When Sergei Ivonin became a student at the New York Film Academy, he had high career goals but lacked the skills to attain them. Thanks to what he learned at NYFA, he is now a staff producer with NBC News. Recently he returned to NYFA to tell Broadcast Journalism students what it is like to be a Digital Journalist working on Dateline: NBC. He also gave them an insider’s perspective on coverage of the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
An eight hour time difference between Sochi and New York meant that the production staff was constantly on-the-go. Whether it was shooting material for Today, working on stories for NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, or conducting interviews for prime time Olympic coverage, sleep was in short supply. Work days that could stretch to 18-hours not withstanding, Sergei was thrilled to play a role in covering what is the quintessential global news event.
