"When I learned that I was responsible for planning ten hour-long shows in China - a place I had never visited - I realized immediately that I would need someone in China to help me¡
¡°When I learned that I was responsible for planning ten hour-long shows
in China - a place I had never visited - I realized immediately that I
would need someone in China to help me. The person would need to be
much more than a fixer, or even a producer. I needed someone who
understood our show's great ambition to bring China to an American
audience, and someone who could interpret China for us. I looked at
more than 60 resumes, and talked to at least 20 people, before choosing
Joy Le Li.
Looking back, Joy was all I could have hoped for, and much more. When
I told her we wanted to produce a show on city life in China, she arranged
for the Oprah of China to join us. When we wanted a Chinese analyst
for our week-in-the-news roundtable, she convinced the host of one of
CCTV's most popular news programs to come on. After a while, I stopped
questioning her recommendations, realizing that she fully appreciated
the mission of our program. And for all the months of phone calls she
made and e-mails she wrote before we even met in person, she charged me
less than a week of her time.
Once we got to China, she anticipated our host's needs as if she had
been on the staff for years. She worked tirelessly 12 to 14 hour days,
always thanking us for the opportunity to be part of the team. I was
delighted with the ten hour-long shows we produced, and Joy deserves a
great deal of credit for our success.¡±