Q&A with TV producer Emily Kennard

Emily Kennard, a UNC alumna who now works for Trailblazer Studios in Raleigh, is a coordinating producer for the HGTV series “Salvage Dawgs,” which airs tonight.

Staff writer David Scarisbrick spoke with Kennard about her time at UNC and The Daily Tar Heel, her TV career and the new show.

Daily Tar Heel: When did you graduate from UNC, and what did you study here?

Emily Kennard: I graduated in 2011 and studied journalism and electronic broadcasting and anthropology.

DTH: What did you see yourself doing while you were in school?

EK: When I was at UNC I (worked at) The Daily Tar Heel. I was a writer and then I was a features editor.

I loved writing features because I loved telling stories that were important but weren’t necessarily your daily news.

There are a lot of stories out there that aren’t told that need to be told. Just because they aren’t political or financial, they’re thought of as unimportant.

I always knew that I wanted to be a TV producer, but I didn’t know how. When I was in middle school, I wanted to be Katie Couric. Then I decided that I wanted to be behind the camera.

DTH: How did you get where you are in your career? Were there any major turning points?

EK: When I graduated, I took a job with ESPN. I worked on the ESPY Awards as a production assistant. Then I did some work on a film about the 1992 Dream Team.

That was the starting point for me. I was in the very developmental stages of that film and I got to be in this documentary and look up Charles Barkley’s insane film all day, which was so cool.

After, I took a job with National Geographic in D.C. as a production coordinator. I worked on a five-hour series on ocean exploration with Robert Ballard, the guy who discovered the Titanic.

DTH: How are you involved with networks such as HGTV and National Geographic?

EK: I am a producer for Trailblazer Studios. Trailblazer is a production company that makes shows for networks.

A lot of people don’t realize that TV channels don’t make the shows. Companies make the shows and then the networks buy those shows.

DTH: Can you tell us a little about “Salvage Dawgs?”

EK: The show follows Robert Kulp and Mike Whiteside from “Black Dog Salvage.”

We follow them as they go to old structures, and they go in and preserve objects that would otherwise be destroyed forever.

It has a really good story. It has a mission. It’s a story that’s important. They are physically preserving pieces of history.

Even if you don’t usually watch HGTV, you will still be interested in this because it’s so applicable to so many people.

DTH: Do you have any funny or interesting anecdotes from filming the show?

EK: When we go on these salvage jobs, we go to the middle of nowhere. There’s nothing around you. And we have these huge production vans and go up steep hills.

I just close my eyes and hope we make it.

Contact the desk editor at arts@dailytarheel.com.