Scott Moore began his career as a production assistant and in a short number of years he has now been nominated for an Emmy for work in television three times. This is my interview with a producer who has risen through the ranks to become a Line Producer.
Ryan: Hi, Scott. Welcome to Entertainmentbuzz. It’s great to have you here.
Scott: Hi, Ryan. Great to be here.
Ryan: So, how long have you been working in the entertainment business?
Scott: Oh gosh, I guess if tell you how many years then you can kind of guesstimate my age, but actually, I’ve been on and off since the early 2000s.
Ryan: So right now, you’re a three time Emmy nominated producer, but what was your first job and what were you doing then?
Scott: Well like most people that come out here to Hollywood, my first job was at the bottom as a production assistant on a pilot. It was one of those classics; working on the lot where you could see the Hollywood sign every day and I was a fish out of water in my first Hollywood experience. I really had no clue what went into it and this was back right before there were smart phones. I had to use a Thomas Guide and I’ll never forget, I was trying to drop off something at a location off San Vincente Blvd and using the Thomas Guide, I couldn’t differentiate which San Vicente because we all know in LA there is the one in mid-city and there is the one over in Brentwood and I got so lost. I was so late I got yelled at by my bosses when I got back.
Ryan: And then you got to work on the Christmas parade in Orlando for a couple of years, right?
Scott: Yes, I worked on the Disney Christmas parade for a couple years and we were based out of Orlando, but we also shot out here in Disneyland. It was a cool experience because not only did I become family with my crew because we worked such long hours and everyone was such a lot of fun to work with, but it was also great because we got to work on the backlot behind Disney so on our lunch breaks we would just walk outside and be in the park. Sometimes we would get on some rides just to blow off steam. I was a script production assistant and an assistant to the producers so a lot of times when you’re doing a script, you must sit there late at night waiting for revisions. You must have everything printed out in the different colors for all the changes. Sometimes it would be 3 or 4 in the morning, and I was lying on the couch there trying to grab a quick nap just waiting. Then you had to put all the scripts together and drop them off to everybody so they had them for their early morning read through and be ready for the turnaround read through. It was eerily beautiful to see the empty park with the castle lit up after hours.
I’ll never forget Mariah Carey was one of the artists and she came out with her limo. They pulled right up to the front of Cinderella’s castle, of course at like 6:00 in the morning, to do rehearsal and sound check. You just see her leg come out of the side door before she emerged. And then there was working with Regis and Kelly which is now even more special since Regis has passed away. I remember him being a funny and kind of cantankerous guy but you know in a fun way. An old man who would always give advice. After a few years, I decided it was time to pack my bags and move out to LA full time.
Ryan: So, you returned to Los Angeles and had really your first full-time job. Where was that?
Scott: I just decided it was time to work full-time so in 2006 I came out to Los Angeles and got a few odd jobs but then luckily only several months later, I ended up getting a full-time gig at G4 TV. At the time, I was working as a coordinator for live programs in the production department, so it was a full-time job, which was incredible. That job ended up lasting for nearly 7 years. I eventually moved over to the talent department as a talent exec, overseeing the day to day for our on-air talent. It also set me up for living and working in LA.
Ryan: What were some of the highlights of working at G4?
Scott: It was just an incredible experience because I got to travel the world on some of our shoots. We were just sort of ahead of our time at G4. We were a network owned by Comcast and they were targeting the male 18 to 34 gaming companies. It was so different at the time. We covered ComicCon before really anyone else did back in 2006 so I got to be a part of San Diego ComicCon every year and be right in the middle of it all. We also covered E3 which at the time was just a fancy convention for gamers. It really was just over the top; some of these companies like Nintendo and Sony and others will spend millions of dollars just to make a booth look incredible. We went and traveled the world for gaming conventions. We went to Japan and Germany and South Korea. I saw e-sports tournaments back in 2006 in South Korea way before they were big here in the states. There were these gorgeous arenas like ones for a basketball game, but they were just people playing video games on the floor. The excitement these fans had for these players was extraordinary. Now lo and behold, you can see how big e-sports are and how big they have become here in the states. I met some great lifetime friends and am so grateful for that entire period that helped me build my next steps in my career.
Ryan: Let’s talk about your next steps. You went from working for a video game centric company to a travel show, multiple travel shows if fact. So, what was it like making that transition and then becoming a producer?
