Amy Smolens - TV Production Veteran & Pioneer

12/08/22 • 65 min

00:00 - Episode Introduction

01:30 - How Amy got into sports broadcasting working with the tv broadcasts for the New York Yankees

4:20 - How the Yankees’ Don Carney, Executive Producer & Director took a risk hiring Amy and women in sports tv.

6:20 - When Amy was 11 years old she participated in the New York Nets’ “Run, Dribble & Shoot” contest but wasn’t allowed to compete for the finals

9:50 - Amy visited with Jim Garvey, who refused to let her play, many years later in California (pictures)

11:00 - How she hopes she was able to inspire young girls to never give up

12:10 - Where her love of sports came from

13:25 - How her parents helped give her confidence

14:15 - Amy’s first experience with the Yankees and how it set her up for future work

16:15 - The types of events Amy has worked on in her career and working on a cycling event helped her love cycling

19:40 - How I met Amy working in the Dominican Republic

21:30 - What the different positions are that she’s worked and what a stage manager, assistant director and field producer does

24:40 - What broadcast position is the most rewarding for Amy

25:40 - How Amy’s multiple language skills help her work on many international events including World Baseball Classic, Cycling and other eventsWhat other sports that resonate with Amy and how she approaches those sports

30:50 - How Amy’s work helps producers and directors realize their visions

32:00 - How she has seen the broadcasting business change over the years

34:00 - Pictures of Amy working in her environment

Tokyo Olympics

Hockey

NHL All Star Game

Pyeongchang Olympics

35:30 - What a “Mixed Zone” is

Rio Olympics

Dick Barnett Interview

37:40 - Pan Am Games Toronto picture

Hockey Night In Canada

NBA Finals

Vancouver Olympics

Tour of Alberta Cycling

39:40 - Working with celebrities & personalities

Bill Walton & Dead Head Story

Chris Mullen

Larry Brown

Thurl Bailey

Phil Leggett & Paul Sherwen

Phill Leggett at Rio 2016

Vince Carter

Friend of hers Tanya

Pyeongchang for CBC Hockey

Pyeongchang announcers

Amy Trask

John Shiffin

Tour of Utah

46:30 - Views from Amy’s perspective & being a “Red Hat”

Floor booth

Control Room

Interview Room

Pyeongchang Swedish Announcers

Boxing ringside

Steph Curry Interview

Dremond Green Media Day

At basketball desk

50:40 - Being a stage manager at Anaheim Stadium for the Angels & Mike Trout story

51:45 - Having fun on broadcasts

52:45 - Craziest story for Amy in broadcast tv working in China on Kent Cycling

56:20 - What her brother Michael does working in sports as a college referee and a soccer color analyst

59:05 - What Amy and her boyfriend’s “Check For Bikes” initiative is all about in San Francisco

1:01:05 - How cycling affects Amy with her environmental concerns

1:02:33 - Amy’s most treasured credential

1:03:20 - Amy’s pin collection

1:03:30 - Favorite sports movie

1:04:15 - Episode wrap up

#cycling #tv sports #sportsbroadcasting #nba #nba finals #dominican baseball #Olympics #Hockey #PanAmGames #sports #new york yankees #new york mets #runpassshoot #checkforbikes #china #controlroom #duke #basketball #announcer #stagemanager #AD #fieldproducer #CBC

Bill Walton

Larry Brown

Thurl Bailey

Phil Leggett

Paul Sherwen

Vince Carter

Amy Trask

John Shiffin

Todd Gogulski

Steph Curry

Dremond Green

Don Carney

Jim Garvey

More Episodes:

Terry Brady - Broadcast Operations Consultant - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iB3Xd4BTrBc&t=120s

David Raymond - The Original Phillie Phanatic - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emA-0xQ4jws&t=1439s

Drew Irvine - Game Design Manager, MLB The Show - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwM9CGHRz_0&t=6s

Marc Rowley - CEO - OwnYourStream.com & Inventor of PylonCam - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aC5cMC3JkdA&t=10s

Brian Williams - Producer/Director, Sports Television & Events - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x43AiW1P2MA

Claudia Trejos - Florida Boxing Hall of Fame, Sports Commentator & Motivational Speaker - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mntXcgXajOw&t=17s

Dave K...

