Undercover Prison King

I worked as UPM on Undercover Prison King, supporting the line producer on a shoot inside a real prison in Lancaster. Alongside the work on set, the production required hotel accommodations for the cast and crew and transportation reimbursements. I coordinated food orders, picked up crafty and production supplies, and helped organize the practical needs of a team working away from home. The setting made this a distinctive early experience in production management, with the prison’s own rules shaping how we worked.

The biggest challenge was working within the prison’s strict rules while keeping daily logistics organized. Cast and crew had to follow designated paths, so I assisted the line producer in drafting maps that made the location’s restrictions easier to understand. I also served as a communication link between crew members and department heads, helping keep everyone informed as we worked within those constraints. My focus was on making the requirements clear and helping the team navigate an unfamiliar working environment.

The production went well and filming inside a real prison remains a distinctive experience for me. Beyond fulfilling my responsibilities as UPM, I wanted to understand more about line producing and producing. Observing the line producer and producer at work gave me insight into how the larger production was managed and how my own responsibilities fitted into it. I applied those lessons to subsequent projects as I took on more producing responsibilities. Looking back, this was an important opportunity to build practical experience and understand the work I wanted to grow into.