ENGINEER THE FUTURE Emily Bergun is an associate broadcast support engineer for Sky. Responding to support calls for anything from Sky News to Sky Sports, she is at the forefront of live production. Graduating from Solent University with a degree in broadcast engineering in 2019, she has now been at Sky for well over a year and a half. Her engineering support covers a range of challenges, from problems with the ticker,
the completion of her degree. However, no global pandemic was going to get in the way, and the mentoring went ahead in the virtual space. Bergun emphasises how the programme gave her something to look forward to each week during the darkest depths of first-wave Covid. She explains: “My scheme started just at the beginning of the pandemic and it was so nice, because for a year, once a month, I knew I would be seeing these women on
Emily Bergun
to an inaccurate football graphic. The issues vary in terms of difficulty – it could be as simple as swapping out a keyboard, or as huge as none of the data appearing on screen. “Growing up, I was interested in how things work – I would take them apart and put them back together again,” recalls Bergun. “In school, I always enjoyed doing sound for GCSE drama performances. From there, I thought I could maybe work in theatre, which is how I found Solent University. “Instead of doing the theatre course, I decided to go into television, because it seemed bigger and more exciting. It surprised me how much there is behind the scenes, so when I found this degree in broadcast engineering, I thought: ‘That’s a bit of me!’” Recommended to her by a university lecturer, Bergun found herself in the ‘Covid cohort’ of Rise’s mentoring programme, just as she was approaching
the Zoom call. I’m the only female on my team and, having spoken to many others in a similar position, knowing that
you’re not alone is just lovely.” She adds: “It provided a real sense of
community, particularly at a time where being a key worker – and therefore working on-site non-stop for a year – was at times very isolating.” SHOOTING FOR THE SKY Despite everything Bergun had learnt and was now equipped with, starting out still came as a shock to the system. “Once I got going, especially somewhere like Sky, where the scale of the equipment is huge and everything is so complicated, I felt out of my depth very quickly.” A key takeaway from her experience was: your colleagues are there for a reason – to utilise and ask any questions, pretty much until their ears bleed. Bergun also stresses the importance of her experience at Sky pre-pandemic, especially as we approach the post-pandemic period. “Seeing the role pre-pandemic was quite a privilege, considering how many people have joined since. “I really professionally treasure those days; I think they allowed me so much more space to grow. Having said that, I was also admittedly hiding behind people pre-pandemic, letting them do it. But then Covid hit and I was suddenly on-site, by myself, and there was no hiding. I had to just get on with it, which made the learning truly valuable.” This is evident in Bergun’s success and progress within Sky already, reflecting her genuine pride at being part of such a progressive network. She has just been promoted, and her work journey continues to evolve and become more varied. “Things are really positive at the minute,” she enthuses. “As a result of the pandemic, I am now working completely independently, whereas pre-pandemic, I was always working on-shift with somebody else. “Right now, I’m in the middle of a six-week secondment with another team called production support, which looks after cameras, vision mixers and some of the more traditional stuff. It’s incredibly interesting and has been very beneficial.”
COVID HIT AND I WAS SUDDENLY ON-SITE, BY MYSELF, AND THEREWAS NO HIDING. I HAD TO GET ONWITH IT
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