The TikTokker on the red carpet
“It is like writing an article in a video format,” Shiv Reddy says. “I would never consider it anything less than.”
Embedded is your essential guide to what’s good on the internet, written by Kate Lindsay and edited by Nick Catucci.
Dev Patel do My Internet you’d be an iconic guest. —Kate
I get a lot of junket clips on my TikTok For You page, and as an OG Skins fan, I’ll stop to watch anything that features actor Dev Patel. He always proves delightful, and his most recent interview with creator Shiv Reddy was no exception. But it wasn’t just the pair’s playful banter that struck me in the clip. It was this specific exchange:
“My name is Shivani, and I am a TikTok content creator,” she says for the camera.
“Woo!” Patel replied enthusiastically. “You go girl.”
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Just a few weeks ago, actor Stellan Skarsgard had a decidedly different response when being interviewed by Amelia Dimoldenberg.
“It’s such a TikTok question,” he says, when asked if he had a favorite day on set. “You want a question that has one short answer.”
“You could just say no,” she replies (perfectly, I might add).
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But Skarsgard’s attitude reflects a wider sentiment these days, especially by those in the entertainment journalism space. This idea that TV and film content creators are less legitimate feels like a re-mainstreaming of anti-influencer culture. It both ignores the fact that content creators do similar work, while also erroneously dismissing anyone as a “TikTokker” whenever they do something they don’t like (For instance, recent frustrations with questions about Timothée Chalamet kissing Zendaya in Dune cited “TikTokkers on red carpets” as the problem—when in reality, the person who asked that question is a British reality TV star and podcaster).
This obviously isn’t to excuse the decimation happening in journalism right now. But I asked to have a conversation with Reddy, who covers projects by and featuring South Asians, to show that our frustration is misdirected towards enthusiasts who are just looking for their way into a notoriously difficult industry.
“I went into content creation with the same kind of understanding of, there are going to be people that look at you a certain way or diminish what you do,” Reddy says over Zoom. “And at the end of the day, I'm not here to prove anything to anyone except myself.”
In this interview, we talk about the overlap between TikTok and traditional journalism, the space Reddy’s carved out for South Asian representation, and why—don’t worry—she’d never call herself a “critic.”
Why don't we start with the basics: Who you are and how did you get started in entertainment journalism?
I started off with content creation because I just saw a bunch of projects that featured South Asian leads that came out around a very concentrated period of time. And I was like, there is no one talking about this online the way that it needs to be talked about. And I come from a background of photography, but before I went to college, I was a business economics major. I wanted to get a job in marketing. I've always had a fascination with social media, with my Instagram, since high school. But it hasn’t taken off the way that my TikTok has. So I don't think I ever started TikTok videos with the intention of being like, “I'm gonna be this huge creator.” That was not the goal. I just wanted to find my pocket of the internet where people would appreciate what I was talking about, and hopefully have a community that would tune into updates about projects that I was interested in and hear about it from my perspective.
How did you go from talking about these projects to interviewing the actors?
Dev is my first interview. I have never interviewed anyone prior to that, the closest I got to it was I got to do a collaboration video with Disney for the movie Strange World in 2022. And I did the red carpet “tiny mic” thing. That was the most experience I've had with celebrity interviewing. Prior to that it was reporting about articles that had already been made about these projects, talking about the cast and maybe fan casting or discussing what I would like to see in these movies and shows in terms of representation. A lot of these writers, even, are not from these ethnic backgrounds, so even in the articles they are missing out on things, like maybe not even mentioning that the people behind the project, in the writer's rooms or the director's lens, are South Asian folks, that it's just as important to see that type of representation offscreen as it is on screen.
What drew you to content creation versus written journalism?
I think the barrier to entry. I don't have a degree in that. I also never really saw myself as a traditional article format type journalist. While I was shooting weddings, I used to work for a photography subscription service where we would create tutorials in-house. And it was a website called SLR Lounge. And I would write articles for them. A lot of that was interviewing photographers around the world, and I think a lot of my experience in this realm has come from that. It all kind of connects.
I was also on screen teaching people how to shoot, edit, light, the works. So I have a lot of experience being on camera as well as being off. And I love the informalness of TikTok where I just don't have to look a certain way to be talking about stuff.
2020 gave a lot of legitimacy to online creators, but digital media is having a hard time right now, and a lot of blame is on creators on TikTok in the entertainment space. They’re getting a bad rap. Why do you think that is?
