If you follow Bravo, you know Frances Berwick. She is the Chairman of NBCUniversal Entertainment, the executive who oversees Bravo, E!, Oxygen, and the studio teams that keep the reality universe spinning. She rarely steps into the spotlight, but when she does, fans pay attention.
In a new conversation with Variety, Berwick opened up about something fans debate every year: how much Bravo pays its stars to appear at BravoCon.
Berwick didn’t dodge anything. “People think we hide some secret pay scale,” she told Variety. “We really don’t. The rates are simple, they are consistent, and they are based on the level of commitment we ask from each cast member.”
When asked whether the fees work the same way cast salaries do, she was direct. It is not based. on seniority, the way salaries are. When asked if it was flat, she said, ” It’s more or less flat, but based on how much we’re expecting them to do. But it’s pretty flat. Nobody’s getting rich on their BravoCon appearance fees.”
She added, “We want to make sure that it’s a good experience for the talent, too. And I think every everyone I’ve spoken to which is maybe almost all of them that I managed to get to they all really appreciate it. I’m not going to sugarcoat it, it’s probably an exhausting weekend, because they’re taking a lot of photos, they’re interacting with a lot of people, and they’re doing lots of panels and things. But I think it really is quite rewarding.”
Anyone who has seen the nonstop panels and photo lines knows she’s not exaggerating. Even by Sunday, the energy in the press rooms is still running high.
“It’s Sunday, and they’re all still in that press room on that carpet.”
Berwick said the weekend is intense, but the cast bonds over it.
“They also like interacting with each other. There is a shared experience. It’s clearly a weird experience to be on a reality show, and it’s not for everyone, and so they do have that common experience of understanding that. I think it’s also quite helpful for some of the more rookie ones to hear some of that experience from some of the ones who’ve been around.”
In other words, BravoCon is work, it pays, and it also ends up being one giant cast reunion behind the scenes. And Berwick seems to know exactly why fans care: the shows may be wild, but the people powering them are pros.