Kayla McCormick
Freelance Field Producer: Oprah's Book Club "American Dirt by Jeanine Cummings" for Apple TV+ March 2020: I was brought on board to find stories of migrants living in Juarez, Mexico for the town hall featuring American author, Jeanine Cummings' fictional account of a migrant woman's harrowing journey by train and on foot to the United States. I had four hours, a small crew, no translator and ended up producing, directing and overseeing two packages for the special.
Spectrum News Networks
Producer, Original Programming 1/2018 - 02/2019
Lone Star Crisis: The Opioid Epidemic
Developed, wrote, produced this feature length documentary for Spectrum Originals on the Opioid epidemic in Central Texas. In this segment, I operated camera while spending the day with two homeless heroin addicts to better understand and capture how they fell into a cycle of drug addiction. Received a 2018 Regional Emmy Award for Best Documentary, NATAS Lone Star Chapter
Spectrum News Networks
Producer, Original Programming 1/2018 - 02/2019
LA Under the Gun
Developed, wrote, field produced while embedded in a trauma unit of UCLA Harbor Hospital for this Spectrum Originals feature documentary that takes an in-depth look at gun violence as a public health crisis affecting communities in Los Angeles. Received a 2020 Regional Emmy Award Nominated for Live Special, Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards
Executive Producer - Sutherland Springs: One Year Later
Developed, wrote, and executive produced this feature length documentary for Spectrum Originals on the one year anniversary of the Sutherland Springs Church Massacre. Received a 2019 Regional Emmy Nomination for Continuing Coverage, NATAS Lone Star Chapter
Field Producer & Writer - The Bond Trap: A Special Report
Developed, wrote and produced this feature on Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart's efforts to abolish the cash bail system in Illinois. Received a 2017 Regional Emmy nomination for Outstanding Achievement for News Specialty Report/Series - Politics/Government, NATAS Midwest Chapter
Short documentary-style Pieces: Featured on United Airlines Hub, Upworthy.com and Al Jazeera America
A Puerto Rico evacuee's reunion with her daughter: Christmas in Lock-Up: Featured on Upworthy.com School Change - Al Jazeera America
United Airlines, Client Willow Creek Community Church, Client
selectEd: A Year in the life of Whitney Young High School profiles the lives of a select group of Chicago public high school students who put it all on the line to be selected, proving that a free education is never without a cost.
I spent an entire school year embedded at Whitney Young Magnet High School on Chicago's west side. As the sole producer on location, I was responsible for the creation, direction, production, all fieldwork, post-production supervision and subsequent publicity for this independent feature length documentary profiling one of the nation’s most successful public high schools in one of the worst public school systems in America.
selectED was nominated from over 1,000 submissions as “One of the top documentary films of the year”, winning the prestigious Gold Award at Atlanta’s 2015 Spotlight Documentary FilmSeries, and was an official selection for the 2015 Sarasota International Film Festival, 2015 Waterfront Film Festival, and 2015 New York No Limits Film Festival.
As the Mumbai-based Producer and Location Manager for "Oprah in India" Oprah's Next Chapter, I did a month of ground work: scouting, producing, developing storylines and segments for the two-part series.
Among other job responsibilities, I split time between scouting Mumbai's largest slums looking for a family Ms. Winfrey could sit down with to working with Parmesh Godreij, the Billionaire Empress of Mumbai, to setting up filming for the welcome party held in Ms. Winfrey's honor.
It was truly one of the most intense, physically and emotionally taxing producing experiences of my life, one in which I loved every single minute of.
Conceptualized, researched, developed, produced and delivered one of History Channel's highest rated specials The World's Most Dangerous Road: Bolivia.
I spent a month on the ground, based in La Paz, Bolivia. Organized, scouted, planned shooting logistics for the nine day shoot on location with host, Marsh Mokhtari. Found historical archive, booked and interviewed local experts and survivors (in English and Spanish) and then directed and field-produced nine day shoot on location on one of the most geographically hostile highways in the world.
National Geographic purchased the series, rebranded it “Perilous Journeys” and commissioned an additional four episodes to be shot on some of the most dangerous stretches of road in the world.
Developed, field-produced and created verite-style show and shooting model for the Weather Channel Series Coast Guard Storm Stories. This four-part series shot on location in New Orleans during the aftermath of hurricane Katrina became the model for an additional 12 episodes purchased by the Weather Channel.