When you look at the [Stellen] Skarsgard interview, and there was another recent thing that happened too where they asked a question to Timothée Chalamet during the Dune press tour, they all came under attack. There was also that article last year with all of the really popular film and TV creators, comparing them to critics. I do consider myself in a very different niche because I talk a lot about Indian cinema. And sometimes it others me in the same category, even though I go to these events with the exact same people in that article. They aren't talking about the stuff that I'm discussing. They are talking about really popular stuff like Marvel, Star Wars, etc. And it kind of just keeps me out of that conversation sometimes.
But it is a very distinct reason why I don't label myself a critic. I constantly call myself a film and TV content creator specifically because the content I create most of the time, even though it does involve critical analysis of film, there's so much of my lived experience that's weighing into this that sometimes it does feel like it's very biased. And that's why sometimes I can't look at movies and TV shows with South Asian leads through a completely critical lens, how a critic would, because I know that it takes 8,000 times more chutzpah for a brown woman to get her story made in Hollywood than it would for a white man. So am I going to look at it and criticize it completely for what it is? When I know that representation is just baby steps, and we have to appreciate it for what it is right now, hoping that it will get better over time?
That grace that I give a lot of projects is what, first of all, keeps people coming back, 'cause it's humanity. But also, it isn't me trying to be negative about stuff. There's people online that have content like that too, “rage-baiting” as they call it. I just feel like that could never be me. I wanted my platform to be a safe place for people to discuss stuff, but also I want to support my people. It'll always be the goal.
It's interesting what you're saying about the barrier to entry in journalism. I was reflecting on that as you were talking. And it's like, it doesn't help to then have, when people try to find another way into it through content creation, the reaction from established journalists be like, “No, you're not the same.” It's just putting up more barriers. I'm wondering if you've run into any of that doing this work?
Generationally this happens with any industry, any type of profession. It happened with me in photography, too. I was one of the first women at my company, at my age, that looked the way I do. And my perspective was crucial because I photographed specifically South Asian weddings. It's a huge market here in SoCal, and I knew I was an asset. But there are so many people that tried to make me feel like less than because you're a woman in the photography industry that is 50% male. Which is not even a crazy statistic. It's just that they make you feel like you're so much less than 50%. It's insane. So I went into content creation with the same kind of understanding of, there are going to be people that look at you a certain way or diminish what you do.
At the end of the day, I'm not here to prove anything to anyone except myself. And if that means that I get a follower that I've changed their perspective on me, that's a win in my book. And it is really encouraging seeing other female creators. I think that was a huge reason why I wanted to step in. Once again, none of them were Indian specifically. That's what I wanted to fill the gap for. But that doesn't mean that they didn't inspire me. And that hearing them share their perspective in a very male dominated space—like even actual critics, the statistics for that for females, and for Asian females specifically, is just brutal. So I knew that there was a gap that needed to be filled. And I don't know if I'm the person to do it, but I definitely wanna be someone that tries.
For an average video, before you hit record, what does the work look like?
It is a lot of research. Especially 'cause I hate being fact-checked online. On TikTok especially, the comments are brutal, and you can't edit a video once it's up. You can't even edit the caption. But for example, today I posted something about this new rom-com that Simone Ashley is in. And I love Bridgerton, love Simone Ashley. So it's kind of a brainstorm. You start with the circle and then from there it's like, what projects has she been attached to that I can discuss? Who are the rest of the people in the cast that I can talk about? Again, hopefulness of what I wanna see in this in terms of representation. It is like writing an article in a video format. I would never consider it anything less than, and I'm sure that we all spend the exact same time writing things and working on videos.
I also do pride myself on being extremely articulate and eloquent in the way that I speak. I think it's not something we see commonly with creators. I would not consider myself a very informal creator. I place [my phone] on a tripod. I have a microphone. I know that in order to be taken seriously, especially for women that look like me, I have to present myself a certain way, and I also wouldn't want to present myself any other way. So it's not a dig or anything, it's just that I know that in order to get opportunities, like the one I got, this is what I have to do. I have to be seen in a professional light, even if it's just a social media app.
How did you get the opportunity? Did you reach out or did they reach out to you?
They reached out to me. It was pretty crazy because going to South By [Southwest] in of itself was an investment in my career. I went full-time content creation this year, and it's a pretty penny to go there, to fly, accommodations, all that. And I knew that if I didn't go see this movie and talk about it—and the relevancy also, that's something that I feel like no one talks about as a content creator.
