Today we’d like to introduce you to Joe Duncan.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Joe. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I grew up fascinated by the world of entertainment. I always wanted to be a superstar and become a world-famous singer who sang on stages all over the world. The doors to a singing career never opened for me but the doors of journalism did. I started as a radio personality and news anchor at WSNC FM 90.5 on the campus of Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina after the station’s general manager heard me record a public service announcement for the radio station. I was nearby working on an editing project and he needed a commercial written and recorded and, for some reason, there was no one around at the station to do it. So, he saw me working in the lab and asked if I had time to do it. I locked it in and then went back to my work. A few moments later, he came back and offered me my own radio show. After graduation, I became a news producer at a local television station. It was challenging and fast-paced and I made a lot of mistakes. I discovered that I didn’t enjoy producing a hard news show nearly as much as entertainment and celebrity news and fun feature segments with fun guests. I was later promoted to the hour long morning show where I could do just that and I began to thrive thanks to the new format of that show. I was able to be creative, out of the box and produce some incredibly entertaining content. That show proved to be the perfect fit for me.
One day I decided to listen to the voice I’d been hearing inside my head telling me to create my own show. I set out to start JDTV, the celebrity-driven interview show I’d always wanted to do. It wasn’t long before the channel was up and running. At first, we were doing local red carpet events. Then I was invited to do red carpet interviews for an event with singing star Fantasia and her hairstylist Derickus Crawford and we’ve been booking interviews with celebrities ever since.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We’ve been lucky in a lot of areas when it comes to JDTV. The response from the entertainment community has been incredible. I thought booking celebrity guests for an unknown show would be the hardest task, but the biggest struggle has been gaining a solid following on social media and YouTube, The content is there, but our audience has to catch up and find us. But we’ve been seeing the numbers increase after each celebrity interview.
It’s been a slow but steady climb and we haven’t been doing this very long so I’m encouraged by the numbers we’re seeing. One thing I was surprised to learn is how much time it takes to make the channel a success. Creating and managing a social media presence takes a lot of time and devotion. It is really like having another full-time job. There are so many things I’m figuring out on my own in terms of marketing, content creation and everything else in the world of social media. It can be exhausting and frustrating but it’s so much fun.
For the future, we are working on a plan to grow our following on social media. One of the things I’m excited about is the upcoming photo and video shoot I’m doing with an incredible photographer and videographer, Jerry Washington, from Charlotte, NC. We have a new theme song for the show that my oldest nephew co-wrote with me. He is performing the rap vocals and he’s trying to convince me to sing on the hook. The jury is still out on that one though. I’m also working hard on booking more guests for upcoming episodes of JDTV. I’m trying to lock comedian Bill Bellamy down as a guest. I think he’d make a great guest and I’m a huge fan. And I am constantly trying to see how I can improve my skills. I believe that if I get better, the show gets better so I’m always trying to identify areas where I can do something better or do something differently. My production partner, Preston Willis, has some big ideas of his own so I’m excited to see what he has up his sleeve in terms of growing the channel and the JDTV brand.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
The channel is called JDTV. It is a celebrity talk show. I interview everyone from living legends to up and coming actors who haven’t yet become household names but have a great body of work and a following. What makes me most proud is the response from our celebrity guests when they come on the show. They have all enjoyed themselves during their sit-down with me. We haven’t been up and running for very long but we’ve already been able to sit down with some notable names in the entertainment community. Some of these people are legendary, like Mary Wilson of The Supremes.
Just recently, we talked with actor Columbus Short in a no holes barred interview about the personal troubles that almost ruined his career in Hollywood. It really has been an amazing list of stars… Fantasia, Ralph Tresvant, Jasmine Guy, KeKe Palmer, Miki Howard, Terri J. Vaughn, Angela Robinson, Lisa Lisa, Tony Terry and so many more. I’m also proud of the quality of the interviews. It is a real substantive conversation between my guests and me. The guests get just as much out of the conversation as the viewers. They are able to come on the show and promote their project, be celebrated and have a good time. JDTV is like no other celebrity interview show on social media right now. We really allow the viewer to get the chance to spend an intimate half-hour with their favorite celebrities. The show has a standard that we respect. It isn’t low brow, It has an integrity and quality that is on par with a talk show that you’d see on network television.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I can’t single out one moment that made me the proudest. However, I must say that the interview I did with Pat Houston who was the sister-in-law of the late Whitney Houston was something I’ll never forget. I am the biggest Whitney Houston fan in the world so that was an incredibly special moment for me. I got the chance to attend a special event honoring Whitney and meet some of her relatives and friends. They were so nice to me and they’ve kept in touch. I consider my coverage of that event a pretty big deal. But every moment has been special. What touches me the most is when I receive a message or comment from a viewer who says how much they enjoyed an interview, how much they like the show and what I’m doing. When I get a notification that there is a new subscriber to the YouTube channel or a new follower on Instagram… those are really special moments because it validates that what I’m doing is reaching people and touching them in a way that encourages them to want to connect with the JDTV brand. It’s always a good feeling when you book a guest, so every time I get that email confirming their appearance, you can catch me with a huge smile on my face.
Contact Info:
- Email: joedunewz@yahoo.com
- Instagram: @jdtv_ison
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEXFmX2PJDO-Mkta1PTuNeQ?view_as=subscriber
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