00:00 - Episode Introduction

01:30 - How Amy got into sports broadcasting working with the tv broadcasts for the New York Yankees

4:20 - How the Yankees’ Don Carney, Executive Producer & Director took a risk hiring Amy and women in sports tv.

6:20 - When Amy was 11 years old she participated in the New York Nets’ “Run, Dribble & Shoot” contest but wasn’t allowed to compete for the finals

9:50 - Amy visited with Jim Garvey, who refused to let her play, many years later in California (pictures)

11:00 - How she hopes she was able to inspire young girls to never give up

12:10 - Where her love of sports came from

13:25 - How her parents helped give her confidence

14:15 - Amy’s first experience with the Yankees and how it set her up for future work

16:15 - The types of events Amy has worked on in her career and working on a cycling event helped her love cycling

19:40 - How I met Amy working in the Dominican Republic

21:30 - What the different positions are that she’s worked and what a stage manager, assistant director and field producer does

24:40 - What broadcast position is the most rewarding for Amy

30:50 - How Amy’s work helps producers and directors realize their visions

32:00 - How she has seen the broadcasting business change over the years

34:00 - Pictures of Amy working in her environment

Tokyo Olympics

Hockey

NHL All Star Game

Pyeongchang Olympics

35:30 - What a “Mixed Zone” is

Rio Olympics

Dick Barnett Interview

37:40 - Pan Am Games Toronto picture

Hockey Night In Canada

NBA Finals

Vancouver Olympics

Tour of Alberta Cycling

39:40 - Working with celebrities & personalities

Bill Walton & Dead Head Story

Chris Mullen

Larry Brown

Thurl Bailey

Phil Leggett & Paul Sherwen

Phill Leggett at Rio 2016

Vince Carter

Friend of hers Tanya

Pyeongchang for CBC Hockey

Pyeongchang announcers

Amy Trask

John Shiffin

Tour of Utah

46:30 - Views from Amy’s perspective & being a “Red Hat”

Floor booth

Control Room

Interview Room

Pyeongchang Swedish Announcers

Boxing ringside

Steph Curry Interview

Dremond Green Media Day

At basketball desk

50:40 - Being a stage manager at Anaheim Stadium for the Angels & Mike Trout story

51:45 - Having fun on broadcasts

52:45 - Craziest story for Amy in broadcast tv working in China on Kent Cycling

56:20 - What her brother Michael does working in sports as a college referee and a soccer color analyst

59:05 - What Amy and her boyfriend’s “Check For Bikes” initiative is all about in San Francisco

1:01:05 - How cycling affects Amy with her environmental concerns

1:02:33 - Amy’s most treasured credential

1:03:20 - Amy’s pin collection

1:03:30 - Favorite sports movie

1:04:15 - Episode wrap up

Bill Walton

Larry Brown

Thurl Bailey

Phil Leggett

Paul Sherwen

Vince Carter

Amy Trask

John Shiffin

Todd Gogulski

Steph Curry

Dremond Green

Don Carney

Jim Garvey

More Episodes:

Terry Brady - Broadcast Operations Consultant - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iB3Xd4BTrBc&t=120s

David Raymond - The Original Phillie Phanatic - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emA-0xQ4jws&t=1439s

Drew Irvine - Game Design Manager, MLB The Show - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwM9CGHRz_0&t=6s

Marc Rowley - CEO - OwnYourStream.com & Inventor of PylonCam - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aC5cMC3JkdA&t=10s

Brian Williams - Producer/Director, Sports Television & Events - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x43AiW1P2MA

Claudia Trejos - Florida Boxing Hall of Fame, Sports Commentator & Motivational Speaker - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mntXcgXajOw&t=17s

Dave K...

