By John Beisser, Feature Writer
Whether it was standing on the diving board, collecting her final thoughts before hurtling her body into a series of premeditated, practiced moves, or juggling multiple late-arriving guests she's booked for a daily live TV show that is broadcast to millions, Lauren Boone has learned to navigate any and all obstacles in front of her.
If the task at hand involves acing a final exam en route to becoming a
Scholar All-American, serving as captain of the Rutgers
swimming and diving team, or working as a Booking Producer for a highly-rated show on MSNBC, Boone has also mastered the art of staying cool, remaining calm, and performing in the moment.
Boone's career began as an undergraduate, spending the summer and fall of 2020 as a NBCUniversal Intern at MSNBC, crediting Director of Journalism and Mass Media Studies, Steve Miller for his help in connecting her with NBC. This internship helped her land roles as a Production Assistant for the
"The 11th Hour with Brian Williams" on MSNBC. After Williams was replaced by Stephanie Rhule, Boone became an Associate Booking Producer and now serves as one of three Booking Producers for
"The 11th Hour with Stephanie Rhule" on MSNBC, which airs weeknights at 11:00 p.m.
A 2021 graduate of the Rutgers University
School of School of Journalism and Mass Studies, Boone first learned to wear many hats at the same time while thriving as a student worker for RVision, the live production arm of Rutgers Athletics.
"A lot of people get it mixed up. There's live video and then there's creative video," said Mark D'Agostino, RVision's Director of Production who arrived at Rutgers during Boone's freshman year back in 2018. "A lot of people see all the creative video across social media but there's a whole different pressure with live, and she handled it very well and it has translated well into her career.
"Right away I knew she was a leader," D'Agostino continued. "She got into directing right away, which is our most advanced position, so she was calling the shots at a lot of the games that she worked."
A native of Elkhart, Ind., Boone, who now lives in New York City and works in famed 30 Rockefeller Plaza, also served as a researcher for NBC's coverage of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games, an opportunity that never would have come to fruition without her experience at RVision, she says.
"In my initial interview to work the Olympics, I was able to touch on, 'hey, I've worked all these different sporting events, I have a base knowledge of a ton of different Olympic sports that I can try to tap into and I have that understanding and I can work on whatever sport you need,'" she said. "I told them "I've worked with sports like wrestling, basketball, soccer and gymnastics at RVision.' So, that was huge in getting me into NBC Sports with working the Olympics."
In her current role, Boone, who selected Rutgers over several Ivy League institutions based on the university's academic reputation, Big Ten athletic standing, and proximity to New York City, helps to secure between 7-10 guests per night, five days a week.
"When I start my day, I check in with everyone we're supposed to have on that night and we have a call in the morning where we say, 'OK, here are the stories, here's what we're thinking, so we'll probably lead the show with these guests,'" she said. "And then there's a time when Stephanie will come on, or our executive producer will say, 'actually, I want to cover this story instead, Lauren find us a person who can do that, find us a person who can talk to that the best, someone who can have a good, smart conversation with Stephanie.'"
"So then, it's a lot of research," she said. "I'm reaching out to different people who I think will be a good fit and I'm checking with the other guests we have scheduled as to 'what do you want to talk about editorially, do they need a car to get to and from the studio? So, I'm booking cars, I'm emailing them, calling them, confirming everything."
During each night's one-hour live show, Boone can usually be found in the fast-paced, at times chaotic, control room with headsets on, smartphone, pen and paper in hand. "Let's just say there's lots going on and many different personalities in there at once," Boone quipped. "Control the controllables. That's a lesson I learned and what we used to say all the time back on the swim team."
Boone joins a growing list of RVision graduates who are sprinkled throughout the professional television industry. Like Boone, former students have passed through the RVision program and gone on to work at networks like CBS Sports, NBC Sports, MLB, NFL and Big Ten.
Most of the guests Boone books are of a certain profile in the business world but she's booked guests from a variety of backgrounds and popularities. Among the higher profile guests she's booked include Arnold Schwarzenegger, gymnast Simone Biles and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy.
Asked what she'd recommend to young people unsure of a career path, Boone, said, "I would say to a senior in high school, or maybe to a freshman, sophomore at Rutgers, to do what interests you. There's no need to force anything. If you do what you enjoy, odds are you'll be successful. You just have to find that. Figure out what you like and run with it."
A recipient of seven NJ Press Association Awards for writing excellence, John Beisser ('86) served as Assistant Director in the Rutgers University Athletic Communications Office from 1991-2006, where he primarily handled sports information/media relations duties for the Scarlet Knight football and men's basketball programs. In this role, he served as managing editor for nine publications that received either National or Regional citations from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). While an undergraduate at RU, Beisser was sports director of WRSU-FM and a sportswriter/columnist for The Daily Targum. From 2007-2019, Beisser served as Assistant Athletic Director/Sports Media Relatons at Wagner College, where he was the recipient of the 2019 Met Basketball Writers Association "Good Guy" Award. Beisser resides in Piscataway with his wife Aileen (RC '95,) a four-year Scarlet Knight women's lacrosse letterwinner, and their 14-year old daughter Riley.
