The last couple of years have seen seismic shifts in working practices across the world of television and movies. And post production has been at the forefront of revolutionising the way it works to keep the show on the road. Now, as we tentatively get back to some sort of normal, are the changes wrought by both lockdowns and the enormous influx of work into the UK from the streamers here to stay?
Are remote working/on prem changes permanent?
Simon Kanjee, ceo, Evolutions Yes, some of the changes are permanent, in order to accommodate budgets, but also for people who don’t necessarily all want to be in the office 100% of the time. We can now offer much more cost-effective models – if you’ve got a 12 week edit, you can do the first half in your office or at home, and then the latter half in a facility to craft and fine tune. Productions can find editors in any part of the country or the world to work with.
Dave Cadle, Envy Remote working in offline isn’t going to go away beyond Covid. Having surveyed all the offline editors that have worked with us since the start of Covid, over 70% prefer a hybrid model. It’s clear to us that for offline, flexibility is key going forward, to enable offline editors and producers to work how they want to whilst also allowing PMs to access talent across the country.
Jay Makwana, Commercial Director, Storm Parsec is now a permanent part of our set-up, because it allows the flexibility of us working with editors from around the world. We now work on projects that we previously wouldn’t have, purely due the fact the producer can remotely hire an editor from abroad (or who’s not necessarily in London).
Richard Folley, Md, Splice Some projects are still fully on prem as they used to be. But in terms of our remote investment, they are all permanent. We see it carrying on.
David Klafkowski co-founder Oneracoon The centralisation of data storage and backroom process is permanent – why move large amounts of data unnecessarily when it has such an impact on both daily operations and the environment. We are also aware of our responsibility to support our staff, freelancers and clients’ work-life balances.
Alex Meade, md, Fifty Fifty Change has been rapid and universal in the past 18 months, a majority of these changes are here to stay in some capacity. To what extent will be driven by client experience and the benefits they bring – whether that be a technological, financial or working environment.
Ian Dodd, Head of Post Production, dock10 The ‘remote’ way of working is a permanent change, as to how it will develop, we will see as the ‘new normal’ gets established. However, we can see that the ‘remote option’ for editing will remain a permanent service offering.
Rowan Bray, md, Clear Cut Production is a team operation, both organisationally and creatively, clients have reported that working remotely can be isolating and creatively limiting. However, on other occasions, where the team know each other well and the staff are fully experienced, remote solutions suit the project well.
What are the limitations of remote working?
DC, ENVY We are in an industry of storytelling so communication between individuals and teams is important and at the heart of the best work that we all produce. As part of our Envy Remote platform, we have built in collaboration tools to go some way to make communication easier, but we can’t get away from the fact that creative communication is better in person.
SK, Evolutions Obviously, collaboration is a key element of being in a Soho facility that gets potentially lost in a remote world. This is not just clients within their own productions, but clients meeting with other clients, and networking. However, technically, other than the grade, anything can be done remotely.
James Vellacott, co founder, The Nest There’s a lack of creative communication, the team regularly input into each other’s projects when working side by side. The team prefer to work in a creative environment rather than home offices.
Thomas Urbye, ceo, The Look There aren’t many technical limitations for operators, other than Dolby Vision trims. However, the biggest limitation is less tangible: slower innovation, loss of company culture and corporate memories, also exchanges of information and ideas is harder. Mentoring of staff by more experienced members is also a challenge remotely.
Jon Lee, ceo, Virtual Post It’s all about the communication aspect of post production. The immediacy of decision making and staying on top of “who, what, when”. That said the majority of our innovation work has been finessing a collaboration toolset to get as close to the on-premise experience as possible.
RF, Splice Technically we’re in a place where I can’t think of something that can’t be done in some form in a remote workflow from a post facility base and at the same time there is always a need for in person collaboration that I don’t think can ever be replaced.
AM, Fifty Fifty We like to think about what remote working can bring to our business rather than focusing on its limitations. Remote working is subject to the quality of the technology it is built on such as bandwidth so latency can be an issue, however it enables far more collaborative work across time zones and allows a better work / life balance across an industry known for its long hours.
ID, dock10 The quality of domestic broadband/ISP’s can cause delays and establishing the methods of working collaboratively on fast turnround projects is constantly evolving.
What needs to be done on premises?
TU, The Look Not much, however despite the technology being available to them, we have found clients very reluctant to move to remote post, as they genuinely enjoy the grading and finishing experience and want to do it face to face.
RB, Clear Cut Completing finishing post definitely benefits from being together and working collaboratively on the detailed touches that make all the difference to a finished film. Working alongside your client offers so much more communication and insight. We offer acoustically treated rooms; state-of-the-art calibrated monitors; and optimised grading and editing spaces – the benefits of these cannot be replicated in a remote context
JM, Storm Ideally, the picture finishing and audio mix review so that the client can have the optimal experience and ensure they are 100% happy during this final stage.
DK, Oneracoon There are elements of post that require a controlled environment at some point during their journey – either a traditional post house or in a purpose-built calibrated environment. HDR grade or Atmos mix are great examples of scenarios where the majority of the work can be completed without all the expensive monitoring tools, so long as there is some time in a calibrated environment for referencing & technical finesse.
