Tara Messmore, '97, Runs the Show at Network and Cable Television Studios

Tara Messmore on the set of the "Today"
 show with actor George Clooney.

Not many people can say they spent the morning with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and the afternoon with entertainment mogul and hip-hop artist Sean "Diddy" Combs. But Tara Messmore, '97, did exactly that last month during the production of segments for NBC's "Today" show and MTV's "Total Request Live." 

Interfacing with world leaders and celebrities on a regular basis ranks as one of the biggest perks of her profession, Messmore said. She thrives on the frenetic pace, variety and excitement associated with working as a freelance stage manager for television, concerts and videos. 

Messmore manages the technical aspects of the production process. "The director directs the show from inside the control room," she said. "The stage manager listens to the director through a headset and then directs the show from the studio floor. 

"We are responsible for overseeing audio, props and lighting and cuing the talent [the people appearing on the show]. We're the eyes, ears and voice of the director in the studio."  

Messmore didn't start off in the media and entertainment industry. Recruited by Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) during her senior year, Messmore moved to Washington, D.C., in August 1997 and spent the next two years traveling around the country as a consultant. She soon realized she didn't want to make consulting her lifelong career, however, and decided to continue with it only long enough to pay off her school loans. 

"The day I wrote my last check," Messmore said, "I gave Andersen my two-week notice. Then I packed my bags, sold my furniture and drove to L.A. where I planned to spend two weeks sleeping on a friend's sofa while I looked for a job in the entertainment industry." 

Two weeks turned into seven months. Messmore learned a lot about the industry by shadowing her friend as he worked on the sets of "Chicago Hope" and "Ally McBeal." She even had the chance to work as an extra in several movies. And she concluded that she didn't like Los Angeles.  

So when E! Entertainment offered her a job, Messmore declined it and moved back to the East Coast to pursue what had become her dream: working as a stage manager for the "Today" show.  

In May 2000 Messmore followed the route of many college graduates who want to break into television-she entered NBC's one-year page program. Pages give tours of NBC's New York studios and do assignments on different shows for periods of three months each, she explained. Messmore's assignments included "Saturday Night Live," "The Rosie O'Donnell Show," "Dateline" and "Today." 

While on assignment, pages have the opportunity to observe, learn and, most importantly, network. Messmore got her first break by networking with the stage managers of "Saturday Night Live." They recommended her for a freelance stage-managing assignment at MTV.  

This first gig led to others, but Messmore knew it would take a number of years to build her reputation to the point where she could find enough work as a stage manager to keep her employed on a full-time basis.  

So after completing the page program, she accepted a job with NBC in May 2001 as a production assistant for "Today." Messmore worked as a production assistant on multiple shows during the next three years. She continued picking up freelance stage-managing assignments in her off time.  

Messmore recalled the turning point in her career: "It was one week before Christmas. I was working for 'The John Walsh Show,' starring the host of 'America's Most Wanted,' when the entire staff and crew were fired without warning because the show was being discontinued. That made my decision for me."  

Messmore launched her career as a freelance stage manager. But her experience with the cancellation of "The John Walsh Show" left a lasting impression. "That's why I work nonstop," she said, "because you never know when the work will end."  

Messmore, who has taken off only five days in the last four months, works weekdays and weekends, she said. "I keep odd hours and get very little sleep," she said.  

"One day you have to be at work at 4 a.m. and the next day, noon. Most of my friends work in the industry, so they understand when I have to cancel a dinner date at the last minute because the show taping is going long."  

As a freelance stage manager, Messmore constantly networks in order to stay busy. Typically she books jobs about two weeks before they go into production, she said, so she seldom knows where she'll be working more than two weeks into the future.  

Recently she spent an entire two weeks stage managing "The Isaac Mizrahi Show," featuring the famed American fashion designer, for the cable-television Style Network. The next week she jumped from show to show, working for NBC's "Today" on Monday, MTV on Tuesday, the History Channel on Wednesday, a corporate video shoot on Thursday and back to "Today" on Friday.  

"A freelancer is only as good as her last day of work," Messmore said. But despite the risk and unpredictability inherent in freelancing, she prefers it to working full-time at a television network.  

"The money is better, there's more variety and I learn more this way," she said. "I like meeting different people. It's like the first day of school every day." 

Her Jepson education has proved a real asset to her professionally, Messmore said, citing her classes on group work and conflict resolution in particular. "I couldn't have picked a better major," she said, "because my job is 100 percent leadership.  

"When I work on the 'Today' show, everyone is older and more experienced, so it can be awkward for me to step in and be a leader. But that's my job. If you take charge in the right way, you can get people to put their confidence in you." 

Messmore has served as stage manager for some exciting events, including several Olympics, huge benefit concerts following 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina and the New Year's Eve extravaganza in Times Square.  

Recently Messmore also enjoyed the opportunity to work with two University of Richmond alumni on the "Today" show. She was stage managing the "Today Throws a Wedding" competition in which 2003 graduates Joshua Walker (Jepson School) and Chauntee Schuler made it to the final round before losing to a couple from California.  

But she enjoys nothing better than working on breaking news, she said. "During 9/11 I worked nonstop," Messmore said, "but I felt like I was doing something, I was helping. Other businesses were shutting down, but we [in broadcast news] were ramping up." 

And then there was that day only a few weeks ago when she stage managed NBC's "Today" show featuring Musharraf in the morning and MTV's "Total Request Live" featuring Diddy in the afternoon.  

During the filming of the segment on Musharraf, sharpshooters lined the studio's roof and dozens of Secret Service men prowled the studio. "Musharraf's bodyguards carried weapons bigger than me in cello cases," Messmore said.  

But Diddy arrived for his filming with an equally large entourage of bodyguards, according to Messmore. "They were some of the biggest, tallest people I've ever seen," Messmore said.  

Unique experiences like these keep Messmore enthralled with her work. "So many people go for what is expected of them," Messmore said. "Go for what you really want to go for!"

Tara Messmore, left, poses with one of her favorite television celebrities, Louie the Chimp.