Ahead of the June 4 IndieWire Honors Spring 2026 ceremony, Garrett Kennell—Michelle Khare’s husband and creative partner—talks about how her relentless, curiosity-fueled leadership powers ‘Challenge Accepted.’ From a sanctioned boxing match before 15,000 peopl
When Garrett Kennell talks about Michelle Khare’s pace, it doesn’t sound like a slogan. It sounds like waking up every day and wondering what kind of story their team will be able to pull off next—over 65 episodes into their collaboration and still excited for the challenge.
Ahead of the IndieWire Honors Spring 2026 ceremony on June 4. Kennell is stepping into the spotlight of his own to explain what powers Khare’s “Challenge Accepted.” Curated and selected by IndieWire’s editorial team. the event will celebrate the creators. artisans. and performers behind some of the year’s best television series. with IndieWire sharing new interviews and tributes from their peers in the days leading up to the Los Angeles ceremony.
Kennell and Khare’s creative partnership has always been rooted in risk, but it’s the way he frames that risk that stands out: Khare doesn’t chase impossible feats for spectacle alone. She turns them into something the people around her can help build.
Their working relationship began when Khare hired Kennell to direct one of the first big YouTube videos on her channel when she was just getting started independently. They started as friends, with a working relationship. A few years later. they designed “Challenge Accepted” together. and from there the projects kept scaling up—year after year. finding new stories they were passionate about sharing.
As “Challenge Accepted” grew, Kennell says he ended up wearing two hats. He’s the director of the project. but he’s also Khare’s husband—watching her take on the kind of stunts that can make even the people filming feel overwhelmed. One moment he returns to again and again is Khare’s sanctioned boxing match in front of 15,000 people. He was filming ringside, directing the shoot, when he experienced his first panic attack. He put the camera down because he was overwhelmed watching her go out there. Khare was “completely fine,” he says—she kicked butt and won. Still, he describes it as surreal.
The feeling came back when Khare was preparing to hang off the side of a military C-130 aircraft in a stunt inspired by the “Mission: Impossible” films. Kennell says he had played that moment in his head a hundred times before they filmed. wondering what it would feel like—and that reality was still nothing like what he imagined. He also remembers Khare being adamant about how the story would be framed.
“It wasn’t just about her accomplishing a ‘Mission: Impossible’-level feat. ” Kennell says. describing her insistence that the moment be about the team around her that helped make the impossible possible. He says everyone who works with her is inspired to bring that same drive and focus to every project.
For Kennell, Khare’s defining trait is what happens when someone says something can’t be done. He says she’s genuinely energized by the idea of an impossible task. For most people, impossible means stopping and moving on. For Khare. he explains. it’s exciting—because she knows it’s not a matter of if she’ll figure it out. but when.
That relentless pursuit, he adds, isn’t pushy. It’s paired with creativity, kindness, and a determination that rallies everyone around her. “It’s never just Michelle’s challenge,” Kennell says. “It’s our challenge.”
He also points to the way audiences connect with her willingness to fail on camera. Khare, he says, will try something over and over again and will let people see the entire process. Kennell calls it vulnerable—something he says he can’t imagine doing himself. He believes that struggle is often the most important part of the story, and that’s why her work resonates.
The impact reaches beyond the screen. Kennell recalls speaking with one of the pilots after the C-130 challenge. who told him how excited he was to share the video with his daughter when she got older—wanting her to see that you really can do anything if you’re willing to work hard. solve problems. and keep moving forward. Kennell says that’s the effect Khare has on people.
He also ties that pull to the larger craft behind “Challenge Accepted.” He says Khare has helped prove there are new ways to tell ambitious stories and connect with audiences. He notes that some episodes take more than a year to make. with production schedules built around the challenge itself and around Khare’s pace—“unlike anything” he’s experienced.
Now, with “Challenge Accepted” streaming on YouTube and Khare set to be recognized with a Pulse Award, Kennell’s message is simple: the energy isn’t just something Khare brings to the camera. It’s something she invites everyone around her to join.
He ends by saying he can’t imagine anyone more deserving of the Pulse Award, and he points readers to Michelle Khare’s full IndieWire Honors profile.
IndieWire Honors Spring 2026 Garrett Kennell Michelle Khare Challenge Accepted Pulse Award YouTube Mission: Impossible C-130 stunt sanctioned boxing match DGA Los Angeles ceremony