Hot Shots 2025: Ellie McClarty

From sourcing ice-cream vans for Saturday Mash Up! to sending the Food Unwrapped crew to South Korea, it seems there’s no task Elle McClarty can’t deliver in the realm of children’s specialist factual and scripted.

“I pride myself at being an excellent, hands-on support on location, whether that’s on a farm, building site or hospital corridor,” says McClarty. “I’ll go just about anywhere to support the team and make sure the day runs smoothly.”

On BBC2’s Surgeons: At The Edge Of Life, the opportunity to film a very rare operation came with 24 hours’ notice while the production manager was on holiday, but McClarty rose to the challenge. She organised a full crew and joined them on location, delivering a shoot that would usually take two or three days’ planning.

Dragonfly senior production manager Emma McCormack and production executive Isabelle Burn say: “Ellie has a very determined mindset. If there is ever any feeling of being out of her depth, she does not show it and is always keen to challenge herself.”

Entering the industry via the BBC – first through the Scotland Apprenticeship Scheme, then working as a production management assistant – she completed the Screenskills Production Co-ordinator Trainee Scheme in 2020, which earned her her first production co-ordinator role at STV Studios.