He Was Showrunner on ‘Impractical Jokers.’ Now He Runs Corporate Campaigns for Fortune 500 Companies

Simmy Kustanowitz has a résumé that reads like a guided tour of mid-2000s to mid-2020s television. Writer on Total Request Live. Development executive across truTV, TBS, and TNT, where he oversaw shows like At Home with Amy Sedaris, Adam Ruins Everything, and The Carbonaro Effect. Showrunner and executive producer on Impractical Jokers for several seasons. VP of Development at a time when the unscripted boom was rewriting the economics of cable.

Then, in 2023, he decided to build something new alongside it all.

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His company, Clock Tower Innovation, takes the skills he built running TV productions and applies them inside corporations. The client list is eclectic: Google, Citigroup, BlackRock, private equity firms, and a veterinary emergency group. He calls himself a “corporate showrunner,” and while the title might raise eyebrows in a writers’ room, the framework is serious. He runs workshops, builds narrative strategies, and helps marketing and communications teams at large organizations figure out how to actually land a message.

In 2025, he won the Vistage New Speaker of the Year award. He’s also currently executive producing Foul Play with Anthony Davis. The man is busy.

We talked to Kustanowitz about what TV production teaches you about corporate leadership, why so many companies struggle with clarity, and what media professionals should be thinking about as they consider their next move.

You call yourself a “corporate showrunner.” For people who’ve worked in TV production, what does that role actually look like inside a company like Citigroup or BlackRock?

I realize this might sound crazy to people in the entertainment world, but running a show and overseeing a corporate campaign can feel remarkably similar. The environment is completely different, of course, but you’re using a lot of the same muscles. That’s what I mean by corporate showrunner. Whether it’s overseeing an internal comms campaign or helping a marketing team craft the most effective brand narrative, I’m essentially applying my TV showrunner skills to the business world.

Running a TV show requires creativity, efficiency, and leadership. You need to be able to think creatively, compartmentalize challenges and tackle them quickly, and build trust among your crew as a leader they feel inspired to work for. These same traits have helped me successfully lead campaigns in the corporate world. I’ve partnered with several large corporations that know the story they want to tell, or the product they need to sell, but they don’t know how to land the plane. A showrunner knows how to bring an entire production together, and a corporate showrunner does the same for a company that’s looking to connect with its intended audience.

You spent 20-plus years in television, starting as a writer on Total Request Live and working your way up to VP of Development. At what point did you realize the skills you’d built in TV had a market outside of entertainment?

A few years ago, a friend who works in finance introduced me to his Chief Marketing Officer, because she was looking for creative ways to motivate her team. This CMO explained to me that she wanted her colleagues to think outside the box and asked if I could lead a workshop with that in mind.

I put together a simple presentation, included clips from some of my shows, and focused on how the methodologies I developed in the entertainment industry could be applied to their work. In other words: what show business can show business. I called the workshop “Rethink the Way You Think,” and the reaction to that session was overwhelmingly positive. That’s the moment I knew my skills could translate, and help people in any industry.

You’ve said that complex organizations don’t lack ambition, they struggle with clarity, consistency, and cadence. Can you give us a concrete example?

So many corporate decisions are driven by fear. Comms and marketing teams really do want to move the needle, but they’re worried about going out on a limb and trying something bold. So they settle for the path that’s safe, or boring, and often produce content that’s so watered down by corporate jargon that it lacks the clarity it needs to resonate.

The companies that hire Clock Tower do so because they’re ready to try something new. So we take the same approach we would in television: find smart, clever and “sticky” ways to engage with your customers, or audience. That simple approach can be just as effective in business as it is in TV.

You were showrunner and EP on Impractical Jokers for several years. That’s a show where the talent are also the creators. What did managing that dynamic teach you about leadership?

On a show like Jokers, you need to respect the fact that the show is their baby. You can’t have an ego about it. You need to understand and appreciate that your voice simply doesn’t count as much as theirs does. At the same time, you’re the showrunner, and at the end of the day they want you to push back when you have something on your mind. So it’s a real balance.

Successfully achieving that balance has helped me in the corporate world as well. If I pitch an idea the marketing team loves but the CEO isn’t buying, you can’t have an ego about it. You need to respect the chain of command, be forceful when appropriate and also know when to drop it and pivot.

