A cinema camera on a television studio set
A career in stories. A vision for what’s next.

Shannon J. Love

Executive Producer · Writer · Director · Showrunner · Speechwriter

25+ years turning real stories into culturally resonant television — from TV One's first $1M reality series to VH1's award-winning Girls Cruise.

01 / Executive Summary

Real stories.
Lasting impact.

Award-winning executive producer, storyteller, and development executive with 25+ years creating high-impact unscripted, documentary, branded, live-broadcast, and reality content for VH1, BET, MTV, TV One, Bravo, CMT, HGTV, Viacom, and Goldman Sachs campaigns. Pioneered TV One's first $1 million reality production. Currently Creative Director, Financial Influencer Network (FIN), extending that storytelling depth into financial media.

VH1BETMTVTV ONEbravoCMTHGTV
25+
years
$1M+
budgets led
100+
live broadcasts
8+
networks
02 / Core Competencies

The craft.
The command.

Executive Production

Executive Producing, Showrunning, Co-Executive Producer, Supervising Producer, Strategic Planning, Budget Oversight ($1M+), P&L Accountability, Network Notes Management, Greenlight Process, Talent Relations, Production Leadership, Crew Hiring (15+)

Story & Editorial

Story Producing, Editorial Development, Character Development, Scriptwriting, Story Architecture, Series Bible Architecture, Treatments & Pitch Decks, Pilot Development

Production Operations

Live Broadcast Direction, Live-to-Tape Production, Control Room Management, Multi-Camera Coordination, Field Production, Post-Production Supervision, Multi-City Production

Creative Development

Original Series Development, Documentary Production, Reality Television, Branded Content, Social-Impact Storytelling, Franchise Building

Leadership

Cross-Functional Leadership, Team Building, Mentorship, Stakeholder Management, Executive Communication, DEI Storytelling, Decisive Under Pressure

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03 / Experience

A body
of experience.

Creative Director

Current

Financial Influencer Network (FIN)

Remote/NY

  • Lead FIN's creative vision, bringing 25+ years of storytelling and production experience to financial media.
  • Transform financial expertise into compelling, culturally relevant content designed to educate, engage, and influence audiences.

Assistant Director, Live Broadcast

Jan 2023–Present

Christian Cultural Center

Brooklyn, NY

  • Direct technical operations for 100+ weekly live broadcasts at NYC's largest Evangelical church (40,000 members), reaching 10,000+ weekly viewers with 99% uptime.
  • Coordinate real-time multi-camera coverage, graphics, server playback, and 30-second-accuracy segment timing.
  • Engineered Yamaha CL5/QL5 and Shure ULX-D audio workflows, reducing troubleshooting incidents by 35% over 24 months.

Director of Development

2016/2018–Present

Birds Eye Entertainment, Inc.

Brooklyn, NY

  • Lead producer team and original-content development for a full-service NYC company servicing Bravo, MTV, CMT, HGTV — evaluating 50+ pitches and greenlighting 8 projects.
  • Manage $100K–$500K budgets across TV, film, and live event production.
  • Authored treatments including Houston's: Unhindered, a docuseries on the Whitney Houston family legacy.
  • Directed 12+ TV/digital projects in 18 months — secured 3 pilot orders.

Content Producer

Jul 2022–Oct 2022

Rock The Bells (LL COOL J)

New York, NY

  • Produced 30+ digital video pieces for LL COOL J's global Hip-Hop platform.
  • Built a real-time post-production workflow for full-day live festival coverage.

Story Producer

Mar 2019–Aug 2022

Girls Cruise, Big Fish Entertainment / VH1

New York, NY

  • Crafted narrative arcs for VH1's Girls Cruise featuring Lil' Kim, Mýa, and Chilli (TLC). Conducted 200+ interviews → 11 episodes reaching 700K–1.2M viewers each.
  • Series won Best Entertainment Show — National Film & TV Awards; nominated, Guild of Music Supervisors Awards.
  • Praised by Vogue ("our next obsession") and Glamour ("addictive").

