Milan Update #1: Big Business
Updated: Jul 26
Buongiorno!
Working the Milan Olympics for NBC continues to be a beautiful blend of chaos, carbs, and too much coffee.
Milan reminds you daily that it is the fashion capital. Every person here looks like they rolled out of bed into a Vogue photoshoot. Italians are passionate and use hand gestures to convey emotions. They don’t always prioritize making way for you in crowded areas especially on buses and trains and they definitely stare. I’ve been told by my local production assistant that stares are simply caused for these reasons…
You are too loud for that place, spa, Museum, restaurant etc. You are overdressed. You are underdressed. You are dressed like a pilgrim. You are walking barefoot. You look handsome.
Hmmm. Which one applies to me:)
Anyhoo, Milan gives you attitude, critiques your jacket, and tells you your meeting is on the 9th floor with no working elevator. Milan also evaluates you like a panel of judges. Just the other day I was walking through the mag and bag, a scanning method that is similar to airport security where you put your bags through a screening system and security guards use handheld metal detectors. On this specific day, the guard kept poking my stomach with the wand saying, "Cosa hai sotto la camicia?" I was like come again??? He just kept poking me like I was carrying a concealed weapon inside my pants. Finally, an Italian woman who spoke English said, “He wants to know what’s under your shirt.” I was like, how do you say fat belly in Italian?
What I can tell you. Menopause…it’s a bitch!
Speaking of the distance of my belly, let’s talk about the venues being scattered across half of northern Italy. When they said “Milan - Cortina Olympics,” they meant it literally. Milan - Valtellina - Val di Fiemme – Cortina. The locations are so spread out that commutes sometimes feel like your crossing Middle-earth which means no quick trips to see sporting events. Even our camera crews have spent massive amounts of time in transit. One poor guy had to drop off the daily drone aerials from Livigno to the IBC in Milan. Just a quick 6-hour drive.
There have been roadblocks and delays. The escalators in metro stations are always under maintenance, but climbing 100 stairs is still in working order. Traffic patterns that seem to rely on prayer, jazz improvisation, and the belief that lanes are merely suggestions. Transportation planners keep saying things like, “We are confident it will work.” I’ve learned this is Italian for “It will probably be fine, and if not, we will charm you until it’s fine.”
Yet despite the madness, there’s a charm to it all. Italy is chaotic but confident, disorganized but determined, and always ready for espresso.
So yes, venues scattered all over the map, bottlenecks forming before we’ve even begun, and me, somehow still optimistic because the pasta is amazing.
And did I mention, we have a seasoned actor on the set?
Stanley Tucci showing up to the NBC Olympics coverage in Italy feels less like a network assignment and more like a family reunion where everyone brought wine and strong opinions. A few years ago, Stan was already roaming the Italian countryside for CNN and assorted networks, gently explaining Italy to the world while Italians watched with the healthy skepticism of people who invented civilization and assume Americans learned geography from a pizza box. At first, the vibe was very much Who is this guy and why is he talking about us? Italians, famously warm and welcoming once you’ve been vetted for roughly 1,000 years are not exactly eager to hand over their stories to outsiders. Especially ones with American accents.
But then something unexpected happened. According to Julia, his lovely Italian Field Producer, they didn’t just tolerate Tucci…they adored him. Because Stan didn’t show up like a tourist with a selfie stick and a fun fact about the Colosseum, he showed up like a guy who listens, eats what he’s served, mispronounces things with humility, and actually gets why nonna’s sauce matters. And suddenly, America’s presumed ignorance was forgiven, because Stan Tucci, honorary Italian uncle, was carrying the flag beautifully.
Fast forward to the Olympics, and now NBC has essentially accepted its fate. Tucci has an Italian film crew he loves, trusts, and will apparently never leave. Ever. Creative control? That ship sailed somewhere off the Amalfi Coast. Whatever Stan and the crew dream up over espresso and existential debate, NBC’s response is a polite shrug and a surrender: Cool. Send the tape. We’ll air it. There are no notes. No revisions. Because when Stanley Tucci and Italy agree on something, the rest of us, NBC included, are simply lucky to be invited to watch.
And in true Katie Morgan fashion, you truly cannot script this. While Stanley Tucci has NBC surrendering creative control to Italy, I was in the International Broadcasting center ingesting twelve different ENG shoots, including a one-hour sitdown with Shaun White, retired Olympic Snow Boarding God. This was happening in the studio next to my office, while "Stuffing my face" with fiber-rich foods compliments the NBC Commissary.
Mid-ingest, my internal alarm system went DEFCON 1. I bolted and burst into the hallway at full speed, aiming for the exit door like it was the last lifeboat on the Titanic, and instead, I ran directly into Shaun White’s catwalk shot for social. This annoyed the producer… a young influencer who treats the smartphone camera as an elite artistic tool while acting as if he’s a professional cinematographer. He apparently re-shot the catwalk and Shaun posted the video on Instagram and casually captioned it “Big Business.” And honestly, I respect the alignment. Because while he was doing Big Business for NBC and the Olympics, I was moments away from doing some extremely urgent big business of my own. Different missions. Same intensity. And somehow, beautifully, our actions were perfectly in sync.
If you’re able to watch his insta, my office is on the right with the blue and orange boxes:).
More to come!
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