Led by co-CEOs Casey Kriley and Jo Sharon, Magical Elves is the producer behind unscripted hits such as Bravo’s “Top Chef” and Nat Geo’s “Brain Games” reboot. It’s one of the few unscripted production companies with women in the majority of leadership, but there’s always room for growth.
Magical Elves teamed up with BIPOC community organizations HUE You Know, Storyline Partners and Color of Change to provide mentorship and employment opportunities. It also signed onto Staff Me Up’s Diversity & Inclusion Initiative to further educate and amplify their staffing goals.
Since the partnerships began in 2021, the firm has continued to interview at least 50% of applicants from underrepresented groups and has at least 50% diverse representation across all departments and on all shows. With about 30 employees and very little turnover, 78% of Magical Elves’ executive and department heads are women, BIPOC and/or part of the LGBTQ+ community. At least 50% of freelancers on its series are women, LGBTQ+ and/or BIPOC.
Magical Elves also strives to feature diverse talent on its shows. Nicole Byer of Netflix’s “Nailed It!” was the first Black woman ever nominated in the Primetime Emmy Awards’ Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition Program category. Its leading show “Top Chef” has been more inclusive, adding chefs with unconventional culinary training from all over the world.
“It’s important for us to be actionable in our commitment to diversity and that starts with thoughtful hiring but can’t stop there,” Kriley and Sharon tell Cablefax. “We are committed to giving people their first shot in a new elevated position while making sure we are setting them up for success in that moment. And it’s incredibly important to us to be supporting, mentoring and investing in people’s careers, whether that’s within our company or elsewhere.”