Stories

Hi, can you start by telling us your name and job title here at Aurora

My name is Claudia, and I am a Digital Producer.

A little bit about your background and how you got here?

I am from Estonia and I started my career working for Estonian Public Broadcasting as an event photographer and videographer. I then moved to England and while still working as a photographer I completed a University course in Digital Film Production. Working for Aurora has been my first job after that. Coming in as a Media Manager over a year ago, I was soon able to prove my role as a digital producer instead and have been doing that ever since.

I now work as a camera operator for different projects - whatever gets thrown at me and whatever must be shot, I’m there with my kit, ready to deliver.

Set the scene for us today

This season I have been on Formula E shooting interviews, shooting b-roll, city views and editing all of this to be used internally and to be sent to broadcaster and clients. For this event we are in New York where we have set up a racetrack right by the Hudson riverbank in Brooklyn overlooking Manhattan and Statue of Liberty, it’s a very iconic location.

Tell us a bit about your role here

I start my week off shooting footage of the city we are in. This includes main tourist attractions, as well as street life, people and whatever screams ‘New York’. The following days I am going to be running between filming interviews with the drivers and getting footage of their cars and life in the pitlane in general. In addition to filming, I do a lot of editing for different projects and deliveries. 

What are you most looking forward to about this event?

I am most looking forward to seeing New York on its own and seeing how the broadcast is able to integrate the race and the city, emphasizing their connection.

What are the challenges of working in this location?

I wouldn’t have thought I’d say this about New York but the biggest challenge on this race has been the heat. The temperature this week is around 35 degrees and very humid, making it quite difficult to spend long amounts of time outdoors lugging around heavy equipment on long shoots. 

What’s the one piece of kit you couldn’t be without on location?

That would definitely be my camera; I usually use either a Sony FS7 or an A7S and would not be able to choose between them as they all serve a different purpose in my role. 

Can you tell us about any elements of this production which are sustainable?

Formula E in general is aiming to be sustainable with the electric cars as well as everything related to the race such as recycled carbon fibre, tyres, batteries etc. From the production side we do as much as we can such as recycling, using our own water bottles and offsetting our carbon footprint.

What are you hoping to do whilst you’re out here once the event is wrapped?

The main thing I love about my job is travelling. I managed to come here to NYC four days earlier and got to see all the main tourist attractions and go to most of my favourite film locations all filmed in this city. I usually try to get on location either a few days earlier or stay a few days later to take in the opportunity given to me to come to all of these amazing places around the world.

Where will you be this time tomorrow?

Our next race is at home in London which I’m looking forward to because it’s different from all the other races being an indoor-outdoor race and comes with its own challenges. As much as I love travelling, it’s always nice to be home!