Cole Miller ’27 Learns to Trust the Team — and Himself The film and television production major drew on years of live broadcasts at Chapman while supporting international announcers at the FIFA World Cup

The day before a FIFA World Cup match at SoFi Stadium, Cole Miller ’27 and his team prepared as many as 100 desks for international announcers. 

They cleaned and organized each station, arranged the cables and checked the audio equipment so commentators could arrive and begin broadcasting. On match days, some team members guided announcers to their positions while others monitored audio levels from the production compound. 

Miller supported the commentary team through the FIFA Host Broadcast (HB) Intern Programme. The assignment required him to communicate clearly, adapt quickly, and rely on colleagues he had only recently met. 

Fortunately, teamwork was already familiar. 

Miller, a film and television production major with an editing emphasis, joined the student-run Chapman Sports Broadcast Network (CSBN) during his first year at Chapman University. He had spent years producing games with several of the friends who joined him at SoFi Stadium. 

CSBN gives students opportunities to try different broadcast roles, including directing and producing. Those assignments taught Miller to trust his instincts, accept mistakes and keep a live production moving. 

“You can’t get stuck in the moment,” Miller said. “You just got to keep going.” 

Faculty adviser David Goedhart helped CSBN students understand how game broadcasts work and prepare for new responsibilities. Miller’s film production and leadership courses also taught him to collaborate on projects where success depended on the entire group. 

At SoFi Stadium, he put those lessons into practice as part of a commentary team of 10 to 12 people. The internship strengthened his ability to communicate with professionals, stay alert to changing needs, and contribute to a production much larger than those he had worked on before. 

It also broadened his interest in soccer, although baseball remains his first love. Miller hopes to become a camera operator or broadcast director and dreams of someday directing a Los Angeles Dodgers game. 

On the interns’ final day, they walked onto the field, posed with a match ball and took in what they had accomplished together. 

“It was like, ‘We did it,’” Miller said. “This is our big moment.”