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| Irene Wong (TSOA ’94) |
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Not everyone with a passion for food gets to share their love with a television audience. But that’s exactly what Irene Wong (TSOA ’94) does each week as director of daytime programming at The Food Network.
A native New Yorker, Wong was raised in a family where food played a pivotal role. Her grandfather was a chef who owned a Chinese take-out restaurant in Brooklyn, and as a child, Wong spent much of her spare time there. Nightly dinners were a very special time for her family. “Food was the way we would talk to each other,” says Wong. Add to this her love of classic cooking shows starring Julia Child and Graham Kerr, and it’s no wonder she ended up surrounded by food all day.
Even so, her journey to The Food Network was circuitous. As a student at Tisch, working toward a dual degree in journalism and film/television, she landed an internship at Good Morning America. Initially a researcher, she advanced to associate producer and later to segment producer, but after five years she decided to consider what she really wanted to do. “How can I use my TV skills and apply them to something I’m passionate about?” Wong asked herself. This led her toward food and entertaining, and to a stint at Martha Stewart Living. Just after signing on with Martha, however, The Food Network started calling. It took only weeks to decide that Martha Stewart Living was a “tough environment,” primarily due to the Connecticut commute, so she said goodbye to Martha and started at The Food Network in 1999.
Now director of daytime programming, she oversees the production of all of the network’s daytime shows, including Boy Meets Grill with Chef Bobby Flay and Wolfgang Puck. As executive producer, Wong is involved in several aspects of the productions, from teaching the chefs how to be in front of the camera, to assembling the crews, to dressing the sets — a job she says she could hire someone to do, but one she loves doing herself. Wong credits NYU with giving her the wide range of abilities to succeed in such a competitive field. “[NYU] gave me the upper hand because it gave me the skills to advance faster than the people around me,” says Wong. “I knew about editing, what song to choose . . . It taught me the science of how a TV show should be produced.”
Wong doesn’t take for granted how lucky she is to be working in a field that she loves. And her enjoyment translates to the set. After a long day of shooting, she and the crew often sit down to dinner when filming wraps. And you can’t beat sharing a good meal with a few million viewers every week. “When you find something special,” says Wong, “you want to share it with people.”
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