Saturday Night Live

Project Management | Business Operations

The Story

Around 2015, Saturday Night Live’s Film Unit expanded from a single team to three.

Film Unit creates pre-taped skits from Wednesday to Friday ahead of a live SNL broadcast, going from script to final cut in 72 hours.

What I Did

As a production coordinator, my job was to manage complex, competing needs with a rigorous attention to detail. My respect and reverence for the people I worked with each week kept me motivated through 83 skits in 6 seasons.

Highlights include:

• Narrowly avoiding Bridgegate by constantly checking traffic updates

• Figuring out how to heat 10,000 gallons of water to rain on Chance the Rapper, Kenan Thompson and Chris Redd for “Come Back Barack”

• Watching dress rehearsal for A Tribe Called Quest the week of Donald Trump’s election

• Getting my 1997 Ford Escort into “Papyrus” with Ryan Gosling

• Leading a mini-design summit to get a special Good Neighbor Unit logo for our team’s call sheet brand identity

Results

3 Emmy Awards & a tolerance for weapons-grade black coffee

Role

Production Coordinator