SVG All-Stars: Pam Chvotkin, Remote Operations Management Freelancer The D.C. native brings her skills to major broadcasts all over the country By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Tuesday, December 10, 2024 - 7:00 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
In an era when sports production is evolving faster than ever, a new generation of leaders is making its mark on the industry. Our new SVG All-Stars series explores the journey of the industry's rising professionals, showcasing their experiences and career highlights in the business, overarching philosophy and leadership strategy, technological and creative innovation, and where they see the industry headed. Join us as we uncover the story behind their ascent and the impact they are having in our ever-evolving industry.
She's one of the hardest-working people in the sports-television business; that's the name of the game for freelancers like her.
You'd be hard-pressed to walk around the production compound of a major national broadcast and not bump into Pam Chvotkin. With her fire-red hair and electric personality, you'd spot her quickly, too.
Pam Chvotkin is a freelancer in remote operations management. She has worked major championship events like the Stanley Cup Final.
Residing in the D.C. Metro area, Chvotkin is a battle-tested leader in remote operations. Whether it's a scalding-hot set day before the MLB All-Star Game or a bitter winter night at the scorer's table during a basketball game, things get done efficiently and correctly when Chvotkin is at the top of the crew list. And, because she's a freelancer, many broadcasters (FOX, ESPN, CBS, and others) benefit from her hustle and intuition.
In this week's edition of SVG All-Stars, Chvotkin shares her career journey while offering her opinions on industry innovations she has her eye on, how to get started in the industry, and why not all professional networking is created equal.
What are the key responsibilities of your current role?
I work with other operations managers/directors as well as the technical managers. Whatever they need onsite during an event/broadcast, which varies from network to network, is the primary focus. Additional responsibilities include distribution of schedules, managing of production assistants, vendor/equipment needs, parking, catering, travel, vendor/heavy-equipment needs, shipping, and administrative duties. Depending on the show, it will vary by game-side or studio-side; we often support both sides onsite.
In August 2017, Chvotkin worked the MLB Little League Classic in Williamsport, PA, for ESPN.
This job is primarily to ensure that logistics of any remote productions run smoothly. I have experience working high school, collegiate, and professional sports and entertainment shows including award ceremonies, pageants, and reality television.
Organization is key with this job, along with having flexibility and adaptability so we can troubleshoot and resolve any issues that could happen.
Chvotkin has worked numerous NCAA Men's Basketball Final Fours for CBS Sports and TNT Sports, including in New Orleans in April 2022.
What key industry trend do you see as having a major impact on your organization right now?
One key industry trend is that traditional-TV viewership is declining, but the need for sports and entertainment is increasing! Recently, more fans are consuming sports content on digital platforms. In order to have a clean broadcast, one has to deal with challenges, such as buffering, streaming, bandwidth, etc. As with any new technology, there are going to be hiccups with producing events; it is still being perfected. There is a need not only for content but for authenticity with any brand. Producing television is no different. We're starting to see many organizations revising their marketing and operating models to integrate current digital capabilities across all aspects of their organizations. The industry is constantly changing, and there have to be revisions to these models to keep up with the consumption.
What core philosophy do you try to live by when managing your team/operation?
There are three core elements in my work philosophy: people, action, and feedback. It's important to have an energetic, thoughtful, and collaborative team that can deliver a great product. It's important to understand that we're managing people, not work. Establishing everyone's communication styles early will help with organizing and distributing what needs to be done among the team. Everyone wants to be successful, which also includes mentoring and helping each other. The expectation in the industry is that there is zero room for error. However, people will make mistakes. We strive to minimize them by problem-solving issues as soon as they arise. I always want to foster creative freedom amongst the team to ensure open communication and feedback regarding any situation.
What is your favorite event(s) you've ever worked?
Some of my favorite events include the Army-Navy game, Little League World Series, any Game 7's (World Series, Stanley Cup Final, NBA Finals), US Open tennis, WKC Dog Show, Super Bowl, Field of Dreams, MLB at Rickwood Field, Miss World pageants, International soccer friendlies, conference-rival college football and basketball games. There's nothing like being onsite for any event.
Chvotkin worked for CBS Sports at Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas.
How did you get started in sports production? What was your first real job in the business?
My first real job was timeout coordinator for a basketball game because the person who was hired for the job was stuck in traffic. I volunteered. After seeing a production truck for the first time and how many people it took to create a seamless event, I was hooked. I've been in production ever since.
Wh
North America Stories
17/01/2025
Discover how EVO shared storage can add value to your existing cloud and NAS systems, including Avid Nexis, Dell Isilon, and more.
Your team's storage syst...
17/01/2025
Studio Technologies Latest ST 2110 to Dante Bridge and Related Innovations Prese...
17/01/2025
Flying through clouds with no plugins and AI images
Graham Quince January 17, 2025
0 Comments
I've long been wondering about the best way to creat...
17/01/2025
Spectrum The Psychological Reasoning Behind Adobe's Design System!
Colin Smith January 17, 2025
0 Comments
This is a look at the new interface i...
17/01/2025
NEW YORK Despite record-breaking ad revenues in 2024 fueled by massive political spending and the Olympics, a new Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) survey indic...
17/01/2025
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. In an important move towards making it much easier to bet on live sports, Comcast has added sports betting odds from FanDuel into Xfinity Odds...
17/01/2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Olivia Trusty to serve on the Federal Communications Commission....
17/01/2025
Boston Conservatory at Berklee Presents: Commercial Dance BFA Concert Celebrating the Conservatory's first-ever class of commercial dance students, the co...
17/01/2025
Ratings Roundup: NFL Sees 8% Drop During Wild Card Weekend; ESPN Experiences Mos...
