Lasse Badsberg-Hansen is a waterproof Dane, born in Frederikssund (for non-Danes, it’s pronounced [fʁeðʁekˈsɔnˀ]). He is a multitasking broadcasting engineer who works for the multimedia team at the WHO Regional Office for Europe, does not own a bike, and enjoys unforeseen situations that would send most people into a panic. When not busy filming, editing or building the new WHO multimedia studio, he plays with his daughter or digs into his passion for history, books and films on WWII. In this interview, he talks about how he keeps all cables sorted and what constitutes perfect planning for a film.
How did you join WHO?
I worked for many years for the Danish Broadcasting Company, DR, and really liked my job, but at some point I got tired of working nights and weekends. After some audiovisual set-up work, I got a job as a key account manager, which meant I ended up doing a job I had always promised myself I would never do: sales. I handled broadcast clients, and one of my customers at that time was WHO. So, in short, one day I heard about a vacancy at UN City that fit my experience. I applied and got my first job at WHO in 2014 in conference services, setting up for conferences and handling audiovisual production. Two years later, the WHO multimedia team in the communications unit needed support, and there was an opening for a multimedia assistant. I was basically moved “on loan” to the multimedia team, and I’m still there!
What exactly do you do?
I handle audiovisual products. This means producing everything that WHO’s divisional directors or other colleagues need to visualize. We – as it’s team work – help set up; produce; film and record a story, edit it if needed, or get hold of external people in audio, video, lighting when needed. I am also busy building a new WHO studio, which is a really exciting process.
What part of your job do you enjoy the most?
Whenever someone asks me what it’s like to work for the communications team at the WHO Regional Office, I honestly say it’s the best career move I have made so far. The colleagues are great; they come to work liking what they do; and it’s a pleasure to work with people who work together for a common end product in which they take pride. Another reason I like working in this unit is the level of ambition and professionalism. Nowadays it’s not difficult to go live. You have a mobile phone, you point it in any direction, you press record and you’re live. But it doesn’t necessarily look very good. I want to raise the bar every time, and I want whoever I film to come out the way they are: highly skilled professionals. On a technical level, that means many things, such as having three cameras on with the same colours when filming, making sure that the Director’s – or whoever I am filming – blue shirt is the same colour on the first camera as it is on the second camera. It’s details like these. Everything has to be right – lighting, etc. I want the setting and the room to say, “We are WHO”.
Most people wouldn’t have the faintest idea about these technicalities or what goes on behind the scenes.
Exactly. The beauty is having an end product that looks truly great, despite the fact that technology sometimes fails despite all preparations, and plans change. I like it when things get really busy and things aren’t scripted. I come from the world of news broadcasting where everything is planned, but where something usually happens at the last minute, and thirty seconds before you go on the air, you end up tossing all your plans, and having to improvise. There have been times when my colleagues and I had to climb over one another to make sure things didn’t fall apart. I have filmed with the teleprompters ready to take a dive and with lamps about to fall over, so I had to crawl under and over colleagues to keep them upright…!
That sounds like a situation where most people would panic. What do you do to unwind?
I don’t know. I think I’m pretty good at leaving my job behind when I leave the office or shut down the computer if I am working from home. That said, much of my work is stuff you do on your own – like editing – and that kind of gets you into a flow. I’m also not much of a gardener but I like taking care of the house, building stuff and making sure things don’t fall apart (laughs). It gets your thoughts off work. I also like football. I used to produce football, actually! And I like reading, especially about the Second World War.
Give us your best book and film tip.
Instead of a film, I’ll go with a series, called the Band of Brothers. It is based on real-life events about an elite team of US paratroopers in World War II. I’m following a group of actors from the series, who are trying to keep the memories of the real guys alive. You can stream it on a few platforms. My book tip would follow the same line: I’d recommend “Saving my enemy” by Bob Welch. It’s about one of the guys from the Band of Brothers series; how he spent his life blaming himself for killing young Germans. At the age of 80, he meets a German soldier during a WWII memorial service, and you might say they forgive each other for the atrocities committed during the war. That encounter kind of “saves” them both.
Who would you invite for dinner, past or present?
Well, I’ve always been a history guy and into the World Wars, so I’d stick with my Band of Brothers and go with Dick Winters, the company commander who passed away in 2011 at the age of 92. He somehow survived the war, taking care of his men. He never put himself ahead of others. Even though everyone else would bestow medals and honours upon him or speak highly of him, he always kept his feet on the ground and stayed humble, looking out for his men before himself.
WHO Regional Office for Europe: the Communications, Identity and Publications Unit (COM)
- Number of staff: 14
- The Communications, Identity and Publications unit operates within the Regional Director’s Division.
- The COM team advises on purposeful use of communications by WHO to fulfill its mission –when, how and what to communicate, promoting public health messages and awareness and understanding of what WHO does, and the values guiding WHO’s work.
- Within the unit, the multimedia team supports the Regional Office as well as country offices with planning and production of multimedia products, both outside of the studio and in the field, handling day-to-day operations of the WHO/Europe audio and video studios; and audio, video and photography production work from pre-production to post-production.
- Within the COM team, staff have multiple functions. Its multimedia team is a mix of producers, writers, videographers, audio technicians, still photographers and editors.