Fifield TV producer made ‘miracles happen every day’ on Beast Games set

A TV producer from Fifield can’t imagine she will work on anything on the scale of the Amazon MGM Studios reality competition Beast Games ever again.

Laura Blackburn is a freelance line producer based in West Hollywood, coordinating major US television shows – including the second season of the record-breaking streaming success from YouTuber MrBeast.

The 47-year-old grew up near Bray Studios, inspired by the nearby Hammer Horror film set and work experience at Pinewood, Shepperton and Teddington Studios.

“Sometimes security guards would allow me to stand at the back of the set and watch what they were filming, and I thought, yes, this is the life I want,” she told the Advertiser.

After years of amateur drama and dance classes at Redroofs Performing Arts School and The Old Firestation in Windsor, she completed a degree in design, communication and advertising.

A connection developed while working part-time at the Fifield Inn led to work experience at Sky Studios, where she later became a scheduler and then a facilities coordinator.

“It was there I realised I had a real eye for detail, logistics and could work under pressure,” she said.

“Being the daughter of a teacher, who is super organised, and my dad works in town planning and highway maintenance, requiring planning and precision – I'm the product of that, so I fell into production quite naturally.”

A production role at the 2007 Cricket World Cup in the West Indies opened the door to years of international travel, covering Premier League and Champions League football before moving fully into entertainment television after the London 2012 Olympics.

“I’ve worked on awards shows, red carpets, competitions, quiz shows, travel cookery shows and reality shows. As I worked my way up to line producer, the crews grew larger, and destinations became more remote,” Laura said.

Her credits grew to include some of the UK’s best-known programmes, such as Four in a Bed, Geordie Shore, Ladies of London and Saturday Kitchen Live.

“A line producer is responsible for every logistical and financial aspect of a production,” she said.

“I’m working my magic getting crew and kit out to location, sorting flights, rental cars, catering, lodgings; re-working schedules as well as all the boring stuff like payroll and accounts, the less glamorous parts of the job.”

In 2018, an opportunity with Studio Lambert prompted a life-changing move to California for the CBS reboot of Undercover Boss USA.

Laura then moved on to a three-year project for National Geographic – the documentary series The Biggest Little Farm, filmed on a 200-acre biodynamic farm in Ventura County.

Most recently, Laura joined series two of Beast Games in North Carolina, a ‘humungous’ show that she described as ‘one of the biggest, hardest things’ she has ever undertaken.

“The biggest budget ever awarded to competition in history, and it was my job to count every penny and make sure that everybody was paid, and everybody was safe,” she said.

“It's ambitious – it’s very MrBeast to be the most ambitious project that it could be.

“I was employed on Friday, signed on Monday, flying out to North Carolina by Saturday and by Tuesday was looking at empty fields and the blueprints of a city-scale set we're about to build in weeks.”

Laura said her team made ‘miracles happen every day’, battling ‘abrasive’ 100°F weather, a tornado that touched down four minutes from set, and waiting for the all-clear from a snake wrangler on set.

“Not only are we filming 24/7 reality, but we're also filming the games – it’s like Big Brother on steroids,” she said.

“You’ve got a short amount of time to make a lot of incredible things because time is money.

“We filmed in multiple places around the country, but also around the world, so we're simultaneously building sets in Las Vegas, Panama, Fiji and the Middle East.

“Everything was ever changing because every day is bigger and better, and the $5million prize is more complicated.”

Although it is ‘well established’ in the industry that line producers are the ‘backbone’ of productions, she said the awards typically go to the creative elements.

“I know everything about everyone about everything all the time because if something goes wrong, I'm who they turn to in a crisis,” said Laura.

“How do you quantify who best survived the absolute catastrophes that happen daily?

“We pulled off something extraordinary. It’s a global job, and I adore it.”