Stories
A winning combination: Aurora's Female Driven E1 Production Team
date
02/09/24
author
Laura Watts
As Season One of E1 Series Championship finishes on a high, we shine a light on the Aurora women leading our Host Broadcast Production.
Laura Watts - E1 Executive Producer
After an electric debut season, E1 is starting to filter into public consciousness. I, on the other hand, have been waking up thinking about it, and going to bed thinking about it for 6 months. I also do a fair bit of thinking about it during the day too.
As do our Production Manager, Kelsey Gallagher and our Technical Producer Emily Merron. We have a lot of meetings but we’re rarely in a room together, until we get on site and then it’s usually a fleeting glance, a quick sentence or two and the occasional raised eyebrow!
As Executive Producer editorial responsibility lies with me. I work closely with the client to deliver a programme designed to engage a new audience. One that tells the E1 story. We're live for 90 minutes and there's a 60-minute highlights show. It’s easy on paper. Create a running order, add the vital elements: explainers, profiles and graphics. Pop in a few races, save and send.
In reality, there's a lot of research before I can start the storytelling. I need to understand each stakeholder’s motivations, frustrations and constraints. I study the creators of the series, the builders of the boats, the pilots and teams and I'm embedded in Race Control, with the Race Director, Timing partner and Event Manager so that we create a World Feed worthy of their vision.
Season One was a steep learning curve for everyone, but it accelerated the relationship building process and created a real bond between Aurora and the E1 family.
Together with Kelsey, Emily and our senior production coordinator, Phoebe Augier, we’ve built a strong team of staff and committed freelancers who always deliver. Again, easy on paper. In reality, this has never been done before. It’s a new series, with new challenges, so we’re all learning and adapting together. Agile is not only a type of onboard camera, it’s a state of being on E1.
It's an absolute pleasure working in a team where the main motivation is to deliver the best product we can. Laura has such a handle on the sport, and the soul of the show, and Kelsey has an incredible ability to stay so fully on top of everything that I'm always totally confident that if she says it'll be sorted, it absolutely will be.
There are rare moments of pure calm too. Watching the sun come up on a race day course recce in Jeddah springs to mind. Thanks to Martin Raby.
Race week I don’t get a lot of sleep; I’m problem-solving, guiding the on-site team and remote UK gallery, while responding to events both on and off the water. A special mention to Chris Zawadzki who keeps the creative wheels turning on a daily basis and Lisa Galliers who spends many a late-night fine-tuning running orders with me.
Ultimately, when I arrive on-site on race day, I feel the tingle that you only get at an OB and when the RaceBirds fly, there are moments of excitement that unite everyone and remind us why we’re doing it.
Season Two gets underway in Jeddah on 25 January 2025.
