Summary
Overview
Work History
Skills
Overview Of Most Recent Position
Credits
Publications
Timeline
Generic

Neil Laird

Summary

  • Multiple Emmy and BAFTA-nominated creator and Executive Producer on long-running series such as Shark Week, Brain Games, Mysteries of the Abandoned, Border Wars, Through the Wormhole With Morgan Freeman, What on Earth? How It's Made, Secrets of the Underground, and Survivorman.
  • I've worked extensively on both the network and production side of non-fiction TV since 1996. I've developed, overseen, and produced over 1,000 hours of non-fiction programs and specials in nearly every genre, with a particular passion, expertise, and professional contacts in history, mystery, science, and adventure.


Overview

27
27
years of professional experience

Work History

Executive Producer

Warner Brothers Discovery
02.2012 - 08.2023
  • Managed up to 15 projects at a time, in various stages of production, from development through delivery, with an emphasis on strong storytelling and management, providing healthy financial returns.

Executive Producer

National Geographic Studios
01.2008 - 01.2012
  • Four years as EP for National Geographic Studios, where I helped launch and run several successful series, including Brain Games, Dogtown and Border Wars.

Freelance Show Runner and Producer/Writer

Various
05.1996 - 01.2008
  • As a showrunner/producer for several highly-respected production companies in the US and UK, I traveled to over 70 countries, often through difficult and remote terrains. I've produced programming for broadcasters including Discovery, A&E , History, PBS, BBC, Channel 4, Animal Planet, and National Geographic Channel.

Skills

  • Network EP and Show Runner
  • Scriptwriting and revision
  • Production EP
  • Series Development
  • Post Production EP

Overview Of Most Recent Position

Oversaw series, tentpole events, and specials for Discovery, Discovery +, Science, and HBO Max, including the blue chip limited series Expedition: Deep Oceans and Chernobyl: The Untold Story the Emmy and BAFTA-nominated How to Build a Planet with Richard Hammond and live events such as the 2022 SpaceX Launch and Expedition Unknown: Egypt Live. Highlights from the past year (2022-2023) include:


  • King Tut: A Century of Secrets; Tut's Toxic Tomb; Tut's Lost City - A trio of highly-rated specials that aired during “Egypt Month with Josh Gates” in November 2022, which included exclusive access to a 3,300-year-old city found by Dr. Zahi Hawass. The dig was funded through a unique partnership I helped forge between Hawass, Discovery, and the Supreme Council of Antiquities;
    Shark Week – A dozen shows for Discovery's flagship tentpole event, now in its 35th year;
  • Lost Cities of the Jungle -A three-part series following archeologists in Cambodia and Laos as they discover forgotten cities that once rivaled Angkor Wat;
  • Mysteries of the Abandoned – Science Channel's highest-rated series, now on Discovery and in season eight. A spin-off, Hidden America, which I also EP'd, returned for a third season in 4Q 2023;
  • Secret Nazi Bunkers – A behind-the-scenes series showcasing forgotten Nazi ruins;
  • Unearthed - An archeology series now in season 10 and shot all over the world, with special access to long-closed sites such as Babylon, Palmyra, and Persepolis in Iran, Syria, and Iraq;
  • Valley of the Kings: The Lost Tombs- One of Discovery+'s highest-rated hits since the streamer debuted;
  • The Lost Colony of Roanoke: New Evidence -A two-hour special with exclusive access to a new location that suggests the colonists were never “lost” at all;
  • Jurassic Ghost Town: A Mass Murder Mystery -A BBC co-production about an extraordinary site in Wyoming where over a dozen dinosaurs — both predator and prey — mysteriously died at once;
  • Ice Age America - A one-hour special that pushes the arrival of the first humans in the Americas back by at least 15,000 years;
  • Ancient Armageddon -An HBO Max special exploring why so many mighty empires, from Classical Greece to the Hittites and the Egyptians, collapsed at once at the end of the Bronze Age;
  • Almost Human: Rise of the Apes - In 2021, scientists grew human stem cells in a monkey embryo, creating a human-ape hybrid. Is this immoral, even criminal? Or could creating hybrids help us conquer disease? This 2-hour special explores both sides.

Credits

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0481987/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_1_nm_7_q_neil%2520laird

Publications

  • LGBTQ+ novelist, with the first two books in a series slated for publication in 2024: Prime Time Travelers and Prime Time Pompeii
  • World History Encyclopedia book reviewer
  • Explorers Club fellow responsible for writing newsletter articles and helping to arrange live events

Timeline

Executive Producer

Warner Brothers Discovery
02.2012 - 08.2023

Executive Producer

National Geographic Studios
01.2008 - 01.2012

Freelance Show Runner and Producer/Writer

Various
05.1996 - 01.2008
Neil Laird