Diversity & Gender Equality –
Project Access

“’Project Access’ is about taking the next step. Over the past years, we have seen clear advancements taken by some of our Academy graduates and we want to increase these success stories by encouraging wider involvement across the broadcast industry. It is great to have the support of the industry, and partners like FFT, IMG and EFL, from the start. The more organisations who are on board with this initiative, and helping us to create a platform for talented women in the industry, the faster we will reach the goal of a more equal workforce.”

Dan Miodownik, CEO of HBS

About Project Access

‘Project Access’ is a cross-industry initiative to improve opportunities for women professionals to enter and progress in sports broadcast, supported by numerous leading international organisations.

The Broadcast Academy along with its partners, EVS, The Sports Video Group (SVG), IMG, Premier League Productions, English Football League and Sky Sports are spearheading an industry-wide initiative to allow more women to access key roles in the production of major sporting events in Europe.

The project will deliver three levels of engagement, focussing on the provision of practical solutions to the long-term problems of gender inequality, both in terms of the number of skilled women in the industry and a lack of opportunities for women to show their skills.

The three levels will deliver training to established professionals, to provide hands-on experience for these role models and to bring in new female talent to the industry.

First Level: Training & Development

The Broadcast Academy session on Live Sports Direction is one of the most successful training programmes in the industry. It has already improved the careers of many talented women in our industry.

Project Access will work on developing sports producers, directors, replay operators and camera operators. The sessions will focus on the practical training required in the production of specific sports events and will cover theoretical and practical aspects of their roles.

Scholarships and bursaries will allow for selected women participants – either from the industry partners’ personnel or independent applicants – to attend industry-led training sessions.

Second Level: Real-World Experience

Exceptional candidates identified will be given access to opportunities to work on, or shadow at, major sports events with participating partners, and will be offered longer-term mentorship from experts.

The training programme will serve as a screening process to make sure the right quality of candidates is selected for the ‘real-world experience’.

The ‘Real-World Experience’ and opportunities are key to paving the way for women to lead production teams. The Academy and its partners will ensure that the selected women professionals will have the right support and confidence to take on these roles.

Selected candidates will be given specific work opportunities to assist the partners in the production of major events, offering valuable experience in the real world.

Third Level: Encouraging Young Women to Join the Industry

The Broadcast Academy, in partnership with EVS, will organise workshops and talks at media universities as well as broadcast and networking conferences.

The workshops will aim to provide an overview of the sports broadcast/digital industry and inspire young women to consider various creative roles in production teams. Students will have opportunities to learn from top broadcast professionals, ask questions and practise directing a sporting event using the Live TV Simulator. Using the directors selected for the major events, the Academy will be able to create workshops in multiple countries that replicate the learning and advice for a wider new audience. This part of the programme will target new entrants to the industry, and use the practical career stories of the female participants to inspire others to follow in their footsteps.