Business

“Keeping Up With the Kardashians”: How It Started

Kris Jenner

Lesson time 07:30 min

Get an inside look at how Kris launched her family’s reality TV show. Kris talks about how it all came to be, how they learned the reality TV ropes, and how she and her family embraced the show’s success.

Students give MasterClass an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars

Topics include: Learning the Reality TV Ropes • Becoming a Brand Sensation

Preview

- Shh, shh, shh. - What in the hell are you guys doing? - Did it put it out? - You guys better start running for the hills. [MUSIC PLAYING] KRIS JENNER: So my brand journey really took off once my family's show, "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" premiered in 2007. When we wrapped production, we had no idea it would launch this amazing branding journey for all of us. The show became such a huge hit so fast, it was really kind of overwhelming. PAPARAZZI: Lean to the left. To the left. To the right. [MUSIC PLAYING] - I'm Kris Jenner because I'm the mom. I'm the mom and Kim's manager. OK, Kim. It's your world. I just live in it. - So when we first started shooting keeping up with the Kardashians, there were times when we thought there's so much going on, we didn't really know what the process was, and we had never done a reality show before. Kourtney had. She did something years ago before that called "Filthy Rich Cattle Drive." And she and some of her friends got a real good experience on reality TV, but the rest of us really had no idea what the process was. And it occurred to us-- and we had a family meeting about it, actually-- to really decide consciously to just be ourselves and let it all flow the way that it was meant to. - Don't be rude. - Are you kidding me? - And that served us really well because when it came time for us to watch the show back and make any notes or edits or anything like that-- because we had editing rights-- we could have changed a lot. And we decided, which was the best decision I ever made, to not change anything. So when something crazy happened-- - Kim, wake up. Khloé's in jail. She got a DUI. - --instead of saying, take that out. Oh my god, that's-- we realized that part of the beauty of the show was that we were showing everything. And the things we changed were-- I'll speak for myself-- I might have said, oh I don't like the way I look in this outfit or my hair looks crazy or don't film me from behind, and silly things that nobody would have cared about or didn't matter to anybody else. But it really came down to the heart and the meat of the show and the reason that we were there was because we were real, and we just let it, you know, fly. My favorite episode is the day that Mason was born because Kourtney just reached down and pulled him right out of her tummy by herself. And I was like, what's-- you know, I'm sitting there. And cameras are rolling because we had our own private videos and then decided to share it because people were wanting us to share the most private things. So we would share what we felt comfortable with, but we wanted to include them, the audience, in the experience. And I think that's what set us aside from a lot of other things that maybe that they were watching because they knew how real it was. What surprised me, I think, was how invested the viewers were...

About the Instructor

With an empire that spans clothing lines, a billion-dollar makeup company, and 14 successful shows, Kris Jenner has become more than the matriarch of one of the world’s most influential families. The Kardashian Jenner “momager” is also a mother of a new era of personal branding. Now she’s sharing her journey to stardom with you. Learn how she cut through the noise, built lasting fame, and turned a vision into reality.

Featured MasterClass Instructor

Kris Jenner

Self-made star Kris Jenner teaches you how she built the Kardashian Jenner empire. Stand out and stay on top, whether you’re selling or sharing.

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