Here’s a Few Stories I’ve Helped Brands Like Discovery Channel, BBC, and Red Bull Tell

Chasing Niagra – Red Bull Media

For two years, the crew of Chasing Niagara had followed Rafa Ortiz in preparation for the final heist: Ortiz’s descent down Niagra Falls in his kayak (a highly illegal stunt).

As production manager, it was my job to make sure all the logistics were in place for the story so the crew could flawlessly execute the shots.-Right people, right place, right time and on budget.

The highly-anticipated day came, and the crew was ready. All scheduling for the production was set..

I was feeling good.

And then Ortiz decided that the stunt wasn’t worth risking his life over.

The director came to me—deflated beyond comprehension after devoting years to the project.

“Katie, we don’t have a film. It’s over—we’re screwed.”

But were we?

Sometimes seeing beyond the situation in front of you is where the really great stories of adventure and transformation are told.

 

Airplane Repo – Discovery Channel

“This is going to be the hardest production job you’ll ever have.” The executive producer of Discovery’s Airplane Repo, a documentary-style fiction show, wasn’t kidding.

I’ve never worked as hard as I did on that show.

For four months straight (and I mean straight—no nights or weekends off), we traveled around filming Mike Kennedy repo airplanes (not as easy as repossessing a car, by the way).

Working on the production management side of this documentary-style fiction show, I was in charge of casting, location scouting, securing the aircraft, and getting last-minute permits approved. I also made sure all the cast and crew knew exactly where to be and when.

And even though I worked like a dog on this show, I’m thankful because this job more than any shaped my career in Television this is where I began to learn the fundamentals of episodic story-telling

During rides between locations, the executive producer would break down the scenes for me. He taught me why the writers chose to go a certain direction—and why it was important to the overall plot and series arc.

The story here is that the hard parts of our lives often lead us down the right path.

 

Alaskan Bush People – Discovery 

Alaskan Bush People tells the story of a family of nine who lives off the Bush—just off the coast of Alaska and the Island of Hoonah. 

The reality show depicts the trials and tribulations of residing in a remote part of Alaska without any modern conveniences like running water or electricity.
Working in the role of producer, we shot 16 episodes over four months. Every morning we’d take a boat from Hoonah to film on the remote island of Kantata Cove—which is home to one of the wettest locations in the world. The crew and I spent long days in the endless rain, taping knee-deep in mud.

Let’s just say it wasn’t a leisurely four months.

As a TV producer, the stories that we take with us when the show is over are often not the ones you see on television. 

 

Great Wild North – History Channel (now on Netflix)

The Great Wild North is set in one of the most remote regions of Alaska. We had a small crew of three and documented some of the last few who trap fur for a living.

Because we were so remote, we filmed in a harsh environment and had to constantly adapt, create and build a narrative far away from any kind of support.

We (somehow) survived temperatures of -65 and spent five days in an un-insulated trapper cabin. Talk about survival—our only concern was heat, food, and water—and keeping ourselves alive.

When the temperatures finally warmed up a bit (and when I say warmed, it was still like  -15), I spent the next three months working as a shooter-producer on the reality show. 

As a shooter-producer, I was in charge of the camera while also making sure the storyline of each episode was intact. Looking through the lens of the video camera, we traveled to different parts of Alaska—from glaciers to the Yukon River to otter trappings off the coast of Valdez. 

What surprised me about this show was how much each of the trappers cared for the environment and the preservation of the animals.

The story I learned here is that some of the most rugged men are the most gentle of humans. To this day, this is my favorite show that I’ve worked on.

 

Port Protection – BBC America for National Geographic 

When filming a TV series, each beat creates a scene, each scene creates an episode, each episode creates a season.

After working in the field for seven years, I took my first full-time post-production gig with BBC America, working on a show called Port Protection.

Port Protection is a remote town tucked deep into the Prince of Wales Island, Alaska. The setting is a remote town with about 100 residents who have only one quest: to live off the grid and have complete freedom (meaning no government, laws, or infrastructure). 

Reviewing the notes and raw footage after filming changed the way I think about shooting film.  Being in the editing bay, I could only create scenes for which I had footage. As a shooter, this experience helped me make sure that I get the shots to tell a compelling story post-production.

Sometimes we have to look back to see our way forward. 

 

Revenant – $132 Million Feature Film Produced by Legacy 

 

Spoiler alert: I wasn’t supposed to be one of the people shooting video on this production of this Oscar®-winning movie with Leonardo DiCaprio.

The Waterfall Scene in Oscar®-winning Revenant was filmed on the Kootenai River outside Libby, Montana—one of my favorite places in the Continental US (and close to where I grew up). 

I had signed up to be a safety coordinator, but after I told Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu about my experience in production, he handed me his camera and told me the test shots he wanted. 

What was incredible about this short experience was watching the director work. His eye, vision, and ability to direct and shoot—while simultaneously knowing precisely what shots would work—and what wouldn’t—gave me the ability to look through the camera in a new way. 

