Coordinated production logistics for Hulu’s new docu-series following a cast of Mormon women in Orange County.
Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: OC is a Hulu spinoff of the popular docu-series, following a new cast of Mormon women navigating faith, friendship, and reality TV in Orange County, California. As Production Coordinator, I oversaw production logistics and administrative operations for the series, which filmed across California, Nevada, and Utah. I managed crew hiring, onboarding, payroll processing, and vendor coordination, partnered with production management on scheduling and field operations, and tracked budgets and expenses from prep through wrap.
Behind the Scenes
Where were you?
Los Angeles, Orange County, Las Vegas, Palm Springs, Leo Carrillo, Malibu
What’s the moment things went sideways?
Participating in a docu-series just lets you know that each day always starts with a plan but anything can happen and you have to be ready to pivot at any moment. So throughout the season it wasn’t that things went completely sideways but each day was always something. We had three plans ready to go each day. We were on top of permits, and always had the crew ready for their day. The more we prepped the easier the pivots were.
A crew or cast story that still gets told
It was a fun day in the field and we had a day planned. We had the first location shoot go too well. The rest of the day, each time we were heading somewhere, it was canceled. We were driving up from Orange County to Santa Monica and right when we were about fifteen minutes away, the shoot was canceled and we just had to have a meal and make our way back to Orange County. If you know anything about LA, it’s that driving from Orange County to Santa Monica is the worst traffic and our travel time was during the absolute worst of it. We hit lunch traffic and then dinner traffic. In total we were on the road for four hours, which was more time than we actually shot that day. It was a good laugh with the crew and we caravaned back to Orange County, singing karaoke the whole way.
What would a viewer never guess?
The amount of travel we did for that show, even though it was a show about a group of wives in Orange County was a lot. We were constantly traveling to different cities and states. Each weekend was a staycation somewhere or planning for the next girls’ trip before you go on the one you planned two days ago.
What were you actually running day to day?
We were running on anything can happen and we are just going to laugh and have fun with it. There were times where our crew was on their way to a shoot location and more than half way, the shoot was canceled and either they came back to the office or we went to the next location.
What are you proudest of on this one?
This was a new world for me. I had worked in unscripted and docu-series before, where days and topics move fast and change direction constantly, but this show ran at a completely different speed. It was something I wasn’t used to, and I had about a week to get on board or risk being left behind. I’m proud that I was able to stay on top of the day to day tasks and start predicting when things were about to shift so I could get ahead of the curve.