Educational video series Behind the Lens launched by SVG Europe Women

SVG Europe Women, in partnership with production company Aurora and technical services providers NEP and QTV, has created a series of educational videos that reveal the jobs Behind the Lens in sports broadcasting.  

With the aim of increasing industry diversity and attracting young new talent, the Behind the Lens videos are being made available for free. The aim is to inform and inspire children and young adults from the age of 11 up to university students about some of the amazing job opportunities in sports broadcasting, and the wider broadcast market.  

The Behind the Lens series is for use by individuals, the industry and educators – school teachers, university and college lecturers – as a completely free resource to use however it is needed. 

Behind the Lens is suitable for the curious to browse through on their own, and for secondary school pupils to university level to learn about some of the most exciting job roles in live sports production from the people that are actually working in it today.  

Each video can be viewed individually or in a special 20-minute-long full length cut of them all. The videos can be watched straight from the dedicated SVG Europe Behind the Lens website, on YouTube or Vimeo, or they can be easily downloaded for use in the classroom if preferred.  

Heather McLean, head of SVG Europe Women and an editor at SVG Europe, said: “Sports broadcasting is part of the live broadcasting field, which includes sport, news, entertainment and events. There are hundreds of job roles within this fantastic area, from technical to creative and everything in between.  

“However, the vast majority of people have no idea what these jobs are. You know there’s a camera operator, and you know there’s a presenter, but what else is there? Behind the Lens has been created to uncover what some of the key jobs in sports broadcasting are, how to get into the area, and why working in live broadcasting is great, in a simple, clear, entertaining and informative way.” 

McLean continued: “All we need is for the sports broadcasting industry to take advantage of this amazing free resource, sharing it internally and with educational contacts so we can show young people around the world what is going on Behind the Lens; the opportunities are endless!” 

Lucy Lake, director of people and purpose at QTV and collaborator on the project, said: “It’s been brilliant to be part of making the Behind the Lens video series. I was so happy when Heather came to me with this idea of hers. Time and time again we are told by young people that they don’t know what jobs are available in the sports broadcasting industry, at a time where we are incredibly hard-pushed to find crew. 

“This video series from SVG Europe Women is giving the industry, educational establishments and young people a great opportunity to share some of the key roles that are up for grabs in this amazing, exciting industry.” 

The first series of Behind the Lens consists of nine short explainer interviews with people in key roles in live sports, from OB engineer, replay operator, and camera operator, to director, producer and runner. Each one can be viewed individually or in a special full length cut of them all.