Thursday marks Alex Sall’s TV debut. The 2011 Syracuse University graduate will appear on ‘The Nate Berkus Show,’ revealing the staff’s favorite gifts on the Staff Picks and Tricks Holiday Gift Guide segment of the program. Celebrity interior designer Nate Berkus regularly appeared on ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ before he was granted his own talk show on NBC. Sall works for the show as a production assistant, a job that she credits to a long list of internships and hard work. As an undergraduate student at SU, Sall chose to major in television, radio and film because she hated being in front of the camera. However, Sall said she enjoyed taping her segment for Thursday’s show and would like to appear on the small screen again.

The Daily Orange: How did you land this job?

Alex Sall: When I was a junior during Winter Break, I figured out that this show was going to be starting up in the summer, and so I emailed a contact I had from one of my previous internships and said, ‘Do you know anyone working on this show? I’d really be interested in working there.’ They forwarded my resume, and then I had an interview and got the internship. I kept in contact with everyone who I worked with, and (the show) had an opening position for a production assistant at the show, so I came in right after I graduated.

What’s ‘The Nate Berkus Show’ about?

It’s a life style daytime talk show on NBC. What Nate focuses on is all areas of lifestyle as well as design, so a lot of our shows are design oriented. We also throw in some cooking, some beauty and a lot of fashion. He really hits all different areas of lifestyle.

What do you do for the show?

I do everything under the sun. Basically, I’m a production assistant. There are four people who run one show a week. It’s me the production assistant, then an assistant producer, then a producer and a senior supervisor producer. The four of us, from top to bottom, plan a whole show. I pitch and develop creative content for segments. I also help to write and edit the script. I book and brief the guests who are going to be on our show. I do travel, I do accounting stuff, I do legal — the list goes on and on. You really go into this job having to wear so many different hats.

Do you work with other SU alumni?

Yes. Emily Collette is four years older than me and is my mentor. She guided me and taught me so much about the business. She really spent the time helping me, and we just have that Syracuse connection. There’s another production assistant that just started who went to Syracuse, and there’s a producer who is 11 years older than me, and she talks about Syracuse all the time. It’s just a natural connection that you have. 

Can you describe your TV debut?

I never thought I would enjoy being in front of the camera. I had professors who asked us to do projects where we had to film ourselves, and I never liked it. So when I was asked to do this, I was like: ‘Oh no, not again.’ But then I went out and I had the best time with Nate. We have a staff of about 100 people, and they chose me to represent the staff. We filmed it last week. My mom came and she was hysterically crying. It was just an incredible day. I did a segment with Nate, and we did a holiday staff pick where we went through holiday favorites of different staff members. It was a blast.

So what are some items on the list?

My favorite is DL 1961 jeans. I actually wore them during the segment with Nate. We did Cashmere T-shirts from L’agence. We do a lot of staff birthdays here, so we order Bomboloni doughnuts. They have a store in the city and they deliver. Google them because they’re amazing. There are about 20 different flavors, and they have a filling inside. They’re really good and I gave Nate a taste of mine on camera. It was cute. He’s the nicest guy. What you see on TV is how he is in person.

klross01@syr.edu

Published on December 21, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Kristin: klross01@syr.edu | @kriskross22