Calling the shots: Freelance director Angela MacMillan on her love for high pressure sports broadcasting and being a woman in the hot seat

Freelance director Angela MacMillan is one of a growing – but still small – number of female directors in sport

Directors are the rock stars of sports broadcasting, literally calling the shots in one of the highest pressure job roles in the field. Freelance director Angela MacMillan is one of a growing – but still small – number of female directors in sport. Here, she tells all on why the job is such a buzz, and the prejudice she has to regularly face as a women in the hot seat.

What draws you to your career in live sport?

The adrenalin buzz as you go on air, cutting to that camera as the players jostle for the ball, getting the best replays of a goal or try, and telling the story of the game and getting a clean programme.

How did you get your current job role? 

I’m a freelance director. It was recognised by PM’s and EM’s that I was very organised and good at my job therefore they would put me forward to direct.

I am a very organised person and therefore I love the challenge of organising different departments to pull together a professional event, but it was hard getting my foot in the door being female and proving that I can actually direct sport, and it is still a challenge.

It is good practice to watch what other experienced directors do and learn from them.

“I have had it said to me, “you cannot direct football because you are a woman”. That person was proved wrong”

What’s the hardest thing about it?

Being completely honest, the hardest challenge is I am in the minority, and a lot of men do not think a woman can do the job and do not like being directed by a female.

Navigating the hostility can be hard to deal with but ultimately, they show themselves up for what they are. Attempting to make things as awkward as possible is detrimental to the game, not to me.

What do you enjoy about it?

It is great working in live sport as it is fast and you have to be on the ball, know your discipline as there is no second chance if you miss a goal or try. There is nothing better than live TV and sport.

What challenges have you faced over the course of your career and how did you get you get past those challenges?

It has been hard to get my opportunity to direct sport because I am in the minority. It is a very male dominated environment in every role, including producer, EVS, vision, cameras and directing. I have had it said to me, “you cannot direct football because you are a woman”. That person was proved wrong.

Another challenge as a freelance director and vision mixer is that there is minimal training on new equipment. Due to time restrictions I have to be adaptable and flexible both inside and outside of work hours as well as in the application of my skillset.

I work with a lot of really nice supportive people, including presenters, who enjoy working with me as they say I am always very calm.

“It has been hard to get my opportunity to direct sport because I am female. It is a very male dominated environment and there are a lot of men who resent a female sport director,” recalls freelance director Angela MacMillan

What’s the most challenging thing about working in live sport today, or generally, and why?

Things are always changing in sport, such as rules, players and managers. It can be a challenge to keep up depending on what I am working on. Before I direct a match, either rugby or football, I spend a bit of time reading about the teams, players, injuries and transfers, basically anything that has changed. I do this in my own time as it is important to get this right and do my own background checks.

It takes a lot of time to be a good and confident director and it is important to respect every discipline and the people who you work with as they are all part of the team on that day. It is challenging to sit next to an inexperienced director shouting at people due to their inexperience or lack of knowledge. It should never be like that; it should be enjoyable and feel rewarding.

How did you first find out about TV broadcasting as a career? What was your inspiration or idea, and why sports broadcasting?

I studied Photography and Design which incorporated making a video presentation, this is what first drew me to TV broadcasting as a career. Starting with an idea, shooting, editing and directing, and ending up with a completed result.

I fell into sport by accident even though my family always watched sport no matter what the event. It was always a large part of my life, whether the World Cup or Wimbledon.

I was given the opportunity to vision mix SPFL by Grant Philips about 20 years ago, which was great to be able to learn how to cut a match and stay calm under pressure.

Freelance director Angela MacMillan

What has been your career path within TV?

I went onto Glasgow College of Building and Printing to study Photography and Design which incorporated Illustrative and Applied Photography. We also studied some litho printing and type setting for newspapers in how to tell a story from photos.

My first job in TV was with a small independent company called Flashback Communication. I offered to work for nothing so that I could get the experience I needed to enter the industry. I showed that I was willing to put in long hours and complete projects. Flashback made broadcast programmes as well as corporate videos.

It was here that I learnt how to edit, use cameras, record sound as a PSC sound recordist, and direct. I really enjoyed the broad spectrum of jobs as I was learning how all disciplines fit together to make an end product.

After leaving Flashback I joined the BBC at TVC in London, where I worked in news and current affairs as a vision mixer and director. It could be the One, Six and Nine as it was then, now the Ten O’clock news, Newsnight and many more news related programmes. It wasn’t until I left the BBC after nine years and moved back to Scotland that I got the opportunity to work in sport as a freelance vision mixer.

At first it was athletics and gymnastics, then football, rugby, tennis, boxing, darts and directing table tennis in the Commonwealth Games. I originally vision mixed and moved to directing. Being freelance I have worked for many independent companies both small and large.

The technologies used in sports broadcasting have evolved rapidly over recent years. What for you in your day to day job is the most exciting, and also what is the biggest gamechanger for this industry overall? 

When I am vision mixing for Sky Sports they use a lot of wipes for goals and presentation wipes, as this defines certain parts of the programme. This makes it far busier for me.

The biggest gamechanger is IP and remote games. This is good and bad as you do not need to travel to a ground to work on a match and save on fuel and miles, but the downside is that you do not get the atmosphere that surrounds the game, which if it is a derby can be huge. A remote match can be quite sterile as you miss all of that.

What do you think has been a particularly exciting or cutting edge thing in sports broadcasting that has happened in recent years?

I think streaming and VoD are what has brought sport to younger generations. The fact that fans can watch any sport literally anywhere, anytime is cutting edge. My son is always wandering around watching some sort of sport on his phone.

I think technology like goal cameras, drones and Spidercam have made the games more exciting for the fans at home as it gives them a new dimension as the camera follows the trajectory of the ball into the net or through the posts. Angles that could not have been seen before but add hugely to the game now in World Cups and Euros.

I would like to say the introduction of VAR, which is cutting edge, was introduced to prevent disputes but can on occasion start them.

What’s the coolest thing you’ve worked on in the course of your career?

I loved working on the Commonwealth Games with table tennis, as it is such a different sport and incredibly fast. I have never worked on a sport quite so fast before.

It was good to meet a member of an Australian crew who were taking our feed Down Under, as the saying they had was, “the chick is in the seat now, we are ok now!”. I thought that was amusing but apparently depending on who was in the seat depended on how many replays etc went out. As I can VM and direct I had quite a few, which made their life easier.

Finally, what advice would you give to other women looking to move into a role in sports broadcasting like your own?

Don’t give up, be the absolute best that you can be. It is not a competition about sexes, it is a competition for the best person for the best role… at least it should be.