17/01/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Vizrt's Per von Rosen on How Viz Libero Certified Training, Vi...
17/01/2025
Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer Sean McManus on the Authenticity of September ...
17/01/2025
NFL Playoffs 2025: FOX Sports Puts New Tech Through Paces To Ensure Super Bowl L...
17/01/2025
Unrivaled Revealed, Part 2: TNT Sports' Studio Show Revels in Behind-the-Sce...
17/01/2025
Unrivaled Revealed, Part 1: At Mediapro Facility, TNT Sports Operations Team Dev...
17/01/2025
SVG Rewind: Producer Katie Halter, Director Amanda Smerage Reflect on PWHL Takeo...
17/01/2025
FloSports Elevates Production Plans for UCA & UDA College Cheerleading and Dance...
17/01/2025
Back to All News
Go on a Journey of Love and Healing this Valentine's Day w...
17/01/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Announces Release Date and First Look of Upcoming Roma...
16/01/2025
MELBOURNE, Fla., Jan. 15, 2025 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) Co-founder, C...
16/01/2025
MONTREAL, CANADA - January 16, 2025 - Grass Valley, the media and entertainment ...
16/01/2025
MONTREAL Grass Valley, a provider of end-to-end live entertainment and media technology, has strengthened its North American sports and live production expertis...
16/01/2025
NEW YORK Fox Sports said will be streaming the Feb. 9 Super Bowl for the first time via free streaming service Tubi, as well as providing coverage of the big ga...
16/01/2025
Dalet Appoints Erik Holt as Senior Vice President, Global Channels
Brie Clayton January 16, 2025
0 Comments
Dalet, a leading technology and service pr...
16/01/2025
Post Completed with DaVinci Resolve Studio for The Stargate Music Video
Brie Clayton January 16, 2025
0 Comments
Hit band Blood Incantation uses DaVin...
16/01/2025
Laowa Sets the Stage for a Zoom Probe Lens with an Ultra-Wide 15mm Perspective, ...
16/01/2025
TEL AVIV, Israel AI-powered voice solutions provider Deepdub today launched its AI Audio API enterprise-grade platform designed to deliver Hollywood-vetted audi...
16/01/2025
NEW YORK and BALTIMORE Sinclair and NBUCniversal said they have struck a major multiyear agreement renewing all 21 of Sinclair's owned and/or operated NBC a...
16/01/2025
STAMFORD, Conn. Charter Communications' Spectrum brand has announced that it is now accepting applications for Spectrum Scholars, the cable operator's a...
16/01/2025
Dalet has hired Erik Holt as senior vice president, global channels, responsible for the media technology and service provider's global partner strategy....
16/01/2025
NEW YORK While local media outlets have been approaching this year with some trepidation after the massive political spending that boosted results in 2024, the ...
16/01/2025
KOKKEDAL, Denmark DPA Microphones has acquired the majority share of Vienna-based Austrian Audio....
16/01/2025
Netflix viewers using the streaming service's app and those viewing with a web browser are quite similar, but a few notable differences exist, such as the p...
16/01/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Media Bureau has announced that manufacturers of covered apparatus and multichannel video programming dis...
16/01/2025
Q&A with Piano Faculty Member Charlotte Hu The acclaimed soloist shares her thoughts on compelling performances, student-teacher bonds, and the microwave ap...
16/01/2025
Betsy Newman Named Executive Vice President of Berklee Newman has led Berklee in various roles for over a decade, supporting students and the greater communit...
16/01/2025
Ottawa, Canada - January 16, 2025 - Ross Video, a global leader in live producti...
16/01/2025
January 16th, 2025 Tribeca Films Acquires Chazz Palminteri's A Bronx Tale: One Man Show
Releases across major streaming platforms and in select theaters...
16/01/2025
Eyes to the Future: A Sports Broadcast Twist on MovieLabs' 2030 Vision'...
16/01/2025
An Esports Production Palace: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Riot Games' Seattl...
16/01/2025
Dome Productions' Mary Ellen Carlyle on the Company's New Home in Toront...
16/01/2025
Altitude Sports Becomes First RSN to Feature Permanent Skycam With New Installat...
16/01/2025
Back to All News
Hit Korean Boxing Drama Bloodhounds' Back in Action for Season 2
Entertainment
16 January 2025
GlobalSouth Korea
Link copied to clipb...
16/01/2025
Time to suit up, members. The multiverse is about to get a whole lot cloudier as GeForce NOW opens a portal to the first season of hit game Marvel Rivals from N...
16/01/2025
AI agents are poised to transform productivity for the world's billion knowledge workers with knowledge robots that can accomplish a variety of tasks. To ...
15/01/2025
Top Row L-R: Kaniehtiio Horn, Vinnie Malhotra, Celine Song, Sam and Andy Zuchero, Kevin Macdonald, Wanuri Kahiu Second Row L-R: Nicholas Ma, Arian Moayed, Danie...
15/01/2025
L3Harris will upgrade the New York State Thruway Authority's critical-communications network infrastructure to Project 25 Phase 2-compliant solutions to enh...
15/01/2025
L3Harris multi-mission T7 robot demonstrating a new drone detection and defeat capability for the U.S. Army....
15/01/2025
L3Harris Technologies Co-founder, Chair and CEO Christopher E. Kubasik penned an open letter today to the leaders of the Department of Government Efficiency (DO...
15/01/2025
Photo credit: Christian Heinzel, Fifty Frames
MONTREAL, CANADA - January 15, 20...
SVG All-Stars: Pam Chvotkin, Remote Operations Management Freelancer The D.C. native brings her skills to major broadcasts all over the country By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital 
