Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss Discuss Creating the 2020 DNC and This Year's Virtual Tony Broadcast

Producer Ricky Kirshner and director Glenn Weiss, the team behind the Tony Awards, recently chatted with Variety about creating the 2020 Democratic National Convention.

Kirshner and Weiss have acted as executive producers of the Tony Awards telecast since 2004.

In the interview, Weiss confirmed that they are, in fact, working on this year's virtual Tony Awards broadcast that was recently announced.

"I'm just not sure of anything more than an announcement at this moment in time," he said. "Everybody who makes the Tonys possible is part of a community that's entirely shut down. Our industry, television, has continued. Theater has not. And I can't even begin to tell you the internal sorrow over the fact that so many people that we know, and I'm not just talking actors and directors and choreographers, I'm talking all the way down the line, nobody's working right now, because they can't."

He said of this virtual broadcast, "We want to do whatever we can to help make that better in any way that we can."

Throughout the rest of the interview, the pair discussed what it was like bringing the convention to a virtual format, as well as the trickiest parts.

"By anchoring it somewhere it became a technical challenge, because feeds from all over the country had to wind up in this brand new destination within our structure," Weiss said. "It wasn't just remote, it was something that lots of source material had to play through. So again, the logistics and the coordination, and the figuring that part out, nobody gets to see."

Kirshner also discussed his thoughts on Joe Biden.

"All the things you need to know about him, that he's a compassionate person, that he's still got the energy to run the country, that he's faced down dictators. I think all those points we got across," he said.

Read the full interview on Variety.

Watch performances from the DNC below, including Billy Porter, Jennifer Hudson, and John Legend!

Combining over 25 years of production experience at ABC News, Radio City Music Hall, and producing shows for every major network, Ricky Kirschner's credits include many of the world's most widely acclaimed and award-winning television specials, stadium spectaculars, conventions, galas, product launches, and corporate events.
Ricky Kirshner is a 9 time Emmy-award winning producer and a winner of both a Peabody and Edward R. Murrow Award. His shows consistently receive national acclaim.

Glenn Weiss Weiss has directed numerous televised events, including 19 Tony Awards, 4 Academy Awards, for which he has garnered three directing Primetime Emmys and has directed and produced Primetime Emmy Awards. Other directing credits include the Kennedy Center Honors, CableACE Awards, Billboard Music Awards, BET Awards, Peter Pan Live!, The SpongeBob Musical: Live on Stage!, Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, Primetime Emmy Awards, Live from Lincoln Center, and the American Music Awards.