When Lillian Glaze agreed to work a studio show on Aug. 4, she thought she knew what she was signing up for. Then she opened the email.
“The WNBA launch,” it read.
Glaze, a junior visual communication design major at Kent State University, immediately realized the assignment was much bigger than she expected. She would be the technical director for the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) brand reveal at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, helping bring the city’s newest professional sports team to life for thousands of viewers.
At age 19, Glaze was stepping into a professional production environment she once expected would be years away.
“Normally, it is kind of like a rite of passage in your senior year of technical director you get into Rocket Arena,” Glaze said.
For Glaze, that opportunity came much sooner.
Just three months earlier, she had worked her first event at Rocket Arena, serving as the technical director for a Cleveland Monsters game. When the arena needed someone for the production and no one was available, Glaze was recommended by name because of her previous experience with technical directing productions at Kent State.
That first opportunity quickly turned into something much bigger.
When Glaze arrived at Rocket Arena on Aug. 4, she signed a nondisclosure agreement and was immediately immersed in the production. Her second event at the arena would be one of Cleveland’s biggest sports announcements of the year: the reveal of the city’s new WNBA team, The Cleveland Sirens, its branding and its place in Cleveland’s professional sports ecosystem.
As technical director, Glaze was responsible for one of the most important jobs happening behind the scenes. Seated behind a video switcher, she watched multiple camera feeds and production elements at once, making split-second decisions about what the audience would see on screen.
A camera might capture a player while another feed might show the crowd. Graphics, video packages and replays could all be ready to roll. Glaze’s job was to take the direction coming through her headset and make those pieces appear at exactly the right moment.
“They’re [the technical director] basically the one that’s live editing the show,” Glaze said.
For Glaze, the significance of the night did not fully sink in until after the production was over.
“I don’t really watch my shows back unless I’m making a demo reel, but I watched back the WNBA stream because I was like, wait, 20,000 people saw this; maybe I should watch this back,” she said.
This time, viewing the production was different. Glaze was watching a moment she had helped create as it unfolded on screen, knowing that thousands had experienced it in real time.
When Glaze was deciding where she would attend college, Kent State didn’t come to mind — at first. She began researching sports broadcasting programs and eventually discovered Kent State’s Student Media programs. In the same research, she found TeleProductions, a university production operation that would become the starting point for her career in broadcast production.
TeleProductions is the university’s full-service video and broadcast production facility and has produced numerous Emmy Award-winning documentaries, interview programs and news magazines.
In her first year, Glaze emailed Josh Tanner, Video Producer, Director III, at TeleProductions and essentially said, “I’ll do anything.” TeleProductions held an open training for newcomers to try out the equipment and find their niche. As soon as staff members mentioned technical directing, there was no going back for Glaze. Glaze said they initially told her that she’d have to complete more training before they were able to get her into an actual production.
What started with a first-year student eager to get involved in broadcast production has turned into a growing portfolio in sports media, spanning both TeleProductions and student media.
Glaze began with graphics before moving into technical directing and eventually producing. Through TeleProductions and student media, she has worked on ESPN broadcasts for Kent State volleyball, basketball and, occasionally, gymnastics.
Her involvement with student media has extended beyond the production booth. Glaze serves as the news director for The Kent Stater and editor-in-chief of The Playbook, the sports magazine produced under The Kent Stater. Those roles have given her experience not only behind the scenes of live broadcasts, but also in reporting, editing, sports coverage and student media leadership.
“I think student media is the biggest form of experience, as well as TeleProductions,” Glaze said. “Josh Tanner taught me a lot, but also people before me, like Austin Monte. He’s the one who really prepared me and taught me basically everything I know.”
The opportunity to work on the WNBA reveal has already opened the door to what comes next. Glaze recently served as technical director for Kent State’s Convocation and is now being asked about her availability for Cleveland Cavaliers games.
For a student who once thought she would have to wait until graduation to work on a WNBA production, the future is arriving faster than expected.
Her advice to other students, especially women interested in sports, is simple.
“One thing that I tell everybody, but specifically women in sports, is that just because there isn’t a space for you now doesn’t mean you can’t go out and make it,” Glaze said. “Be loud. If you have the skills, you’re going to have a space in the sports industry.”