I also learned that those who truly pay attention to detail produce the best products.

In preparation, the director had traveled worldwide, scouting multiple locations for each scene—and didn’t settle until he got exactly what he wanted.

Production is about hitting record—but pre-production is where you develop a thorough understanding of how you will convey the message.

The story I left with after working on set? Good movies—or videos—begin with meticulous attention to detail pre-production. 

P.S. No, I didn’t get to meet Leonardo. 

 

Hunted – CBS

As a producer on Hunted for CBS, I traveled around the Southeastern United States filming the greatest game of hide-and-seek ever captured on film. 

I spent 14 hours a day riding around in a black SUV with former FBI Special Agent Maureen O’Connell and Former Secret Service Agent and Author Evy Poumpouras.

As the producer, I had to diligently create, track and document the story in a fast-paced environment. 

There were so many teams and so many moving parts to this show. Taking thorough notes was essential for the post-production crew to understand each move we were making so they could piece it together in the editing room. 

But beyond the duties of production, spending this time with Maureen O’Connell and Evy Pompoumpouras left a significant imprint on my life. 

These two women are two of my biggest role models, both personally and professionally. Their strength, love for our country, and sense of humanity taught me the importance of a life devoted to civil service.

 

They have become mentors and lifelong friends—and were both a huge part of my decision to break away from television to work for the California Department of Justice—which eventually led me to join the Army National Guard.

When your story unfolds—it’s often different than you imagined. 

 

Live PD – A&E Network

This was the first show I ever produced—and walked from…
As a producer on Season 1 of Live PD, I spent four months living in Phoenix, Arizona, primarily with the Gang Task Force Unit.

But the story behind this show was how it exploited the misfortunes of others—people from the most vulnerable populations. Because it was under a “news” umbrella, the people recorded did not have to consent to be on film.  

I have zero tolerance to get behind networks profiting from others’ pain—so I walked. 

In the end, though, I’m happy I had this experience. This time brought so much clarity about the type of work I wanted to do in my career—and led me down the path to take a job with the California Department of Justice (see next!). 

 

California Department of Justice

Fighting for:

• affordable health care
• protecting immigrants
• environmental justice
• and the protection of public lands from drug trafficking organizations 

….were just a few of the projects I worked on during my tenure on the executive communications team for former California Attorney General Xavier Beccera.

I worked closely with the attorneys at the Department of Justice about the critical litigation our office was fighting for.  Producing these videos helped our constituents understand on a deeper level why these issues were so important— behind the laws being written in offices,  real lives of real people were at stake.

However, as a content creator, this position came with great challenges. 

I had been used to working with network budgets with big crews and an abundance of resources. Working for the state, I was expected to shoot, produce and edit high-quality content as a one-woman show.

But, over time, I trained and assembled an incredible team of production ninjas, and together, we were able to create compelling content for the Department of Justice. 

Here are a couple of examples of the important work that we did:

 

ACA at Work

Steven is one of millions whose life was changed by the #ACA. Without coverage, his medication costs more than $140,000 each year. On November 10, 2020 the California Department of Justice argued in the Supreme Court to protect every American who relies on the Affordable Care Act.  The Supreme Court ruled in Attorney General Becerra’s favor.

 

The Fight For Environmental Justice

When a cement factory tried to set up shop in South Vallejo—a community already facing staggering rates of asthma and other health effects—they fought back. The California Department of Justice was proud to stand by the residents of Vallejo.

 

 

Friends of The River

While working for the California Department of Justice, I launched Katie Scott Productions, and one of my first clients was a California non-profit called Friends of the River. 

Friends of the River helps advocate for proper allocation of river resources to properly maintain healthy flow within river beds.

The Department of Justice had worked on a case with Friends of the River to protect the Mccloud River and the sacred land of the Winnememwintu Tribe. I created a series for them called, The State of Our Rivers and the Rivers of our State.

Producing this series brought me full circle back to where it all began with my first documentary, The Last Decent—about protecting rivers worldwide. 

This was not only the project that launched my own production company but also the one that cemented the fact that working with conscious companies creating compelling content is my calling (and yes, I was going for alliteration there).

 

Montana Army National Guard 

If you’ve read through all my past experiences and are wondering, “How In the world did Katie “Go Guard?” let me fill you in.

I’ve always felt called to civil service, so I decided to enlist as an Officer Candidate in the Montana Army National Guard in December 2020.

Straight out of basic training, I was assigned temporary active duty orders producing video content while in O.C.S.

Although I had no intention of working in production for the Guard, it’s been an honor to use my skills to benefit the nation’s force even for a short amount of time- and the best part, I get to live in Montana!

Isn’t that the way the stories of life go? You plan for one thing—and the universe has other ideas. 

This video was featured at various rodeos across the  state of  Montana PBR Rodeo.