Program Productions Pushes Forward With A1 Training Crewing company says looming personnel shortage is critical' By Dan Daley, Audio Editor
Wednesday, December 8, 2021 - 7:00 am
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How to train a cohort as disparate as broadcast A1s has been a dilemma for decades. Academic programs like those at the Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences in Tempe, AZ, and Full Sail University in Orlando have taken a traditional in-place approach, which is a proven way to inculcate students with the basics of the job.
However, minting a new A1 who can meet the specific and rigorous requirements of a major sports network and perform flawlessly under the extreme pressure of, for instance, a Sunday NFL A game or World Cup match, is akin more to training an airline pilot than to producing an audio engineer. Reflecting that, numerous training initiatives have fallen short of their own goals.
Trying to train A1s is like herding cats, laughs one current A1, who prefers to remain anonymous, underscoring the intrinsically peripatetic nature of the vocation.
Been Here Before Training initiatives developed organically from within the broadcast industry itself have been tried before, with mostly dismal results. An effort by several networks to collaborate on such a program several years ago was a failure, says one of its leaders, Tom Sahara, former VP, operations and technology, Turner Sports. He attributes that mainly to a broadcast business in the throes of media consolidation, strategic turmoil that masked this critical tactical need.
Then the COVID pandemic struck, which pushed many A1s to advance their retirement due to restrictions and unpleasant work environments, he adds. The shortage went from bad to worse.
The industry has lost an estimated 30% of its technical workers to pandemic-related retirements and career changes, according to one crewing agency. The looming shortage of A1s for the broadcast-sports industry is approaching a critical inflection point. Now the industry is trying an organic approach once more.
Specialized and Localized In the 2010 action flick RED, retired CIA agent Bruce Willis reassembled his old team for a nearly impossible mission, one that only their expert training would allow them to survive. That's kind of what Program Productions Inc. is trying to do for A1 training. The event-labor-management firm based in the Chicago area, which boasts a portfolio that includes major broadcast and regional sports networks, is currently restarting an initiative it began before the pandemic. It pairs aspiring A1s with veteran broadcast-sports audio mixers, using actual remote trucks and broadcast venues as the real-world environments in which to coach acolytes not only in the technical nuts and bolts of the position but also in its etiquette and prepare them for the unique, sometimes extreme pressures of the job.
Specialized and localized is how Kelly Hammonds, manager, strategic partnership and crew development, PPI, who oversees development of that program, explains its operational model. She says the process includes identifying and connecting trainees and trainers, such as now-retired Turner Sports A1 Jim Budka in north Florida, in home markets where one-on-one collaboration can take place. The program also works with PPI's RSN partners, which are contributing to the costs of the training, helping obtain training sites and facilities, and assisting with earlier call times to allow training time before shows. The training is free to the trainees.
That ad hoc approach will be the case in the newly restarted program's early stages, says Hammonds. Also working on the program's development are PPI SVP, Operations, Jess Kowatch; SVP, Strategy and Development, Amy Scheller; and Manager, Field Operations, and staff A1 Dave Brickson, who is also one of the lead trainers.
PPI's Jess Kowatch notes that the company is looking to expand partnerships to academic institutions.
My job at the moment is to wrangle the logistics and to start the communications flow, Hammonds says. It may have to remain somewhat ad hoc in nature because of how people in this industry [sector] have to move around so often. But there's enthusiasm for it, and we see it reaching a more organized point, at which time we can present it to the major networks.
The Process Brickson's training approach suggests that intuition borne of experience helps evaluate potential candidates. Part of my vetting process is, do they have the personality to handle this environment? he says. You can tell in the first five minutes of chatting if they can do it.
He has discovered that a certain background also provides clues to outcomes and affinity for this unique position.
I have found that the best TV mixers usually come into TV with a music background, he explains. They have experienced the lead audio chair with live productions and have dealt with production teams and musicians. Music mixers come into TV with knowledge of various audio consoles and a deep understanding of balances and processing that translates into the TV world. Audio techs from the corporate world have seen those pressures, also.
The training process is based largely on one-on-one pairing - shadowing, he dubs it - a trainee with an experienced A1 in situ, usually in a production truck used by one of the program's partnering RSNs, on an actual live sports broadcast.
Onsite training will start with me in the [truck audio compartment] with them during show, he explains. I will start with them getting levels and balances together. Once I see they have the concept of show flow and can get in and out of breaks clean and play music and track EVS at the same time, I will leave the room and let them go at it. It's hard for someone to concentrate when I'm
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Program Productions Pushes Forward With A1 Training Crewing company says looming personnel shortage is critical' By Dan Daley, Audio Editor 
