As a Season 2 guest on “Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast,” she helped create an interdimensional talk-show rift that temporarily bridged our giddy gabfest with her own syndicated television program … but that’s hardly the last time we saw Donna Drake. The creator and host of “The Donna Drake Show: Live It Up!” (the relentlessly positive talkie now playing in 25 different countries and 10 of the 20 biggest U.S. media markets) is well-known to readers of Innovate Long Island, which has chronicled everything from Drake’s COVID-era social media art exhibitions to her recent expansion into the Philadelphia TV market, not to mention the 2020 founding of Drake Media Studios, an 8,200-square-foot TV/film/podcast production studio in Melville (with intriguing corporate-networking possibilities). With a series of international travel specials in the can, nearly 20,000 guests (!) under her talk-show’s impressive belt and a new book in the works, the Queen of Long Island Media is (as always) in growth mode – and jazzed to keep paying it forward.
So much going on – where do we start? Well, since [the podcast in 2022], I’ve traveled to London and Uzbekistan to produce travel specials. In Uzbekistan, we created a comprehensive travel series of three half-hour specials highlighting the country’s food and culture. And I visited three UNESCO World Heritage sites. This was a great opportunity to expand the show’s global reach and cultural focus.
A-list: I’ve also had a chance to conduct interviews with some amazing figures – Robert De Niro, Steve Buscemi, Gloria Gaynor, Bryan Cranston, Allison Janney … so many amazing people.
Hero mode: Celebrities are fun, but I really enjoy interviewing our everyday heroes and watching as their lives begin changing from the moment they step onto the set – and seeing what happens with the growth of their brands after they come on the show.
Say “cheese”: One guest, Andrew Arbogast, who is an Apache pilot and combat veteran, started a company called Arbo’s, which makes this incredibly delicious cheese dip. After the show, he wound up with a “golden ticket” from Walmart that placed Arbo’s in all their stores.
Ready, set: There’s lots more going on at Drake Media Studios than the latest season of “The Donna Drake Show: Live It Up!”
Love the Drake: Drake Media Studios has worked on a range of name-brand commercial shoots and has also hosted several reality-television productions. The studio has served as a filming location for major networks like TLC and VICE and for independent films, as well as high-profile brands like Walmart, MasterClass and Novartis.
Full circle: By the way, the studio is the same building where I started my TV career in 1997, as a client-services director for WLNY-TV.
“C,” as in “creative”: We’ve expanded the studio since we took it over in 2020. In 2022, we added an immersive space called Studio C. Designed with versatility in mind, Studio C has video walls that can project in a 180-degree setting. It’s used for film screenings, interviews, interactive gameplay and business meetings – really, there’s no limit to what can be created there.
Whenever the mood strikes: And to support creativity and collaboration, Studio C is open 24/7.
Music to her ears: I’m thrilled Drake Media Studios is no longer a secret. I get to witness people having their dreams come true – having their own films and shows actually produced. And I attend concerts held here and get to hear the music and singing ringing through the rafters.
That’s a wrap: I also love when businesses use the space for lunch-and-learns, or when charities gather in the big studio for holiday giftwrapping. It’s an amazing and versatile space.
Book it: We are happily working with Red Penguin Publishing to create “Live It Up Among The Stars,” a gathering of 100 of our top celebrity interviews – infused with some of my own personal tips and techniques for living life with an upbeat attitude.
Joyful noise: I love my life in a way that would make people think I’m possibly not an earthling. My life is infused with joy and meaningful connections. When I meet someone, there is almost always an exchange of energy that is impossible to capture in words.
Just getting started: I am totally excited about having so many new “stamps” in my passport! I’m hoping to break bread in three other countries this year and have that enrich my soul – and hopefully leave a little bit of my culture in their hearts.
Interview by Gregory Zeller
