“It was my first time in New York on my own,” she said. “I remember looking out the Amtrak window at the completely frozen Delaware River, and just feeling like, ‘I hope this is the start of something.’”
The itinerary took the group through NBC’s development offices and a taping of Katie Couric’s syndicated talk show “Katie,” but it was the final stop, at the studio that hosted “The Colbert Report,” that stuck with Newman.
“I saw people in headsets, stressed, but working together,” she said. “I was like, ‘I don’t totally understand how this works yet, but I know I want to be a part of it.’”
Newman met the show’s internship coordinator and set out to secure a job. She called the office every week, got rejected twice, but kept calling. Finally, she landed what would be the very last internship “The Colbert Report” ever offered, just as the show was winding down.
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“Tenacity pays off,” she said, “when done with a light touch.”
She took a semester off from UVA, moved to New York City and threw herself into the work, along with other side hustles.
When “The Colbert Report’s” finale brought in more than 150 guests for one legendary send-off, Newman was there wrangling talent and bonding with Cat Owens, then John Oliver’s assistant, who would soon bring her over to “Last Week Tonight.” She returned to Charlottesville to finish her degree, and roughly a week after graduating, she was back in New York as an intern on the show.
By October 2015, she had been brought on as a production assistant for the newly launched “Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” and she’s been there ever since.
She’s worked in several different positions over the years. In the footage department, Newman and her team monitored up to five cable news channels simultaneously from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., pulling clips, transcribing press conferences and pitching first-draft jokes to the writers.
A proud moment from that period was helping develop the show’s live broadcast format, in which the team would react in real time to major events like the State of the Union and the Democratic National Convention.
As a field producer, the assignments became more outlandish and extraordinary. She coordinated a crew of around 30 people to the Thule Air Base in the Arctic Circle during the pandemic, where there’s 24-hour sunlight and strict military protocols. Colbert was there for only 24 hours, while Newman and the team were there for 48 hours.
Most recently, she produced and directed field pieces at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago – a full-circle moment, since her first field piece had also featured former President Barack Obama, shot in November 2020 with the whole crew masked and six feet apart. “It felt really gratifying,” she said.
Newman also produced “The Worst of the Late Show,” a full episode of previously rejected bits airing during the show’s final week. Highlights included a parody of “It’s Raining Men” called “It’s Raining Fish,” featuring original co-songwriter Paul Shaffer, and a farewell to show characters Shriekin’ Joe and Shriekin' Jane.
Newman said the show’s cancellation, announced last summer, hit the staff hard. More than 200 people, many together since “The Colbert Report” days, absorbed the news all at once. “I was surprised at how similar it felt to losing someone in my life,” Newman said. “But grief is grief.”
The crew made a collective decision to end the show right. The final weeks, she said, feel like being strapped to a rocket. “We’re in it together, and we’re doing it 800%,” she said.
As for what comes next, Newman has no answer. She’s been at this crossroads before, but this time it’s different. Eleven years ago, she didn’t fully know what she was capable of.