It's so apparent in journalism too. You guys have to release articles when the news hits, and it's the same way with TikTok even more so because people live on the app. As soon as an item is trending, it's just a matter of getting it out the right time, saying the right things. So for me, Monkey Man was that project where I was like, I need to be on top of this. I don't care how much it costs me, because you never know what doors this will open. And I even talked to my dad before going just about how I may not be getting paid to be there, but you just never know who's gonna see my review. And then either they could pay for my review, which I've heard happen to other creators—it has not happened to me—or they could offer me something that I just would've never even imagined. A couple days into the festival, they reached out and the video did really well.
Has this been one of your most successful moments?
I think this is a huge milestone. I don't know if there's anything in the past that has topped this, also because it has my face attached to it. I've had videos when I first started, if you've watched Turning Red, the Pixar film with Maitreyi Ramakrishnan who plays the Indian girl in the film, I was super inspired to create content off of that. And that's what led to my very first brand deal with Pixar. And while I am very proud of that—I'll always be proud because it was this brown girl that led me to that moment, those videos went ballistically viral, like multi-millions.
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I have never seen numbers like that in my social media career ever. And a lot of people would consider that a milestone, but in my eyes, my face wasn't attached to it. I was filming my laptop, talking about all these specific moments in this animated film that were talking about representation. And while I am proud of the research that went into that and watching the movie several times just to get the right clips, I am just so much more enthralled that people can now be like, "Remember that girl that interviewed Dev Patel?" Now I feel like it puts me in people's minds of, "There's this Indian girl and this rom-com. I wonder what she thinks about it?"
That association is so key to me. I want to be known as that girl. I don't care if that to someone else feels like I'm tokenized. Tokenizing has to happen in order for us to be considered something at some point, you know? I believe that for every single South Asian actor that had to play a part that was proximity to whiteness. That's just how it goes. So this is no different. And I don't think I could have asked for a better reception to the video.
I didn't realize that it was your first interview. Do you want to be more of a junket person?
I just don't know. There's no one that's paved a really clear path in this space yet. There are definitely people I look up to, like I said, creators that I have seen do interviews on the carpet, doing multiple press junkets. I have never understood how those opportunities come to them, especially 'cause I don't have a manager or an agent. So in my mind the opportunities, they're infinite. But also I am just so new to a lot of this that I just don't know exactly where I fit in or what my skills are best used for.
Personally, I don't know if I could just be interviewing. I still want to do a mix of everything. And I really like experiential stuff. So when I do get invited to premieres and I make vlogs about that, cause you really never see women that look like me in spaces like that, it's a big deal. And I think that I don't wanna overlook that just because now I get the chance to sit down with celebrities and talk to them or something. But I don't know. The opportunities are endless in my mind. I never wanna put a cap on it and be like, “This is where my ceiling is,” just because I know that this is so new to both the medium of journalism as well as social media.
You mentioned there are other creators that do this. Have you talked with any of them? Have you found a community?
When I first started posting, because I was talking about a lot of South Asian content, I really quickly found a group of girls that are all South Asian. And it was so great just being able to talk to them, bounce ideas off of them, share our wins and some of our losses. Having that support group is very crucial in a space where you are your own boss and sometimes it can get very lonely. And then on the other hand, because I am close to LA proximity wise, I get to go to all these events and I have met a ton of people that I look up to. Sometimes I have not gained enough courage to actually say hi, but that's a different story.
Before I got to interview Dev, I reached out to a friend who has a million followers on TikTok. His name is Cinema Joe. He's freaking fantastic. Joe was actually one of the first creators I met at an event for Bob's Burgers way back in 2022. He wasn't as popular then. But that was my first event. And for him to be so kind to me was just something I'll always remember. So he had recently done a press junket and I was like, “Hey dude, Universal reached out and I need advice because I have eight minutes, and I have absolutely no idea what to say.” So he told me like, this is how many questions you should prepare, and don't feel the need to record it, they record it for you. Just noob stuff. So I'm very grateful to have people like that.
I do feel like it is competitive in moments just because there are only certain slots for us, especially for these premieres. They can only invite like four or five people. But I would love to see that diversify over time, like getting the exact same people would mean getting the exact same perspective. Ideally we have a mix constantly, and that includes myself. I don't wanna get all the opportunities. I would love to open the door for someone else that could do this as well. But it's a mixed bag, just like every industry, and I'm just grateful to know good people that have helped me along the way.