Alumna on Emmy award-winning team
Mira Hoffman ’08 has more than a dream job—she has a dream job on an Emmy award-winning TV show.
Hoffman, who is the production coordinator on the reality show “The Amazing Race,” was honored as part of the show’s “Outstanding Reality—Competition Program” Emmy Award for the 2013-2014 awards. She’s on her fourth season of the show; until this year she was assistant production coordinator.
She describes finding the position as a fluke, and one that has worked out well for her.
“I’d been in L.A. for eight months and was working as a production coordinator on a reality show pilot,” she said. “The pilot was about to end, and I was just about broke and debating whether or not to move back to Denver. I saw a post for a job on an anonymous reality show. I would’ve taken anything I could to get my foot in the door and to keep working, so I applied. The coordinating producer at the time called me to interview, but I couldn’t start until after they needed someone. They asked me to come in and interview anyway. When I walked in the door, I discovered the interview was for “The Amazing Race!” The coordinating producer offered me the job of assistant production coordinator starting later that May, and I’ve been a part of the team ever since.”
Her position requires a lot of different skills, but most of what she does focuses on the first city on the show and the finale. She manages production assistants, cast interviews, and other aspects to make the shooting run smoothly.
“An example of this is,” she said, “In Season 24, the show ended in Las Vegas and we had a stunt with David Copperfield. I was in managing the David Copperfield location and it was FREEZING cold. We were standing outside for several long days while we set up the challenge and worked out all technical issues. It was hard and stressful and tiring but, when the time came for contestants to Race, it was incredible! Sometimes I can’t help but be in awe of the things I get to do and experience in my work.”
The heavy workload and quick thinking required remind Hoffman of her experience at Cornell College and the One Course At A Time curriculum.
“In this industry, everything moves at an incredibly rapid pace,” she said. “One Course At A Time made me buck the habit of procrastinating and trained me to operate in such a way that I can process a large amount of work in a very short amount of time.”
Her time on “The Amazing Race” has been busy but worth it, she said. She has made friends with co-workers and found valuable industry connections, as well. While the show was winning an Emmy award, she was also helping to produce the telecast.
“All in all, I’m very lucky and happy with my work,” she said. “I constantly get to meet wonderful, respectable and hard working people, whether it’s on Race, The Emmys or some of the other jobs I’ve done, and I get to work in the industry that I’ve always dreamed of working in.”
