How America’s Next Top Model producer found Joy

MANILA, Philippines –  Ken Mok, touted as one of the godfathers of American reality TV, is a producer on the Hollywood film Joy topbilled by Jennifer Lawrence and directed by David O. Russell.

The film is loosely based on the lifestory of Joy Mangano, a single mom of three who rose to become one of America’s billionaire inventors/entrepreneurs.

The STAR had a phone chat with the TV executive last week wherein he shared how he found the real Joy, whom he described as a very positive and strong-willed woman “whose spine is made out of steel,” his impressions of the Oscar-winning lead star and the director, as well as his predilection for producing biopics. Prior to Joy, he produced the 2006 sports drama Invincible starring Mark Wahlberg. In the pipeline is another true-to-life sporting tale with Terrence Howard reportedly cast in the lead.

The Asian-American Ken has been credited as having pioneered the reality TV genre via his 2000 show Making of the Band, followed by several others including America’s Next Top Model (he is the creator and executive producer).

While it was widely reported that America’s Next Top Model had made its final bow last year, in this interview, Ken revealed that the curtain hasn’t fallen yet on the popular show hosted by Tyra Banks.

And here’s the most exciting part for the show’s Filipino fans: If plans don’t miscarry, the next season will shoot some episodes in the country. Here are excerpts from our interview: 

On how Ken came to produce the film Joy:

“I found the story of Joy. I actually know the real Joy Mangano very well. She worked on a TV show that I produced called Made in the USA, about American entrepreneurs. And I hired her to be a judge on the show and we became instant friends. One day, I was having lunch with Joy and I was asking her, how did you go from this simple housewife and single mother of three children into this very famous and very wealthy inventor. And she told me the story, which you will see in the movie and which is incredible. Listening to that story, I said to her, ‘You know Joy, this is a fantastic story and I’m going to get this made into a film.’ It took me a few years and I finally got it set up and we now have a film coming out.”

On which part of Joy Mangano’s lifestory that fascinated him the most:

“Literally, this woman was supporting herself and her family with three different jobs, her ex-husband was living in the basement of the house, she was supporting his mother and father, three children, she was working in a diner, working for an airline, she was working by making home-made arts and crafts to sell. That this woman didn’t get defeated by life to overcome all her obstacles, to become this successful person, I was fascinated by that.”

On what the real Joy thought about the film:

“I think she’s incredibly honored. I think the whole process has been overwhelming for her because it’s not often somebody gets a movie made about their life with one of the greatest filmmakers working today, David O. Russell, and then you have Jennifer Lawrence playing you in the movie. That’s all a dream come true.”

On why it took years before the film materialized:

“Getting a film made is very difficult. If you believe in the project, your job is to get other people to believe in the story as much as you do, and that takes a lot of work, a lot of ground work. You have to constantly pitch the idea to producers, studios, executives. So, it took me a long time to get other people to believe in the story. That was the hardest part. But once we got people to believe in it and had the script written, that’s when we got a lot of momentum… People just hear these ideas every day, right? People are constantly pitching ideas. You know, it’s like finding a needle in a haystack sometimes. Fortunately, after I pitched it enough, I got Fox interested in the movie and that’s where it ended up.”

On what it’s like to have Russell and Lawrence as director and lead star, respectively, of the film:

“Oh, I’m a person who is really in awe of David. He has such talent; in so many ways, he’s an original. He’s not only a filmmaker, he’s an auteur in every sense of the word. His films are very unique. I am honored that he came on board on this film to direct it.

“I thought Jennifer was terrific. She’s such a fearless actor. She’s not afraid to be vulnerable and completely leave it all up to the screen. She got rewarded for that by getting the Golden Globe for her performance and now she’s been nominated for an Oscar. I think that says it all.”

On why he produced a biopic:

“I have a background in a lot of unscripted television and I produce America’s Next Top Model and I always find that real life is far interesting than things you make up. Oftentimes, you come across stories that are just incredible and I think (Joy) is one of those stories. The story I did before, which was Invincible, was another true lifestory that I thought was amazing. So, you know, you come across material like that, you don’t pass it up.”

On where he thinks the reality TV genre is headed:

“I think what you are seeing now is a lot of blending of reality and scripted, right? I think you see a lot of it in movies now, that movies are very documentary in feel — long takes, they don’t cut, have a lot of unscripted dialogue, a lot of improvisation — so you’re seeing both of these genres moving towards each other, in the scripted world and in the reality world.

“In the first phase of reality TV, it was all competition shows. Now, it has kind of moved away from that. Today, it’s all about stories, true life stories that are being told, following families, following people in certain jobs and that sort of thing. It has all evolved. (It’s happening) not only in the reality world but also in the scripted world.”

On how he got into the entertainment industry:

“Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve always wanted to be a TV producer. Even as early as when I was 14, I knew it was an area I wanted to go into and I knew it was something I’d be good at. It’s been a long journey but it has been very satisfying. Every day, I wake up so excited to get to work because I really love what I do. What I do today is exactly what I wanted to do when I was growing up. I feel very blessed and fortunate to be doing what I’ve always wanted to do and make a living out of it. I’ll tell you, I’d do this job for free.

“I was actually a business and journalism major. I started in journalism. I started working at CNN as a writer and producer and then I left that to go into the entertainment business. Why? I wasn’t interested in TV journalism. It was all the same story, over and over again, and it just got boring to me. I found it repetitive. The names would change, but it was the same story over and over. And I found out that everybody who worked in the (TV journalism) business was very cynical. So, I just wanted to get into an area that I found much more fulfilling, creative-wise, and that was the entertainment business.

“My first job in the entertainment business was (as a) production assistant in TV commercials. I used to do all the work at the bottom — sweeping out the set, throwing out the garbage, and serving coffee — everybody has to start out that way, and that’s the way I started out.”

On his next film projects:

“Well, finally, I have another biopic (laughs) that looks like on-track to get made this year, and it’s about the first African-American quarterback in the national football league. I’m a writer and producer of the film. (Would I do a biopic on an Asian success story?) I would love that! Do you have any ideas about any Filipino great true story? Send it my way. We’ll always take a look at it.”

On coming to the Philippines:

“I have not (been to the Philippines). But I will tell you this: I would love to come to the Philippines. America’s Next Top Model, we’re going to start production for our next cycle very shortly and we’ve actually been talking to people in the Philippines about bringing the show to the Philippines because I understand Top Model is very popular there. So, you know, we’re in active discussions in trying to get some sponsorships to have the show go there. If that happens, we would be coming to see you in the summer, probably in June. We’d probably shoot the last four episodes of the show in the Philippines so we would spend a good chunk of time there… We’ve always wanted to come to your country for many years now and shoot there.”

(Joy opens in cinemas on Feb. 17.)