Meet Troy DeVolld of Story T Media in San Fernando Valley

Today we’d like to introduce you to Troy DeVolld.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I moved to Los Angeles in the Fall of 2000, hoping to break into comedy writing for sitcoms and television. Halfway to L.A., I checked into a roadside motel that looked like a Hitchcock set. Unable to fall asleep, I turned on the television and saw an old friend’s name race by in the credits for what would later become a series for Mtv and my very first job in reality television.

What a fortuitous little unexpected “left turn at Albequerque” that was. Since then, I’ve worked on more than thirty projects over the past nineteen years, many of the milestones in the genre. From The Bachelor to The Surreal Life to Dancing With the Stars, Basketball Wives, Hollywood Game Night and more, I really got myself good and wrapped up in the stuff.

Around 2011, Michael Wiese published my first book, “Reality TV: An Insider’s Guide to Television’s Hottest Market,” and I started lecturing at events like the TV Writers Summit (in Los Angeles, London, and Tel Aviv), Story Expo (Los Angeles and New York), at some University Film and Video Association events and even appeared on television and radio quite a bit.

The extracurricular stuff has calmed down a bit since the book’s second edition came out in 2016, so my focus is back on show work and producing my first documentary feature, “Remember, We’re Not Here.” The doc is sort of a tongue-in-cheek look at how people who work in reality television feel about their work and how the public responds to it.

I never expected to land in reality television, but arriving in town the same year that Survivor and the reality business really boomed has proven a real blessing.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Well, no gig-based career is ever completely smooth. I think the trick is to remember what you’re doing, not how you look doing it. I’ve had my behemoth Mercedes period, and now I’m a more sensible guy-in-a-Ford who finally figured out he just likes to make stuff.

I’ve had years where I worked 50 weeks, and others where I maybe had 25. Talk about getting sick of the wallpaper. It’s taken me almost twenty years to figure out that that’s just the way things go. During the doldrums, I always used to feel like Zero Mostel’s Max Bialystock in “The Producers,” where he laments, “Look at me now! I’m wearing a cardboard belt!”

I’m out of cardboard belt territory now, but the panic level was unbelievable the first time I spent four months between opportunities.

Story T Media – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Starting Story T Media has been a new experience for me. I love reality television — which I’ll always be involved in — but I’ve really developed a taste for documentaries over the last few years. I like them for the same reason I like reality television — I think it’s important that we not isolate ourselves from the magic of people who aren’t just other versions of ourselves.

Embarking on this new endeavor, I’m largely interested in pop culture docs that operate on a fun, honest human level, which documentaries often accomplish in a more authentic way than much of reality can. Vulnerability and real connection seem like casualties of this age where we’re all being trained to be brands — just human social media snapshots walking around and rattling off our credits to prove we’re someone.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Back when I was an executive assistant in Tampa, Florida, my sister used to book what’s commonly referred to as “condo circuit” shows. Big entertainers would come in to play for the senior community where she worked, and I always got time to meet them or hang out backstage. I imagine that I was something of a novelty to them, a young guy who knew everything about everyone down to who directed which episodes of shows they’d appeared on.

At any rate, I once spent a day with Yarmy’s Army, a group of legendary comedians that included Harvey Korman, Shelley Berman, Bill Dana and more. The great Chuck McCann, upon hearing that I wanted to be a comedy writer, told me I’d need to move to Los Angeles to ever amount to anything. He told me that if I did move, and my situation ever came down to a matter of eating, I should call him for help.

Years after I moved here, I saw Chuck at Bob’s Big Boy in Burbank, surrounded by friends, having a birthday dinner. I quietly picked up the tab for the table, then dropped by to remind Chuck of the offer he’d made to me years ago. I told him I’d never forgotten it, but that things were going so well, I’d picked up his tab in appreciation.

That was a great night.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.realitytvbook.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: rememberwerenothere

Image Credit:
Pea Harrison, Alexia Anastasio, Story T Media

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