India Wright: NFL Media six-time Emmy-nominated featured producer talks to Her Huddle about her career evolution | NFL News

India Wright: “I think people still have this perception that there are limited spaces for women in sports… it has been cool to be part of that change”; Her Huddle is a new show to celebrate the stories of women working in and around the NFL – available as a podcast below

India Wright is a six-time Emmy-nominated features producer for NFL Media with an immense passion for storytelling.

Appearing on the latest episode of Her Huddle (available as a podcast below), Wright explained precisely what makes a good story. “It starts with research,” she said. “And I’m looking for layers… and a big third act.

“Is it complex? Does it ebb and flow, and have highs and lows? And can we end the story in a big, grand way?

“If I can find a story that I can do both of those things with, to me it’s a home run.”

Wright’s impressive career within the NFL didn’t come via the initial path she set out on. When attending the University of Southern California, she initially harboured ambitions of becoming a sports presenter before finding her calling.

‘Telling stories a chance to have a voice’

“I had thought the only space for a woman in sports was in front of the camera, so I went in thinking I wanted to be on air,” she said.

“I was really enjoying being able to tell stories in sports. And there was a chance for me to have a voice.

“I think telling stories through sports as a lens, it has a real impact to change. It’s the only space really nowadays where people can get together and those walls break down. We can have those harder conversations and people are more receptive to them.”

She added: “I think people still have this perception that there’s limited spaces for women in sports. Little do they know.

“There’s so many amazing women doing these jobs. It has been eye-opening for me and it has been cool to be part of that change as well.”

As for Wright’s favourite story she has told since starting her job in the NFL?

“That’s easy. I’ve told stories on the biggest athletes, with the biggest franchises, but my favourite story to this day is of a woman you won’t even know.

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“Antoinette Harris. She was the first woman to earn a college football scholarship (non-kicker). She got ovarian cancer; she also didn’t know and then found her father. Like I said earlier, lots of layers.

“It was the first time ever that I got to tell a story that was centred around a woman. I was a female producer, and I had women involved in the post-production. It was so organic, and it was the first piece I ever did where I felt like my voice really came through. Probably because it was so personal to me.

“She talks about her menstrual cycle in the piece. To be sitting there, watching that talked about on the NFL Network, never did I think we’d be telling those stories because football is ‘played by men’.

“The Women in Football episode has since evolved every year, and I’m proud to say it has been nominated every year for a Sports Emmy. It’s so personal and close to my heart.”

‘I want my career to evolve with my personal evolution’

And it isn’t only through the lens that Wright challenges complicated subject matters, gender equality and old-fashioned perceptions in the industry.

Talking of her personal evolution, Wright said: “When I was 23 or 24, it was fun to get on a plane and fly to New York and turn a feature around.

“Four or five years later, I don’t want that anymore. I want to be home. I want to get married, have a family – that’s not a bad thing.

“I want my career to evolve with my personal evolution. That way it stays enjoyable.

“A lot of times, we make decisions that are for our career but we’re not satisfying our personal needs. When we do that, you become resentful of the job you supposedly loved.”

She added: “Why I feel like I’m able to vocalise that, is because of the women that have come before me.

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“It’s a sorority. That’s what I love the most; there’s so much openness among the women I work with, some who are 15, 20 years older than me and the younger ones coming up. There’s more of an embrace with each other.

“And that wasn’t always the case, because there were such limited spots for women. They had to be competitive.

“I now feel like I have the responsibility and the need to do it for the women coming through after me. I need them to know that ‘she was able to vocalise that this is important and that it’s okay to want these things’.

“You can want both, that’s okay. It destigmatises this misconception that you have to choose between having a career and a family. I’m hoping that’s going away.”

As for any further advice to those women who will be following in her footsteps in the industry eventually, Wright added: “Having a moral compass tied with a backbone.

“What are your fundamental morals? Those are going to be tested in this space as a female, so also having a backbone makes sure you can stick up for yourself and those things you believe in.

“And boundaries. They’re so important. You have to set those boundaries, because otherwise – I’ve seen it happen – people become so resentful.

“I think they would be my three pillars.”