, but you
know who knows. So you're going into your twelfth season now,
when you put somebody up to go into the Shark tank,
do you have a pretty good idea of what might
happen in the tank. At this point, we have no idea,
no idea whatsoever. We You can speculate as much as
you want, but chances are it's going to completely go
the other way. UM. So, if you think someone's going
(03:37):
to go in and just like that, they're excited and
they're amped up and they're ready to go, and we
think they're gonna be the other pitch, they may forget
it and they could be the most well polished, put
together person and things happen. That's just life. Um. But
also you could think that maybe someone's getting uh an investment,
maybe they don't, and the Sharks see stuff that you
know from again from an investments perspective, that we don't
(03:58):
necessarily see because we're not investors. It's not our money.
Do you think you could be an investor now that
you've had all this experience. I don't think I could.
I went to school for film that said, we've learned
a lot about business working on Shark Tank. We all
kind of joke you have our MBA from Shark Tank,
from all the entrepreneurs um. So when I started on
the show, I didn't know what equity was or anything
like that. And now I know what seed rounds are
(04:20):
and everything. So it's really exciting. But I don't know
that I would be in a place just yet to invest.
Maybe a couple more years under my belt. Well, when
you're a billionaire, you could be one of the sharks yourself.
Maybe yeah, I could. What is do you see a
frequent mistake people make in the casting process that you
want to tell people to avoid? Right now, there's no
real mistakes. I think a lot of people there's a
(04:42):
misconception that once they apply or once they get a
deal on the show, then they're a millionaire UM, and
that's not the case at all. It's we tell everyone,
if you go in the tank, whether you get a
deal or not, you're probably gonna work harder than you've
ever worked in your entire life, because if you air
your segment hopefully will intrigue people to purchase your product,
and then you're gonna be busy working, and if you
(05:03):
do get an investment, you're gonna be working harder than
you ever have. So I think there's not necessarily something
that people there's. It's just a misconception that everyone thinks
someone becomes a millionaire overnight, and that's not the case.
We're speaking with Minisaks and you're casting supervising casting producer
of Shark Tank. How much feedback do you get from
the sharks about the casting process after you've cast somebody,
do you do? They say, don't cast someone like that.
(05:24):
We get zero feedback from the sharks, And sharks know
nothing about any companies before they walk in the door. UM,
and they're not involved in the casting process. They're not
allowed to be UM. So they could tell all They
could say constantly what they like, what they don't like,
but doesn't matter because we're just gonna put what we
want to put in front of that ultimately and then
they get surprised. One thing I know the sharks don't
like is when someone appears to be going on Shark
(05:45):
Tank just for the publicity and that they don't actually
really want to get a deal. So do you try
to filter that out? It's hard. We try to, um,
but ultimately it's hard because you know, people just ultimately
may falsify that, right you would say something similar, Yeah,
So you know, we tried to put companies on. Our
goal for Shark Tank is we companies that actually need
(06:07):
investment to get to the next step. And there are companies,
especially a lot of startups who have high valuations that
even though they're only willing to give up two to
two and a half percent UM, they still need an
investment just there only will give up a little bit
of wiggle room. And that's when the sharks usually like, well,
you're here for exposure, but they probably do need an investment.
It's just a bit different structure than what we do
(06:28):
on Shark Tank. That's all. So you've been doing this
for not twelve seasons, the equivalent of twelve years. So
in twelve years has technology changed? How did you do
the casting process? Oh, it's completely changed our casting process.