Senior Producer / Producer

Mar 2018–Aug 2022

Hot Snakes Media (MTV)

New York, NY

  • Produced 25+ reality TV episodes with budgets up to $250K, end-to-end on Avid Media Composer + Frame.io.
  • Directed story arcs for the reboot of True Life: Gun Control — coordinated nationwide production across Sandy Hook, Parkland, and Chicago.

Segment Producer

Feb 2021–Mar 2021

Alongi Media / Goldman Sachs, One Million Black Women

New York, NY

  • Produced B-roll and portrait videography for the One Million Black Women initiative — a $10B commitment, directed by Reginald Hudlin.

Video Producer/Editor

Oct–Nov 2017

Norman Finkelstein Documentation Project

New York, NY

  • Produced and edited politically-sensitive documentation generating 57,000+ views, 1,500+ likes, 490+ comments, with multilingual subtitles.

Assistant Director

2009

Monica: Still Standing, DuBose Entertainment/BET

New York, NY

Supervising Producer

Mar 2006–Jan 2009

The Truth with Jeff Johnson, BET Networks/Viacom

New York, NY

  • Supervised teams of 15+ on BET's flagship news program addressing political, social, and cultural issues for the African American community.
  • Directed creative and technical control-room operations; improved operational efficiency 25%.

Executive Producer / Writer / Director

Mar 2005–Apr 2007

I Married a Baller, TV One

Multi-city (OH·TN·GA·CA)

  • Created, wrote, produced, and directed original reality programming. Led TV One's first major reality initiative and first approved $1M+ production. Earned coverage from Entertainment Weekly.
04 / Selected Filmography

Stories that made the screen.

Full filmography on IMDb
ProjectRoleNetworkYear
I Married a BallerExecutive Producer/Writer/Director/CreatorTV One2005–2007
Famous People: Taj GeorgeExecutive Producer/Writer/DirectorTV One2006–2007
The Truth with Jeff JohnsonSupervising ProducerBET2006–2009
Girls CruiseStory ProducerVH12019
MTV True Life (incl. Gun Control reboot)Senior ProducerMTV2018–2022
Monica: Still StandingAssistant DirectorBET2009
Beyond Beef: Jay-Z & NasProducer/WriterBET2006
One Million Black WomenSegment ProducerGoldman Sachs2021
Rock The Bells FestivalContent ProducerRock The Bells (LL COOL J)2022
05 / In Motion

Reel & Selected Work

Full channel on YouTube
Highlight

Shannon's Highlight Reel

Watch on YouTube
06 / Awards & Press

Recognized.
Resonant.

Best Entertainment Show — National Film & Television Awards (Girls Cruise)

Guild of Music Supervisors Awards — Nominee

Featured: Vogue, Glamour, Entertainment Weekly

Pioneered TV One's first $1M reality series

07 / Technical Toolkit

Creative vision.
Technical fluency.

Editing & Post

Avid Media ComposerAdobe Premiere ProFinal Cut Pro XDaVinci ResolveAfter EffectsMotion 5Frame.ioScriptSync

Writing

Final DraftWriterDuet

Design

PhotoshopIllustratorInDesignMaxon Cinema 4D

Production Management

Movie Magic BudgetingMovie Magic SchedulingAirtableTrelloAsanaWorkfrontNotion

Live Broadcast

Yamaha CL5/QL5Shure ULX-DAvolites TitanDMX LightingProPresenterRoss CarbonitevMixOBS

AI-Forward

AI-assisted writing, storyboarding, and workflows (ChatGPT/Claude/Sora)
08 / Education

A foundation
of perspective.

New York University — B.A., Political Science & Africana Studies, Honors Graduate, May 2000

Certification — Trello for Video Post-Production, LinkedIn Learning/Lynda.com

09 / On the Page

Writing & Essays

Read on Medium

Blog ("World of Words/Inkwell")

personal essays, poetry, field notes

Explore writing

Curated writing samples site

political copy, PSA scripts, long-form essay, civic correspondence, TV treatments

Explore writing
01

Pandemic Proliferation: Private Pretense Meets Public Protests

02

How The NYPD Saved Christmas From The Grinch Who Almost Stole It

03

Me & NYPD

04

Dear Coronavirus & COVID-19

05

Lord of the Manners: Near Death of a Legacy