Mark E. Potts promoted to senior producer for video series for L.A. Times Originals

The following announcement was sent on behalf of LA Times Studios interim co-head of Originals Erik Himmelsbach-Weinstein:

I’m pleased to announce that videographer Mark E. Potts has been promoted to senior producer of video series for L.A. Times Originals.

Potts has long been a leader on the video team, but now it’s official. In his new role, Potts will develop humor- and entertainment-based series for YouTube and other social media channels. He will also work with newsroom video team members and outside talent to develop engaging content that expands the L.A. Times audience on YouTube, our social channels and latimes.com, enhancing the company’s brand and profile in both the entertainment and humor spaces.

This position also involves working closely with video team members to improve our color grading and editing technique and create a high-quality consistency in the look and rhythm of Times’ video content.

At The Times since 2015, Potts has been a versatile, invaluable member of the video team. He has covered presidential inaugurations and civil rights protests, three Dodgers World Series and manages the video portion of our film festival studios at Sundance, the Toronto International Film Festival, South by Southwest and others.

Potts led The Times’ efforts to create comedic takes on news, from the viral “How to Drive in the Rain” video to his guide on how to vote in the 2021 gubernatorial recall. His “Curiosity Correspondent” series was wildly popular on Facebook. Currently, he is a producer on “The Green Room” series about cannabis culture in California, which has received millions of views and driven thousands of subscribers to the Times’ YouTube channel. He was instrumental in the production of the acclaimed and highly successful digital series “Fernandomania @ 40.”

An Oklahoma native, Potts majored in film studies at the University of Oklahoma, where he also received a master’s degree in broadcast journalism. As an independent filmmaker, he has produced numerous comedic films that received distribution and have played in festivals around the world, including “Cinema Six” and “Spaghettiman.” His short films have been featured on Funny or Die, Huffington Post and Sports Illustrated.

He has two children, one who has already been paid in cookies to be in a Los Angeles Times video. He’s married to Hailey Branson-Potts, a reporter at The Times who asks you to not blame her for the things he does.