Season one, the first four seasons, I would say not
many people knew what Shark Tank was. We were kind
of the little show that could UM. But we had
(06:49):
to do a lot of outreach. People didn't know who
we were. We had to We sent flyers to a
lot of businesses and said hey, like hard like paper flyers, Yeah,
like old school UM. And fast forward to now we
have a casting website and I you know, people can
DM me directly with Instagram and Facebook and everything. So
the connectivity is just completely changed because people who didn't
(07:12):
know us, and we had a very difficult time of
just trying to find a phone number to call us
can now find me on Instagram and a split second
and send me a d M and be like, hey,
how do I apply? So it's completely changed everything. And
when people find out your job, if you're just meeting
them at a party or eat them on the street,
do they immediately start pitching you they're crazy business? Sometimes
they do. Sometimes they do, or they'll be like, oh,
I know someone that was on Shark Tank or I
(07:34):
know someone that tried out. So it's a lot of that.
Sometimes when I go home, I'm like I'm not hearing anything. Please,
don't you know, pitch me. But I think it's always
fun to see people's reaction because they don't expect me
to say I'm the head of casting for Shark Tank,
because they're like, wait, like the show and I'm like, yeah,
the show, And so it's always fun. Wow. So what
else are you looking forward to for we're here at CS.
(07:54):
You deal with interesting companies and products and innovation all
the time. Do you get a chance to kind of
walk the show floor CS and kind of just get
a sense of I know, you're at Eureka Park. Any
themes are kind of gadgets or overall macro ideas that
stuck out to you, Um initially today I think just
a r VR AI, that whole you know, kind of
community is blowing up. Smart home is a big thing
(08:15):
right now, Sustainability is huge, So we're always looking for
obviously the new big trendy thing. We're trying to stay
much like c S, they're always ahead of the game.
Shark Tank always tries to stay at least one or
two steps either in line or ahead of the game
as well. Um, So we're just looking for companies that
are super cool I personally love coming here because you
get to see stuff that you don't normally get to see,
(08:35):
and everyone is just kind of debuting everything and it's
really exciting. I mean, the buzz and energy here is insane.
So so one last question for you fill in the blank.
Will be the year of oh wow, will be the
year of I don't even know cool tech products, Shark Tank,
(08:58):
Shark Tank season twelve, Shark Tanks into well, yes, for sure,
and hopefully another Emmy nomination for us. Well, congratulations on
the previous one. I'm any, I'm any total have you
show itself has won four, but I personally, with my
casting team, just got nominated for this first time for
casting the casting category last year. Great Well, you were
obviously responsible for so much of what made that show
(09:19):
great so many times. The supervising casting producer of Shark
Sank It's an honor to have you here. Thank you
so much. Thank you. This podcast is in partnership with
the I Heart Podcast Networks.
Hi, I'm James ko Techie. You're listening to the C
Space Studio podcast interviews with technology, media and marketing leaders
from c ES. Hi, I'm James k Tech, your host
in the C Space Studio here at cs and with
us is Mindy's Imraq, supervising casting producer of one of
(00:23):
my favorite shows, Shark Tank. Hello, thanks to have you here.
Thanks very much for being Thank you for having me
so many What is Shark Tank? What are you doing
here at CDs. Yes, so we are actually casting four
season twelve here at c E S. We are scouting
today down in Eureka Park for different types of companies,
and then tomorrow we have our very big open calls,
So first of the season, first of the year, and
(00:45):
uh we're expecting big numbers as usual. Okay, and so
and anybody can come and get in line. Can come.
You do not have to have a c S S
c e S badge. It's open to the public um
and we're taking companies across the board. If they have
a prototype and the investment to get to the next step,
or if they're company is making a couple million already,
everyone in between, we take it all. Start, grow or
save their business. That's um. So, how many people do
(01:10):
you see or does your team because you have a team, right,
you have multiple casting producers, you supervise. How many people
do you see before you find one that's actually worthy
to get through the doors of Shark Tech oh Man.
Each year we have about thirty people apply for the show,
and that's from January until the end of July Tomorrow.
We'll see last year when we had our open call,
(01:30):
wait about four hundred pitches, which is about six hundred people. Um.
And I think we had a couple that ended up
ultimately on the show. And we're still airing episodes for
the rest of this year, for the start of this year,
for another four months, so there could be some more.
But I mean, we don't put a limit, we don't
have any sort of quota that we have to fill.
