‘Family Karma’ Producer Shares His Favorite Part of Shooting the Show and Hints About Season 2
Executive producer Ian Gelfand recently spoke with fondness about his experience working on the new Bravo series Family Karma.
Gelfand spoke with Kate Casey on her Reality Life with Kate Casey podcast. He shared that he was working on Summer House when he was asked to get involved with Family Karma. He said it didn’t take much to get him on board after he viewed the sizzle reel. “It was such a colorful world and a great cast,” he remarked. “I was taken by that development reel.”
As a result, he pushed to be part of Family Karma and recalled his favorite aspects of working on the show. Gelfand also discussed why producers broke the fourth wall on the series. Plus he offered his insight into a potential second season.
The parents and grandparents were a highlight for Gelfand
The multi-generational show allows for a number of layers, which speaks to a wide demographic swath. “The parent-child relationship was really for me was the best part of the show,” he said.
“Like with Housewives, it’s the parents, you’re seeing the parents,” he continued. “Some have little kids some have teenagers. You see some of that relationship, but you see it from the parent’s point of view. This, everybody has a parent. Not everybody has kids and here you see that parent-child relationship from the child’s point of view. And from the adult child.”
Gelfand also appreciates the cultural aspects too, including the tradition of the adult children living with their parents until marriage. He also likes the show because it includes “comedy, romance, and drama.” Gelfand added that a little comedy with their reality television may be just what people need as the country remains under a pandemic threat.
Breaking the fourth wall involved food
In a break from tradition, Family Karma production crew members became part of the series. Anisha Ramakrishna’s grandfather summons a producer to his table during his birthday party. He asks the producer if she’s married and has kids. In another instance, Monica Vaswani is cooking dinner. She asks the cameraman to sample her creation. He asks her to save him a bowl for later.
Gelfand says breaking the fourth wall is something he’s always wanted. “How are people pretending there are no cameras in their face?” he asked. He said reality cast members are told to ignore the cameras but he’s not a fan of that practice.
Gelfand said if the roles were reversed he’d ask the camera crew if they wanted something to eat. “I had to tell all the moms on Family Karma, they wanted to cook for the crew,” he recalled. “They would want to cook a whole spread for everybody every time you were there.” He added that the cast and crew got to know each other and became close.
Is there hope for another season?
Gelfand said the drama will “ramp up” if there is another season. While he can’t predict the future he offered his insights into how season 1 rated with viewers. There’s no official word but, “It was very well received. The ratings did very well for it,” he said. “It has the things it needs for a positive response.”
The response has been overwhelmingly positive amongst fans on social media. Many viewers tweeted during the season finale. Plus some Instagram fan groups have been closely tracking ratings and sharing any “insider” insights too.
“Whether there will be a season 2 is on everyone’s minds,” Family Karma Fans Instagram fan page shared. “I highly recommend you listen to the latest Family Karma Insiders podcast (from @neilkpatel and @dillonpatelme) because they address rumors they’ve heard about a season 2 (no spoilers). Without going into the specifics, I can say that my inside info is in 100% agreement with theirs. Not that I have much info as an anonymous fan account…but I do have one source who I indisputably trust who has mentioned some things.”
