‘KUWTK’: How Kim Kardashian West and Her Sisters Are Filming New Episodes During Quarantine
Season 18 of Keeping Up with the Kardashians is in full swing. After Kim Kardashian West revealed that she and her sisters would be shooting the finale individually in quarantine, fans were curious as to how they were going to pull it off.
Here’s how new episodes of KUWTK are being filmed according to the show’s executive producer Farnaz Farjam.
‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians’ is being filmed on cell phones
Farjam explained to Elle how she originally planned to have everyone in the Kardashian-Jenner family cultivate footage on their cell phones. After being uploaded to a shared album, Farjam and her editing team would work their magic.
Farjam quickly realized that plan wasn’t going to work. “As we [saw footage come in], I was like, ‘People are going to get sick of seeing this [poor quality] footage like this,'” the producer said. “We needed to get them proper interview spaces.”
To obtain better footage, Farjam brought in a director of photography and a technician who safely (precautionary hazmat suit and all) configured brightly-lit rooms and cell-phone tripods in Kardashian West’s and Khloé Kardashian’s homes.
There have been some technical difficulties
Typically, skilled camera crews are tasked with filming the footage that makes KUWTK so interesting. Now, that responsibility is in the hands of the Kardashian-Jenner clan. According to Farjam, they’re still working through some of the technical hassles. “Sometimes you’ll hear [one of] them mumbling under their breath, ‘Who knew a camera person’s job would be so hard?!’” Farjam shared. But that’s precisely the kind of footage Farjam is looking for. “That’s gold. That’s stuff we want to include in the show.”
Multiple phones have been used to gather footage for the remainder of season 18. Each Monday, showrunners drop off new phones to record for that week and pick up the ones used to film the week prior. Farjam said each phone has an average of 16 hours of footage — which is just enough for the editors to create storylines.
New ‘KUWTK’ episodes won’t be as eye-opening
Farjam explained how the remaining episodes this season won’t be as intimate as episodes past. For example, “if Kris gets annoyed and walks out of the camera angle, it’s not like we can follow her and continue shooting,” she said. “She has to come back onto the screen and explain [why she walked away].”
The rest of season 18 will be “less fly-on-the-wall,” according to Farjam. Despite having less footage to work with, Farjam still promises an interesting conclusion to the season. “Because this is the Kardashians and they’re entertaining regardless, it will be a fun watch for people.”
What to expect in the final episodes of ‘KUWTK’ Season 18
With all of the footage the reality television doyennes have captured on their own, fans can look forward to confessionals shot on tripods, recorded Zoom sessions of family dinners, and at least two full episodes made up entirely of spliced together quarantine footage.
Farjam said to expect more drama during the remainder of season 18, too. “Right before quarantine, we had a couple family members that weren’t seeing eye to eye on something,” Farjam explained. “I can’t give away who, but they end up coming together during quarantine, and it’s really sweet.”
Tune in to Keeping Up with the Kardashians Thursday nights on E!