We just take everyone, look at everyone, and then we
(01:51):
re pitch everyone back to the producers in l A
and then they decide who they want to move forward
to the next round. So you see so many pitches,
I imagine so many people thinking that are seeing or
doing something clever. But you've seen a million times well yeah,
I mean I've been on the show since season one
and we're in season twelve, so we for us, what
we're looking for is at this point, everything's kind of
already been done, so it's really just what makes you
(02:13):
different and unique from X, Y and Z. We tell
everyone with Shark Tank, it's about your business or your
product and about your backstory. So you know, chances are
the reason why they're probably built this company or product
is because of something in their back story. So we
want to get to know all of it um and
that even if it's not the coolest thing since slice bread,
their backstory could be really uh, you know, intriguing and
(02:35):
kind of hit home with boss or reviewer or a
shark and it just you know, resonates with with our viewers,
and so we'll put them on the show and then
they could end up with an investment. One thing I
love about the Shark Tank is that even if they
have a great backstory, it doesn't necessarily mean that the
Sharks will bite at that investment. Yes, but as as
a TV producer, you're thinking about a combination of backstory
(02:55):
and business, but the Sharks are just thinking about it
from a business perspectively. Yeah. Yeah, because the Sharks money,
so they invest it. It's their personal money. No one's
telling them what to do or not to do. Uh.
They asked the tough questions. But from our perspective, yes,
it is is very much about that backstory resonating because
that obviously makes great TV. But there is the business
side of things of Okay, would the Sharks invest in
(03:16):
this or maybe they will, maybe they won't, but you
know who knows. So you're going into your twelfth season now,
when you put somebody up to go into the Shark tank,
do you have a pretty good idea of what might
happen in the tank. At this point, we have no idea,
no idea whatsoever. We You can speculate as much as
you want, but chances are it's going to completely go
the other way. UM. So, if you think someone's going
(03:37):
to go in and just like that, they're excited and
they're amped up and they're ready to go, and we
think they're gonna be the other pitch, they may forget
it and they could be the most well polished, put
together person and things happen. That's just life. Um. But
also you could think that maybe someone's getting uh an investment,
maybe they don't, and the Sharks see stuff that you
know from again from an investments perspective, that we don't
(03:58):
necessarily see because we're not investors. It's not our money.
Do you think you could be an investor now that
you've had all this experience. I don't think I could.
I went to school for film that said, we've learned
a lot about business working on Shark Tank. We all
kind of joke you have our MBA from Shark Tank,
from all the entrepreneurs um. So when I started on
the show, I didn't know what equity was or anything
like that. And now I know what seed rounds are
(04:20):
and everything. So it's really exciting. But I don't know
that I would be in a place just yet to invest.
Maybe a couple more years under my belt. Well, when
you're a billionaire, you could be one of the sharks yourself.
Maybe yeah, I could. What is do you see a
frequent mistake people make in the casting process that you
want to tell people to avoid? Right now, there's no
real mistakes. I think a lot of people there's a
(04:42):
misconception that once they apply or once they get a
deal on the show, then they're a millionaire UM, and
that's not the case at all. It's we tell everyone,
if you go in the tank, whether you get a
deal or not, you're probably gonna work harder than you've
ever worked in your entire life, because if you air
your segment hopefully will intrigue people to purchase your product,
and then you're gonna be busy working, and if you
(05:03):
do get an investment, you're gonna be working harder than
you ever have. So I think there's not necessarily something
that people there's. It's just a misconception that everyone thinks
someone becomes a millionaire overnight, and that's not the case.
We're speaking with Minisaks and you're casting supervising casting producer
of Shark Tank. How much feedback do you get from
the sharks about the casting process after you've cast somebody,
do you do? They say, don't cast someone like that.
