Fall/Winter 2016-17
BY BECCA NADLER
One of the best parts of the job for Jeri-Ann Wong? The animals.
"We have a lot of animals on stage," says the Jimmy Kimmel Live! Associate Director. "We've had elephants, camels, a pony."
From her vantage point in the control room, Wong gets an up-close and personal look at every animal featured on the show, and, she says, smaller can be scarier. "We did have bugs," says Wong, recalling a memorable episode of Kimmel that featured beetles, cockroaches and other small winged creatures. "They don't look that scary, but when you zoom in with the camera, they look like monsters."
Sometimes working with so many different species brings its own unique set of challenges for Wong. "When you have to say 'Everybody hold onstage—the
eagle's not happy—so everybody just be quiet and let it calm down,' [it] just sort of cracks you up," she says. "You're like, 'Really? This is what we do for a living?'"
For all the hilarity that can come along with having animals on set, Wong is very serious about safety. "A studio with an audience really isn't an organic environment for animals," she explains, "so we do whatever the trainer says."