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Reality-TV director: $150,000/year
To Shannon Nering, the idea reality TV is staged or fake is outrageous. The trick is to cast people who naturally stir up drama, says the producer and director, who has worked on the Real Housewives of Vancouver, The Bachelor Canada and Dr. Phil, among other shows. “There’s got to be one person in your life who surprises you. They’re larger than life, they speak their mind, they’re confident in what they have to say—that’s the personality type that makes really good TV.” Born in Medicine Hat, Alta., Nering was as a TV journalist before hosting a lifestyles series in Los Angeles. Now in Vancouver, she’s written Reality Jane, a fictional account set behind the scenes of reality TV, and is working on a handful of other projects. Although she hears critics gripe she works in a “superficial” field, Nering sees reality TV as a mirror for society. “It has revealed to me human nature in such a raw form—what people do when they’re pushed.”
Read more from the Maclean’s Who Earns What issue here.