My Journey To Sky Sports Production – #18: Mischa Rodgers (Production Coordinator)

How It Started

What was your first ever job?

Like a lot of people, my first ever job was at 15/16 as a waitress. It is fair to say I was not very good at it and often there were drinks spilled on customers.

Before I began work at Sky I worked as a holiday and after-school club assistant at a primary school and volunteered at the local hospital radio.

What brought you to Sky and how long have you worked here?

When I was 17, I was lucky enough to visit Sky and see first-hand a live gallery/studio environment for the production of ‘Goals on Sunday’. I remember the buzz that being on set gave me and how inspired I had felt after. That feeling always stuck with me and once I had finished sixth form at 18, I knew I wanted to work in production. In 2016, I had the opportunity to join Sky Sports as a Production Junior and ironically, the Production Junior that met me at the gatehouse on my first day was also who had been working the day of my visit to ‘Goals on Sunday’. I instantly felt reassured and was so excited to be given the opportunity to work across so many different productions, thankfully no teas or coffees were spilled this time and this October will mark my fifth year at Sky.

Is your role the same now as the day you joined?

As I said I started at Sky Sports as a Production Junior, now I work as a Production Coordinator for ‘Soccer AM’. I worked as a junior for exactly a year and was lucky to work across a variety of sports studio shows. I would often on a Sunday, whilst working on a Spanish football triple header, find myself thinking how lucky I was to call this work.

After working at Sky for a few months, I was offered the opportunity to work within the then travel coordinators team to offer more help/support whilst the team were going through some staff changes. At the time, I was extremely apprehensive as this was a whole new side of production I had yet to experience as a junior. For that same reason, I knew I could not say no, and it would be great for me to gain new skills and more experience. Whilst doing this I had helped on F1, Rugby, and mostly Premier League. I continued to work as a Production Junior during this time and was extremely happy when I finally saw ‘Soccer AM’ on my rota. The team were so welcoming, such amazing personalities and energies. I like most had grown up watching the show, it was a part of every football fan’s home life and working on the show was the most motivated and happy I had felt in my time at Sky.

A few months later, my role on the team became permanent as I applied for a Production Coordinator role and was placed with ‘Soccer AM’. I am a very organised person, I love lists, stationary, colour coordinating emails, schedules, and most of all football. So, for me, this role could not have felt more perfect.

What was your biggest professional challenge and what was your greatest achievement?

Since I joined Sky soon after completing full-time education, I would say my biggest professional challenge was just being eighteen and trying to figure out LIFE (I later realised nobody figures life out). Whilst at sixth form I had already decided university at that time would not be right for me, I had gone through lots of changes in my life around that time and knew to make that commitment I had to be 100% sure. What I did know was that I wanted to get out and work in production, gain experience and meet people who I could learn from. I had struggled a lot personally, so it was difficult to keep trying to make it happen, being persistent and believing in myself. One of my biggest achievements was the way I was able to take on a new challenge with confidence and continue to push myself to be in the best position to progress.

How It’s Going

What does your day to day work life look like?

Lots of lists and lots of communication. My day to day is usually prepping for the show we have that weekend. I will take care of travel for guests and shoots, planning sheets, all things finance, crewing for shows, booking the record feed. I think the best way to explain it is the other members of ‘Soccer AM’ will build and produce all the content that you see on a Saturday morning, my job is to do all the logistical things that bring it together. Pre-COVID, I would also book and manage audience; I think we are one of the only live entertainment shows with an audience where they are not booked via a company. We and I personally take a lot of pride in that, and how we create a personable experience start to finish for anyone who comes to watch ‘Soccer AM’.

What’s been your Sky Sports career highlight and why?

Gaining my current job as ‘Soccer AM’ Production Coordinator has to be my biggest highlight so far. Like I mentioned before, from my first day until now it has felt almost made for me and the most perfect fit. On this team, I am surrounded by such talent and creativity that I am most definitely learning from some of the best in the business. Aside from that, being a part of the one-off ‘Soccer PM’ in 2017 was a great experience. I was still relatively new to the role myself, so to be a part of something that was completely new to everyone was great for me. It was a challenge which everybody fully embraced. It would be wrong to talk of embracing change without mentioning COVID. I am incredibly proud of how as a team we adapted to produce ‘Soccer AM’ in a new and COVID-friendly format. For the first time, we had no fans of the week, live band performances or audience due to the guidelines. COVID was new, there was not a guide or rules of how to coordinate a production during a pandemic, so it had felt slightly nerve-racking in the beginning. The work we have done in the past year, continuing to produce exciting and entertaining shows is definitely a huge highlight.

What can you see yourself doing next?

I’m really enjoying my role and the people I work with, so I hope things continue in the same vein and continue making positive progress in my career at Sky.

How It Can Be Done

What are your top 3 tips for becoming a Production Coordinator?

• Organisation - Being organised is a huge part of the job. At times it can feel as though you are trying to do multiple tasks at once and being organised, having structure to your workload will enable you to keep on top of everything.
• Communication - As a coordinator, you are often relying on information from others, being able to communicate with people in a positive and efficient way is hugely important. It also builds up trust between you and your colleagues, which can only ever make your job easier.
• Be open to learn and be better - As a coordinator, you are in a fortunate position of working with a variety of roles such as Production Managers, Producers. Everybody has different ways of working, different skills, and knowledge. By being willing to learn from others you will grow and therefore be a more rounded coordinator in the future.

What would you tell your 16-year-old self?

Relax. 16-year-old me put a lot of pressure on myself. I faced lots of life changes and dealt with lots of personal challenges. Now slightly older and hopefully slightly wiser I can see actually; I did not do too badly. I would also say to always trust yourself and your instinct, it has never let me down so far.