(05:24):
We get zero feedback from the sharks, And sharks know
nothing about any companies before they walk in the door. UM,
and they're not involved in the casting process. They're not
allowed to be UM. So they could tell all They
could say constantly what they like, what they don't like,
but doesn't matter because we're just gonna put what we
want to put in front of that ultimately and then
they get surprised. One thing I know the sharks don't
like is when someone appears to be going on Shark
(05:45):
Tank just for the publicity and that they don't actually
really want to get a deal. So do you try
to filter that out? It's hard. We try to, um,
but ultimately it's hard because you know, people just ultimately
may falsify that, right you would say something similar, Yeah,
So you know, we tried to put companies on. Our
goal for Shark Tank is we companies that actually need
(06:07):
investment to get to the next step. And there are companies,
especially a lot of startups who have high valuations that
even though they're only willing to give up two to
two and a half percent UM, they still need an
investment just there only will give up a little bit
of wiggle room. And that's when the sharks usually like, well,
you're here for exposure, but they probably do need an investment.
It's just a bit different structure than what we do
(06:28):
on Shark Tank. That's all. So you've been doing this
for not twelve seasons, the equivalent of twelve years. So
in twelve years has technology changed? How did you do
the casting process? Oh, it's completely changed our casting process.
Season one, the first four seasons, I would say not
many people knew what Shark Tank was. We were kind
of the little show that could UM. But we had
(06:49):
to do a lot of outreach. People didn't know who
we were. We had to We sent flyers to a
lot of businesses and said hey, like hard like paper flyers, Yeah,
like old school UM. And fast forward to now we
have a casting website and I you know, people can
DM me directly with Instagram and Facebook and everything. So
the connectivity is just completely changed because people who didn't
(07:12):
know us, and we had a very difficult time of
just trying to find a phone number to call us
can now find me on Instagram and a split second
and send me a d M and be like, hey,
how do I apply? So it's completely changed everything. And
when people find out your job, if you're just meeting
them at a party or eat them on the street,
do they immediately start pitching you they're crazy business? Sometimes
they do. Sometimes they do, or they'll be like, oh,
I know someone that was on Shark Tank or I
(07:34):
know someone that tried out. So it's a lot of that.
Sometimes when I go home, I'm like I'm not hearing anything. Please,
don't you know, pitch me. But I think it's always
fun to see people's reaction because they don't expect me
to say I'm the head of casting for Shark Tank,
because they're like, wait, like the show and I'm like, yeah,
the show, And so it's always fun. Wow. So what
else are you looking forward to for we're here at CS.
(07:54):
You deal with interesting companies and products and innovation all
the time. Do you get a chance to kind of
walk the show floor CS and kind of just get
a sense of I know, you're at Eureka Park. Any
themes are kind of gadgets or overall macro ideas that
stuck out to you, Um initially today I think just
a r VR AI, that whole you know, kind of
community is blowing up. Smart home is a big thing
(08:15):
right now, Sustainability is huge, So we're always looking for
obviously the new big trendy thing. We're trying to stay
much like c S, they're always ahead of the game.
Shark Tank always tries to stay at least one or
two steps either in line or ahead of the game
as well. Um, So we're just looking for companies that
are super cool I personally love coming here because you
get to see stuff that you don't normally get to see,
(08:35):
and everyone is just kind of debuting everything and it's
really exciting. I mean, the buzz and energy here is insane.
So so one last question for you fill in the blank.
Will be the year of oh wow, will be the
year of I don't even know cool tech products, Shark Tank,
(08:58):
Shark Tank season twelve, Shark Tanks into well, yes, for sure,
and hopefully another Emmy nomination for us. Well, congratulations on
the previous one. I'm any, I'm any total have you
show itself has won four, but I personally, with my
casting team, just got nominated for this first time for
casting the casting category last year. Great Well, you were
obviously responsible for so much of what made that show
(09:19):
great so many times. The supervising casting producer of Shark
Sank It's an honor to have you here. Thank you
so much. Thank you. This podcast is in partnership with
the I Heart Podcast Networks.
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