Glen Bathie: Part Project Manager, part Paramount legacy. Also, part of the furniture. Glen has been a fixture at Paramount for a very impressive 29 years and counting!
Glen sat down with The Water Cooler over a glass of Penfold’s great grandfather tare tawny port and a tray of duck pancakes, as he shared his life story. Although, we are still waiting on an explanation as to why he was driving a golf buggy down the road in Russia. Watch this space.
What is your role and what does it entail?
My role at Paramount is Project Manager for the Technology team. It entails helping the Tech team any way I can to co-ordinate and deploy our projects, big or small. This can range from administration with the wonderful Finance team on budgets and forecasts, or my amazing friends in Legal on contracts, the co-ordination of deployments with the News/Operations teams or even rolling the sleeves up and getting dirty with physical installs.
I love that I can be working with any department across the network, Publicity, Promos, Traffic, etc., as the need arises.
Then there is the part of the job where I engage with my Technology department co-workers, which involves a lot of smiling, nodding, and pretending I understand half of what these technical geniuses are saying!
Your career at Paramount has spanned many, many years. What’s been your fondest memory?
This is a hard one as I have been through many different roles and been afforded many amazing opportunities over the years, so I can’t give just one.
Fond memories range from the obscure, like doing an untethered climb of the Harbour Bridge as the sun came up, to the exhilaration of standing on Pit Lane at the Canberra V8’s as the cars went screaming past (yes, this was in the days of more relaxed WH&S).
Then there are the fond memories of those moments where I didn’t quite know how things were going to go, like getting searched and secured by the US Secret Service, or when I got INTO a cage with three lions on the set of I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! Or the time I got pulled over by a Russian police officer whilst driving a golf buggy down the road at the Winter Olympics (why, I don’t know).
A big part of my memories at Paramount have been the wonderful people I’ve gotten to experience it with. It’s often seen as a cliché, I know, but it really is all about the people we work with, and that includes SpongeBob SquarePants!
What are the challenges that come with your role? (Aside from everyone you know asking you to solve their tech problems!)
The main challenge with my role is trying to keep my ear to ground to be across everything and maintain a good grasp on the big picture.
A big part of the role, is not necessarily knowing the answer, but knowing who does know the answer.
Then there is the part of convincing people who don’t report to you to doing the things you require. Luckily at Paramount, there are so many amazingly helpful people that the convincing really isn’t that hard 😊.
What aspect of technology has changed the most in your time at Paramount? What would you like to see us doing differently?
The most amazing change has been the evolution of video from analog to digital. I can still remember the first time I saw the output of a Digi Beta tape machine and telling my family, “the picture is so amazing, it’s as clear as looking out a window”.
I’ll admit, you have to be familiar with just how soft and grainy a VHS picture was back then to fully appreciate just what a change that was.
Who is Glen Bathie outside of Paramount? What would we find you doing on a weekend?
For me, life is about having simple fun with friends and nature. On the weekend, hopefully you’ll find me out early on the mountain bike enjoying the amazing Aussie bush. I am very lucky to live on the Northern Beaches of Sydney where we are surrounded by bush and many amazing trails. I’ve found getting out among the trees is vitally important for de-stressing from the fast-paced modern life.
Then there is the great simple pleasure of eating and sitting in the garden with family and friends on a sunny day, enjoying a coffee and baked treat. I’m fortunate to have a wife who is a whizz in the kitchen, and even won Ready, Steady, Cook once!
