Meet the LEGO MASTERS USA judges: Jamie Berard

LEGO Design Lead Jamie Berard reveals what life on set is like as one of the two LEGO MASTERS USA judges

It is time for LEGO MASTERS to get epic in a way that only US television can make happen. Ten pairs of builders will face increasingly challenging tasks with LEGO bricks as they seek to demonstrate their building skill, seeking a $100,000 prize and the LEGO MASTERS trophy.

To assess the builds each week, LEGO Design Leads Jamie Berard and Amy Corbett will be in the Build Room with host Will Arnett. As well as judging the finished models, they will be providing advice to the contestants and keeping the host updated on how the builders are doing.

As an AFOL-turned-LEGO-professional, Jamie Berard knows a thing or two about the fan community. His regular LEGO work is on the LEGO Creator Expert theme, where he oversees the model design. In this exclusive interview, Jamie discusses his experience on LEGO MASTERS.

Did you ever imagine you would find yourself judging on a television show?

No, but honestly most of my life I never imagined – it seems like one wild ride that I am just really enjoying. But I have to say I am grateful I had some of the experience with some of the YouTube videos and stuff, that has been my little playground, my training ground – coming on set is just a whole new world and I am learning so much.

What was the first day of filming like?

It was kind of like the first day of school, you are meeting all these new classmates, everything is foreign and different – it was warm, that is always surprising, California is a very different place than Denmark at this time of year.

It was a little bit intimidating I have to say. Because this really is a big production, we have a lot of people involved, we have a lot of producers and writers, we have lots of cameras, we have got 10 teams, you really feel how big this is once you step on that set. It is just so awesome, I have never really been on a Hollywood set before, so to see what they are able to accomplish in a really short time is just mind-blowing.

Jamie Berard introduces LEGO Creator Expert 10269 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy

You are judging the models, are you involved in setting the challenges?

My own involvement has stemmed back all the way to the UK series. I have been working behind the scenes on helping out with some of the challenges conceptually or supporting them with things like the brick order, so I have been very much operational behind the scenes up until now. In this show I am on-camera, that is a big shift, but definitely giving feedback along the way, not only to the builders while they are building to try and make great models but also just aligning with the producers and different people involved to get a heads up on the challenges to try and make sure everyone really excels at everything.

What differences are there between the UK and US editions of the series?

I think one of the major differences is the UK version involves children. So there are kids versus adults and that is a very different dynamic. It changes the types of challenges that you can do and the scope and the ambition of some of the things you can do. The kid builders there were fantastic and they did a really great job, but we saw with the Australian show that when you have all adults you can even push it a bit further, with the themes, with the ambition of the different things and that is the direction we have decided to go. Having adults, not all of them having built together their whole lives, coming together for the first time perhaps, but really having an open mind to taking on any challenge that we give them.

LEGO MASTERS will premiere on Fox in the USA on Wednesday, February 5 at 9.00pm ET/10.00pm PT.

More LEGO MASTERS USA coverage

More LEGO MASTERS USA coverage

LEGO MASTERS: The road to the USA

Episode reviews:
Episode 1: “Dream Park Theme Park”
Episode 2: “Space Smash Challenge”

Exit interviews:
Episode 1: No elimination
Episode 2: “Space Smash Challenge”

Meet the judges:
Jamie Berard
Amy Corbett

Meet the contestants:
Sam and Jessica
Krystle and Amie
Mel and Jermaine
Flynn and Richard
Boone and Mark
Manny and Nestor
Travis and Corey
Tyler and Amy
Jessie and Kara
Christian and Aaron

To continue to support the work of Brick Fanatics, please buy your LEGO sets from LEGO.com and Amazon using our affiliate links.