Your client list ranges from Google to a veterinary emergency group to private equity firms. Is there a common problem you keep encountering regardless of the sector?

These companies might seem on the surface like they’re from different planets, but what I’ve learned through Clock Tower is that everyone ultimately speaks the same language. The challenges you see at one company, you see at all companies.

Meetings go on too long. Work-from-home policies are causing trickle-down problems. AI adoption is creating confusion. I could go on. It’s really remarkable how many issues keep repeating. So when companies’ problems are that universal, it’s really not so hard to find solutions that are just as universal.

You made the leap to entrepreneurship in 2023 after two decades in TV. What did you underestimate about starting Clock Tower Innovation, and what turned out to be easier than expected?

I don’t think I quite appreciated the amount of hustling you need to do when you’re starting your own thing. It is a nonstop, never-ending hustle. You need to be willing to ask everyone in your life for favors and introductions, and then have the self-awareness to know when to be persistent and when to drop it. It’s a lot!

I’m not sure anything has been easier than I expected, honestly. But when I land one of those big engagements, and when I get rehired because we nailed what they hired us to do, it’s more rewarding than anything I ever experienced before setting out on my own.

You’re simultaneously running Clock Tower while executive producing Foul Play with Anthony Davis. How do you structure your time across those roles?

I’ve always been a good juggler. In my days as a network exec, there were times when I was overseeing six series at once. For me, it has always come down to structured efficiency. I’ll break down my day into compartments: two hours for this project, 30 minutes for this other one, an hour for that one, and tick them off one by one. I make lots of lists. When I was young, my mother used to tell me and my siblings to “always make a list, and make the first item on your list ‘make a list’ so you can cross something off right away and feel a sense of accomplishment.” That’s always stuck with me.

You developed and oversaw shows like At Home with Amy Sedaris, Adam Ruins Everything, and The Carbonaro Effect during your time at truTV. What’s your read on the state of unscripted and alternative programming right now?

It’s a very confusing, scary time for all of programming, really. Other than sports, I’m not sure any area is particularly safe. The entertainment industry is in the midst of a massive transition with no clear path ahead, but the world will always need entertainment. I won’t pretend to have a magic wand here. I have no clue where it’s all going. But smart creators with unique POVs will find a way to find their audience.

You’ve talked about “narrative frameworks” and “internal media systems.” For a content strategist or producer reading this, what do those deliverables actually look like?

The deliverables differ from company to company, but they can range from a simple Google doc with a brand manifesto to an elaborate presentation filled with dynamic slides or a piece of content intended for company-wide distribution. It can really be anything that particular business is trying to communicate to its intended audience.

You won the 2025 Vistage New Speaker of the Year award. What resonates most when you’re on stage talking to business leaders?

Many business leaders relate to my “Simplify and Gamify” framework. When I lead workshops, I always start off by simplifying the process in the most basic way: everyone in the room numbers a piece of paper 1-10 and spends 10 minutes brainstorming something related to their current priorities. Then, I lead the participants through some sort of gamified brainstorm exercise, geared towards whatever their area of focus is on that day. I find gamification helps trojan-horse education through entertainment. When people are having fun, they’re much more open to learning and growth.

As for surprises: I often get feedback that these leaders never expected to be able to apply so many lessons from TV production in the business world. They’re shocked by how much shared DNA can be found between their work and my experience in comedy and entertainment. Seeing that revelation in my sessions is always so rewarding.

Looking at the media industry right now, what skill or capability do you think is most undervalued by professionals in our space?

Diversification. Someone once told me to think of my career not as a ladder, but as a portfolio, and a good portfolio is diversified. I can proudly say that the work I do through Clock Tower has helped financial institutions, law firms, real estate companies, medical facilities, tech startups, and nonprofits. And I’ve been able to secure such a diverse group of clients because the work I do isn’t siloed.

Be open to working with teams or companies outside your comfort zone, and learn skills you never had time to learn before. If you’re able to do that, you will find opportunities in the unlikeliest of places.

You can follow Kustanowitz’s quick-hit video series “Innovation in Under :60” on Instagram at @clocktowerinnovation, subscribe to his Substack, or reach him directly at simmy@clocktowerinnovation.com.