In our latest Expert Q&A we talk to Series Producer/Director, Sean Doherty, about his career in TV.
What was your first job in TV?
I first started as an Editorial Assistant at Sky Sports back in 1996. I had been working as a Radio Journalist in the North East/West for the BBC and ILR covering news and sport. I had also played national league/international ice hockey and Sky were covering the Superleague. I wrote to them and I couldn’t believe how lucky I was when they offered me a job.
My first day was an OB of a hockey game in Basingstoke. Fifteen cameras live on Sky Sports. They told me to just sit at the back of the scanner and watch. I was mesmerised and in awe at how so many different things were happening all at once and yet it all seemed to come together so smoothly.
Sky Sports was a wonderful training ground. They encouraged you to grow and take on new skills and it wasn’t long before I was directing single camera shoots and producing edits. Jerry Logan, one of Sky Sports pre-eminent Directors, was a wonderful mentor and by the end of my third and final season he had me directing the match coverage. Thankfully with a very experienced Vision Mixer!