Jenna Weiss-Berman
Jenna Weiss-Berman (born 1983) is a podcast producer and co-founder of Pineapple Street Media.[1] Formerly she was director of audio for BuzzFeed.[2]
Early life
Weiss-Berman is a native of Massachusetts and graduated from Oberlin College in 2005.[3]
Career
BuzzFeed
After almost a decade working in public radio on such shows as The Moth, WNYC's Death, Sex and Money, and The Longform Podcast,[4] Weiss-Berman started the podcast department at BuzzFeed where she was "responsible for the ground-up development of the wildly successful company’s audio arm,"[5] creating shows like Another Round[6] and Women of the Hour with Lena Dunham.[7] While there she was responsible for every aspect of the podcast department from legal contracts, finding sponsorships and the content itself as a producer.[8]
Pineapple Street Media
In 2016, she left BuzzFeed to launch Pineapple Street Media, a Brooklyn-based full-service podcast production company, with her friend, Longform co-founder, Max Linsky.[9] Weiss-Berman has said that the goal was to be able to make podcasts for non-audio companies and the decision to launch Pineapple Street came after both her and Linksy turning down many such requests.[8]
Pineapple Street's early clients included The New York Times,[10][11] Lena Dunham's Lenny Letter and ad agency Wieden+Kennedy.[12] In the summer of 2016, Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign hired Pineapple Street to produce a podcast (the first ever for a presidential candidate).[8][13] Clinton and Linsky co-hosted the show, called With Her.[14]
Pineapple Street Media has partnered with brands like Coach, Nike, Morgan Stanley, Mailchimp, Mastercard and Google, and produced critically-acclaimed original series like Missing Richard Simmons, Running From COPS, The Clearing, The Catch and Kill Podcast with Ronan Farrow, Wind of Change, Back Issue and Welcome to Your Fantasy.[15]
In 2017, she was named one of Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business.[16]
Awards
Weiss-Berman was a winner of the Gracie Award Grand Award for Podcast in 2016,[19] for her collaboration with Lena Dunham on podcast Woman of the Hour, initially produced at BuzzFeed, now a Pineapple Street production.[20]
In 2020, Pineapple Street Media led all podcast companies with two Peabody Award nominations for The Catch and Kill Podcast with Ronan Farrow and Running From COPS.[21]
Personal life
Weiss-Berman is married to writer Kira Garcia.[22]
References
- Dale, Brady (18 May 2016). "Table Stakes for Podcasts Rising: Edit Shows or Don't Bother". New York Observer. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
- Benton, Joshua (August 26, 2015). "Press Publish 14: Jenna Weiss-Berman on BuzzFeed's podcast strategy and moves into audio news". Neiman Lab. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
- "Tune In to Pineapple Street's Podcasting Revolution". The Village Voice. 2017-02-15. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
- Rose, Leah (January 12, 2016). "EARFUL: 'Another Round' Producer On Why Diversity in Workplace is Essential". KQED Arts. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
- Iversen, Kristin (January 25, 2016). "People in Your Neighborhood: Jenna Weiss-Berman". Brooklyn Magazine. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
- Dale, Brady (2015-12-06). "Why Buzzfeed and the Financial Times Chose Acast to Host Their Podcasts". Observer. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
- "About". Pineapple Street Studios. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
- Dodson, P. Claire (2016-09-09). "Jenna Weiss-Berman: "I'm Proud Of Making Stuff Not Just For White Guys"". Fast Company. Retrieved 2021-11-07.
- Dodson, P. Claire (2016-09-09). "Jenna Weiss-Berman: "I'm Proud Of Making Stuff Not Just For White Guys"". Fast Company. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
- Dodson, P. Claire (9 September 2016). "Jenna Weiss-Berman: "I'm Proud Of Making Stuff Not Just For White Guys"". Fast Company. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
- Doctor, Ken (September 6, 2016). "The New York Times gets serious about podcasting". Politico. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
- Perlberg, Steven (23 May 2016). "Podcasts Experiment With Paid Subscriptions". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
- Grinapol, Corinne (August 12, 2016). "Hillary Clinton Has a Podcast". FishbowlDC. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
- Carpentier, Megan (12 August 2016). "Clinton becomes first presidential candidate to launch campaign podcast". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
- "Our Shows". Pineapple Street Studios. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
- "Meet Jenna Weiss-Berman, one of Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People 2017". Fast Company. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
- Spangler, Todd (2019-08-07). "Entercom Buys Podcast Companies Cadence13, Pineapple Street Media". Variety. Retrieved 2020-05-18.
- "The Moth | Board & Committees". The Moth. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
- Cablefax Staff (25 May 2016). "PHOTOS: Gracie Awards 2016". Cablefax. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
- Quah, Nicholas (May 31, 2016). "Hot Pod: A podcast ranking that misses a lot, new listenership data, and funny Australians". Neiman Lab. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
- "Peabody Awards Short-Lists A Dozen Podcasts For 2020 Awards". Insideradio.com. 7 May 2020. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
- Cheung, Alexis (7 April 2016). "Brides Say Yes to the Pants". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 July 2016.