Scott: So, it took me a while to get back out there and make the transition. I finally realized that production management has a lot of the same things that a talent executive has. You must be able to communicate well and be able to work with a crew much like you would with talent. You need to make people feel supported and valued. You build out schedules and deal with negotiations. All those things were translatable skills from a talent executive to production management. I finally got back into the freelance world if unscripted TV productions and worked on a few domestic projects which was a lot of fun. I had some of my best memories working on an unscripted show in South Carolina. It was only for three weeks, but it was one of the best times I ever had, even though the hours can be a little crazy. From there I had an opportunity to become a production manager for some travel shows back in 2015. This really allowed me to be able to travel as well and it was the best of both worlds. I was managing a brand-new show but I was also going to manage it on the ground in the field. I went from Puerto Rico to Italy to Argentina and Thailand. This led me over to Litton Entertainment, which produces Saturday morning TV in the children’s educational space. I ended up working on 3 shows at once, producing over 260 episodes and one of those shows is still on hold due to Covid that potentially could come back for fifth season. I couldn’t get to travel obviously to every location but I did quite a bit. I traveled by cruise ship much of the time and again my crew became a family. It was just another life changing job overseeing and managing locations in over 75 countries on six continents. I had to hire fixers and their local teams in every location across three shows so it was stressful to say the least, but also really rewarding and I had a small team I managed for a couple years in the office. It really helped hone my leadership skills as well. That’s something I’m very proud of because we created a solid team.
Ryan: You also became a little bit of an expert in drones?
Scott: Yes! And they really do add a lot of value to a production when you can get those beautiful shots of gorgeous locations, especially when you’re going up to the seaside and then the towns and various topography like mountains that can only come from great drone footage from wide and above. I have learned so much with hiring local teams and all the insurance involved because there are places where you can and can’t drone shoots across the world. I have incredible people across the world now that I can dial up at any time because we have great relationships. I’m proud of our reputation because we really did a good job taking care of them and working collaboratively with them creating some beautiful, memorable content.
Ryan: What did it feel like when you turned on your show on Saturday morning and saw producer Scott Moore for the first time? What was that like?
Scott: I think the biggest thing for me was to get a look at the final product and think how much went in to making it. That will never get tiring to me. It’s crazy how much work, time and money go into every show. It never ceases to amaze me what a process it really is when you start something new. How much hard work it is every time. No two shows will ever be the same with all the challenges, and when you sit there and watch it on TV, it’s so easy forget about that. But it‘ s really cool to see that credit. On the flipside that credit go by so quickly. (laughs)
Ryan: It may go by quickly but your work did get recognized. In past three years, you’ve been nominated for an Emmy for producing multiple shows. It must feel good to have now been recognized for all the hard work you’ve been doing?
Scott: Yeah, I never thought that I would be nominated for an Emmy. It’s a great feeling for sure. Now, I’m hoping maybe the fourth one is a charm. It really is incredible because again it was not something I ever dreamed of or expected or thought would happen at any point, so it is special and exciting and something I don’t take for granted.
Ryan: Due to the corona virus, those shows obviously been put on hold at least for a little while. In that time, you’ve actually been able to help start a new digital company.
Scott: Yeah, it’s kind of insane if you would’ve asked me back in February of this year what would I be doing, I would never would have thought this. I mean I was having meetings with a major airline and working on the cruise lines and thought about doing some consulting. Then at the end of February everything went to a screeching halt and all that went away and I thought what am I going to do now? I was able to transition to help start a digital network in the gaming space. The network was beginning to launch. Luckily a friend of mine whom I’ve worked with on multiple projects was coming on as a third-party vendor and she asked if I would be able to come on. They’re a New York-based company but they needed to get started up here in LA. We were going to launch regardless of COVID. So, we did everything safely of course, and it was just a great experience for me. I was able to work at a start-up which is challenging but very rewarding and it was great to kind of get back into a local situation to where I’m now hiring and working with a local crew in live studio stage space. I’ve been able to negotiate deals and meet some new people from very different walks of life. On top of that, I’ve also been able to work with Litton on another local show here in Los Angeles. I’m training a new coordinator who is super talented and driven! It’s been a great opportunity to be able to be a mentor and help him get to where he needs to be. I can’t wait to see where he goes! This year has taught me to be more open and flexible to opportunities.
Ryan: Except for an Emmy win, where do you see Scott Moore in the next couple of years?
Scott: Well, Al Roker is one of the people that I’ve always aspire to be because I’ve loved his career and I love the fact that he kind of does a little bit of everything. If I could be anyone, it would sort of be in that vein because I’ve also have a big love of weather and hosting. He also owns his own production company and one of his quotes recently was basically you just need to be very flexible in your career. I now realize that more than ever. I just have to go with it. Right now, I’m doing a lot because I don’t like to say no and Al Roker always said yes more than no. That’s always been my motto and sometimes to my detriment because I take on a lot. I love to be able to be working and staying busy and collaborating and meeting new people, but for me, my dream would be hopefully a shift towards more of the creative and development side of production. I’m just kind excited to see where my career takes me because I had no idea where I’d be now and who knows where I could be in the next couple of years. It’s fun to think about. There’s something scary to all of it too, of course, but I’m going to go with it: go with the flow and see where this next step takes me. Hopefully it’ll be as an executive producer, a network exec or creating and developing my own shows and cocepts. I’m just going to stay positive.
Ryan: Based on everything you’ve done from being a production assistant to being a three time Emmy nominated producer, you certainly look like you’ve got the ability to do whatever you want. I want to thank you so much for being here at Entertainmentbuzz and the best of luck to you, Scott Moore.
Scott: Thank you so much, Ryan. It’s been great talking to you.