Previous Episode

Terry Brady - Broadcast Operations Consultant & Former Director of Operations, ESPN

00:00 - Episode Introduction

01:45 - How Terry and I met working in the Dominican Baseball League for ESPN (with some pictures)

03:15 - Terry’s thoughts about Dominican Baseball

04:10 - Terry’s memory of visiting with Baseball HOF Pitcher Juan Marichal

05:55 - What an Operations Producer does

07:45 - How Ops Producers are able to save a show and what the preparation is to make sure a show goes off well

09:40 - How Terry got into the sports tv business

14:15 - One of Terry’s first events with ESPN was on the World Cup

14:55 - Terry’s reporting days dealing with sheep

16:40 - Why Terry chose operations instead of other jobs in television

18:50 - When an Operations Producer’s job begins once the network gets the rights to an event

22:12 - Most significant change in tv production from Terry’s perspective

23:55 - How each event dictates what goes into the operations

26:15 - The number of events Terry has worked on outside the U.S. and how tv is the same or different

28: 55 - Of the many high profile sports Terry’s worked on, which is his favorite

33:05 - What an Ops Producer does once the event starts

35:10 - Some notable people Terry has met

36:40 - Meeting the Phillie Phanatic mascot

37:55 - What goes into winning an Emmy from the operations side

39:35 - How the operations department prepares for the worst scenarios

43:55 - How operations teams work in all kinds of weather and need to have the right skills

46:45 - The difference between remote production operations and studio production operations

49:30 - What qualities are good for people to have when working in production operations

51:15 - What his favorite credential is from all of the events he’s worked on

52:45 - Wrap of episode

###

More Episodes: Dave Raymond, The Original Phillie Phanatic - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emA-0xQ4jws&t=1427s

Andrew Irvine, MLB The Show Producer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwM9CGHRz_0&t=3s

Marc Rowley, Inventor of Pylon Cam - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aC5cMC3JkdA&t=9s

Claudia Trejos - Boxing Broadcaster & Hall of Famer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mntXcgXajOw&t=10s

Next Episode

Mike DesRoches - National Accounts Organization, Sports & New Media, Sony Electronics, Inc.

0:00 - Episode Introduction to Mike DesRoches

1:15 - Where Mike’s love of sports came from

2:10 - Mike played D1 college baseball

2:40 - How Mike started working for Sony

4:00 - What Mike does with Sony now with broadcast sports

6:00 - How I met Mike at the Denver AVEXpo and how Mike helps the sports networks

9:10 - The kinds of innovations that cameras have achieved and where camera technology is going

14:15 - How autofocus has improved drastically (with video)

16:10 How the camera operator benefits from the autofocus technology on broadcast tv

22:50 - Mike having a relationship with the broadcasters

23:30 - What the blend is between artistic and executing shots during a broadcast

25:00 - How long the tests take before revealing the technology on-air

28:35 - How cinematic cameras are readily available for producers and directors

29:30 - How many possibilities there are for camera placement in a broadcast

32:30 - Working with stadiums and arenas to enhance the entertainment value for video

36:00 - Where the future trends of camera technology will be with virtual, esports, etc.

38:40 - Mike’s favorite events he’s been a part of

41:40 - Photos & stories from some of the events he’s been a part of (Al Michaels)

Survivor TV Show crew

Dallas Cowboys NFL game

ASU Sun Devils

Clemson in-house video crew

Larry Fitzgerald

NHRA

Minnesota Vikings

LA Dodgers

PGA Golf

UFC

RSN SVG panelist

Odell Beckham, Jr. NYGiants Game

Washington Huskies

55:15 - How Mike got his foot in the door with Sony, how he got to his current position and how he changed the way Sony reached out to clients

59:40 - Mike on building relationships

1:00:15 - Mike’s most special credential

1:01:55 - Favorite sports movie

1:03:25 - How people can get in touch with Mike DesRoches

1:04:40 - Episode Wrap

#jim dove #espn #nbc #sony #camera #autofocus #sonyfs7 #sonyfx9 #depthoffield #innovation #broadcasting #fs700 #fs7 #fx9 #stadium #arena #cinematic #sportsbroadcasting #engineering #technology