Climbing the ladder: Broadcast sound engineer Sophie Lambert on progressing to sound supervisor at the Rome European Athletics
Sophie Lambert poised to mix with a Calerc Artemis at the European Athletics Championships in Rome, June 2024
The audio broadcast industry has seen more than a few changes over the last few years. The adoption of IP has led to huge changes in infrastructure, which has in turn enabled the geography of production to expand, led to more remote production, encouraged more live content and demanded more creative output formats, as well as delivering more channels to more people therefore creating more engagement.
For the sports consumer all this is great, but for those on the front line it has all happened with no real structured training. Or at least, no structured training like there used to be.
“Huge changes have been absorbed by professional audio practitioners over the last few and there is very little formal training to keep people across everything,” said the Institute of Production Sound’s Ian Sands ahead of its training weekend last March. “Meanwhile, the majority of today’s sound engineers are freelancers and the days of certified training from the big media institutions are long gone.”
One person who is all too well aware of this is freelance broadcast sound engineer Sophie Lambert, and she is doing something about it. Currently in what she describes as, “the inbetween bit of my career as I progress from sound assisting on the floor to mixing and sound supervisor,” she admits that it is a tricky transition, with no certified audio broadcast training in the UK since the studios and BBC staff jobs disappeared many years ago.
But in June this year, Lambert worked her biggest, most complex sound supervisor role to date, delivering flawless audio coverage of the European Athletics in Rome under challenging conditions. With no training in place, she achieved it by working directly with the wider freelance community.
Chickens and eggs
After spending six years as a musician in the Royal Marines, Lambert came to broadcasting as an events coordinator at Arqiva before joining Telegenic as a sound assistant trainee in 2019. Since COVID she has been 100% freelance and has assisted on some of the biggest UK live events in the last few years, such as the King’s Coronation and the Queen’s funeral, while more recently she has been making moves into sound supervisor roles.
“I’ve spent years watching and listening and absorbing as much as I can from other mixers in the industry, but as there are very few staff sound supervisor jobs you’ve just got to seek out opportunities, say yes, and see how it goes,” she says.
“It’s a very odd situation; productions are used to having seasoned sound supervisors in place, so those of us looking to move up have to wait for an opportunity to prove ourselves. At the same time, the lack of formal training and experience from doing the job means that you’re putting your reputation on the line when you do get an opportunity.
“In addition, many ongoing legacy contracts understandably retain groups of people that have worked and contracted together before, and there aren’t very many women in those decision-making roles. 90% of the time I’m the only woman on the crew.”
With the crew in Rome for the European Athletics Championships 2024 [Sophie Lambert back row fifth from right, Sarah Lochmore back row second from right]
It means that when an opportunity to work on a new contract with a new production team comes along, it’s one to grasp with both hands. So when director Sarah Lochmore – nee McLaughlin – got in touch to ask Lambert if she would be a sound supervisor role at the European Athletics Championships in June, Lambert jumped right in.
Read more Directing fast track: Fast rise to the directing seat with Sarah McLaughlin
Based in Videe’s flagship OBX OB unit, Lambert provided live host broadcast audio feeds for Actua Sports and Sweden’s New Century Production (NCP) for not only the long and the triple jump competitions, but also the shot put and the high jump. The crew that Lochmore put together for the job was unlike any crew Lambert had worked on before; 12 out of the 15-strong team were female.
“Working on a team where the men were a minority was quite an interesting dynamic,” says Lambert. “When Sarah was asked to do the production and she was able to build her own team from the top down. It was an opportunity to look for a diverse set of people who perhaps hadn’t had those opportunities before. And that’s exactly what Sarah did.
“She knew I hadn’t mixed anything as complicated or as big as Rome before, but she also believed that I could do it. And in the end just one person having that confidence in you makes a big difference.”
Console in Rome with virtual delay tape against the faders
Providing opportunities
Lochmore’s strategy was exactly the same. Winning the contract with Actua Sport and NCP on the back of having worked with some of the key production people for Rome at the UCI Cycling World Championships in 2023, Lochmore totally understands the power of community.
“I look for people who are good at their job or haven’t been given the opportunity to take the next step,” says Lochmore. “I take the responsibility of choosing my crews really seriously and do so with a lot of intent, giving opportunities that maybe other directors wouldn’t. I look for proactive people who are offering shots, or making playlists, or adding to the production without being prompted. I like to take the team approach, everyone’s voice is valid, no question is stupid. It’s a safe environment to grow.
“When it comes to picking a team, I need to know I can trust them and they will respect me as a younger female director; while I firmly believe that everyone has the ability to learn how to do a job, it is their attitude that is absolutely crucial. Building a crew which works well means having people who respect each other and respect the athletes – this for me is key.”
Trust is a two-way street, and Lambert says that Lochmore was just as open. Admitting that she might not understand how complex the audio can be, she not only trusted Lambert to get it done but was also willing to fight her corner in the production meetings to ensure she was able to.
Having looked after the infield at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest and mixed the indoor athletics in Glasgow earlier this year, Lamberts knew how tricky athletics can be and Rome was no different.
The Videe OB truck used a Calrec Artemis for the competition, and Lambert had to build the desk from scratch to produce A and B feeds for the long jump as well as the triple jump. Unusually, Lambert mixed both the A and B pits at the same time, creating an integrated audio feed from both. Meanwhile, virtual graphics on one of the cameras introduced additional challenges by introducing double the among of delay that the other cameras covering the event, resulting in some unique audio workflows to maintain sync for both the viewer at home and the EVS operator in the truck.
Both were challenges that Lambert overcame thanks to the support of those around her.
Cog in the machine
“When it comes to sound, unless you are aware that it’s a problem or will be a problem, you get yourself in a pickle quite quickly,” she says. “That’s one of those experience things when you are moving into sound supervising; you’re relying on picking up these nuggets. I knew that virtual graphics might cause sync issues because I had taken the opportunity to interrogate the audio desk at the athletics in Budapest.
“Because there is no formal training you have to hope that you’ve caught all the things that might be a problem, and if not, know that you can call someone who does! You can’t exist as a single person in in TV sound; we are all just cogs in a massive machine, and if you’re not prepared to admit what you don’t know and ask someone who does, then you can quickly get into trouble. Luckily, I have lots of amazing soundies at the end of a phone ready and willing to offer advice and support; no one knows or can remember everything in telly, so having that network of friends is so valuable.”
That network also applies to relationships outside of sound, and recognising those opportunities when they come in.
“Sarah is awesome because she wants more women in the industry, doing an awesome job. She knows that she’s got the power to change that, and she wants to do that,” says Lambert. “It’s important for freelancers to recognise those people who’ve got the power to do that for somebody. Having someone believe in you and giving you a chance to prove to them – and to yourself – is rare and it means a lot.”