What’s your name and your usual job title(s)?
Renée Lukacs, Producer
…Field Producer, Story Producer, Casting Producer, Development Producer, Researcher… Whaddya need? I can do it. PS – I’m available after October 31st.
How did you get started working in factual TV?
I was producing the morning show for a news talk radio station in 2009 when they flipped formats to syndicated sports talk and laid us all off. I was devastated. I had done some freelance work coordinating a couple of audio projects for dear friends, Rob Crowston and Shelley McGaw, in the past and when Shelley was crewing up for season one of The Devil You Know, a true crime doc series she was producing for Make Believe media in early 2010, she asked me if I wanted to be her production coordinator. Part way through the season they needed some support in the story department, so I jumped in, found a story, produced an episode, and somehow, I’ve been up to my eyeballs in true crime ever since. Which reminds me of this one story we researched…
What do you consider to be your career highlight(s)?
Spending six weeks in Canada’s Arctic.
Riding around in the back of an ambulance for the better part of a year.
Every time a participant entrusts me with their story. Such a privilege.
What’s the strangest thing you’ve had to do working in factual TV?
1. Run a fake market research company.
2. Buy a fish from a strange man who walked into our crew house at 10 PM.
What’s something interesting/unusual about you that most people don’t know?
I used to collect bowling balls and portable typewriters, but I had a hard time finding people to help me move so…
What’s your ultimate career aspiration?
In factual TV, directing. I also recently realized I think I need to make observational documentaries.
