Hot Shots 2026: Anna Mayers

Anna Mayers knows how to make a good impression. When Orchard Studios chief executive Dan Grabiner clicked to join the video interview with her for the Amazon apprenticeship scheme, he was amazed to see this full-time nanny and film blogger, with zero television experience, had transformed her room at home into a fully-fledged gameshow set.

“Anna lit up the panel with prepared props, format bombs, plot twists and the knockout creative charisma that everyone who has worked with her now knows all too well,” he recalls.

He saw in Anna an infectious energy and boundless enthusiasm that would propel them through their working relationship. Joining Amazon as an apprentice and contributor, she helped run the Prime Video Pathway and global Amazon MGM Studios training schemes before becoming a team assistant at Orchard when Grabiner launched the company in late 2024.

Anna’s ascent to researcher followed her efforts on two scripted productions that were simultaneously in pre-production, where she researched archive material and contributors while meticulously logging images, articles, police evidence and victim testimony before stepping up to lead the costume departments.

Despite her complete inexperience in this area, and the limited resources of the production, Anna sourced and dressed 18 actors in 42 outfits in just four weeks, ensuring all were era-appropriate and complemented directors’ camera and lighting choices.

Alongside her Orchard duties, Anna also scored the top grade on the NFTS Unscripted Diploma last year.

“Anna is a true creative in the broadest sense of the word, able to turn her hand to anything, from creating new formats to carrying out deep research, brainstorming ideas and even running costume on a recent scripted production,” says Grabiner.