ID, dock10 Some large-scale fast turnaround projects, such as The Euros and The Olympics, and some aspects of high end finishing still need to be done inside a post house.
Have your customers embraced recent changes?
JL, Virtual Post With pandemic restrictions easing, very few are fully returning to the facility full time. Given that we have been working in this area for six years, it took a pandemic to fully shift mindsets to remote working. There will be no return to on-prem only, certainly for the offline process
SK, Evolutions I think our clients really embrace the changes. I don’t think they will revert to pre-pandemic practices. I think the hybrid model for everyone is going to make sense. Some clients will want to come back and have everything in house. I think we will see clients increasingly, for both their quality of life and budgetary reasons, adopting a hybrid approach, certainly to the offline process.
DC, ENVY Clients love the flexibility this now offers them as they no longer have to choose between on-premises and remote, they can have both. We believe hybrid is the future of offline. But when it comes to finishing post, clients want to revert to pre-pandemic working practices.
JM, Storm We feel our clients have embraced these changes and are more open to flexible working, which best suits the needs of their production team, so we don’t see them reverting to how it was pre-pandemic anytime soon.
RF, Splice As we see easing of the restrictions to public life we will have to wait and see. Will it ever return to pre-pandemic ‘normal’ – who knows? No one. It might, but if I had to guess I would say some things will not go back to how they were.
ID, dock10 Clients have, to a large extent, fully embraced the significant changes to working practices. The positivity going forward is driven by providing flexible options on a job-by-job basis. Some projects will want to be ‘in facility’, whilst many will benefit from the flexibility to be either/or. This is not only driven by project type turnround, but primarily the individuals involved and their creative ambition too.
Mark Maltby, CTO, The Look Remote working offers a level of flexibility over the standard facility model. Post production rarely manages to follow 9-5 patterns, so there is often a need for ‘out of hours’ working. Having the option to work from home means resources can be made available at times when it would normally be impossible.
How does this change your business model?
DC, ENVY Every service we offer going forward needs to include an element of flexibility, allowing clients to work how they want and where they want. We have all proved over the last 18 months that projects and workflows don’t need to be confined to the same 4 walls or even the same continent. This will broaden the service offering, whilst making it even more crucial that a post house is managing the whole process, ensuring every element; on-premises and remote is in sync.
SK, Evolutions It changes it in a very positive way! The big issue that every post house has in Soho is the cost of real estate. Cutting rooms don’t make money for anyone. The margins are in the finishing. The more that we can push outside of our walls in Soho into people’s offices, or homes, the more finishing we can offer in Soho.
RB, Clear Cut Our customers are reacting as individuals: some would prefer to work remotely; others want a hybrid solution and others have continued to work on-premises throughout the pandemic. Our business model is to deliver what our clients want and adapt to their needs, that will not change.
JM, Storm Even if 50% of offline is remote, it means we have an increased capacity within our infrastructure without the overheads of lease, maintenance, etc. Even before the pandemic, we were looking at ways to implement virtual edits whereby we wouldn’t need as many physical suites as we do.
DK, Oneracoon We are selling knowhow, not real estate and hardware… our mantra is people, process then technology…We are not tied to long term leases or constrained by the number of physical rooms we have to offer.
AM, Fifty Fifty Remote working obviously has the ability to increase capacity in a range of areas. It is the flexibility and choice that is now offered so that working practices can be tailored to suit different requirements that really changes the model.
Are PSB jobs (and rates) still attractive?
Cara Sheppard, MD, Twickenham Film Studios There is no denying the rates that PSB’s have been expecting to pay are much lower than the HETV and feature clients. However due to the shortage of space, facilities and crew I think they are really having to look at this and I am noticing the rates they are now willing to pay are trending upwards.
JV, The Nest They are for our business model at The Nest.
JL, Virtual Post The rates for PSB are less attractive but we have adapted our approach and workflows to be more efficient to handle that. We still need to meet high standards demanded by the Broadcasters which means not cutting corners. If that means finding efficiencies to take on work or losing work on price, then that is something we are prepared for. The majority of our customers know what’s involved and we often find solutions that work for both parties.
TU, The Look We make a decision on PSB jobs based on the budget, script and personalities involved. Generally, though 80% of our work is for streamers as the rates are far higher and often the post teams on the other side are experienced and supportive. PSBs made their post teams redundant years ago.
JP Dash, md, Fifty Fifty It’s definitely still attractive, PSBs continue to commission important and brilliant telly and even though Fifty Fifty has a significant footing in the SVOD market, we love making broadcast TV. Sometimes rates and budgets can be challenging to work with but it takes all sorts to keep a post house going and to fill up our schedules.
SK, Evolutions Remote working has made it more feasible for us to work with some productions with lower budgets. We are now doing jobs that we might have turned away in the past, because clients can use our remote solution. Our PSB jobs are still attractive, it just depends on the budget. So, yes and no.
Are the higher rates for HETV sustainable?
CS, TFS I think they are. The volume of content being demanded by the consumer and the new SVOD platforms which are being launched – a lot by the content providers and creators themselves – is driving this.
TU, The Look It’s a free market economy, the demand for high-end post talent is currently outstripping the supply available, thus rates will continue to increase until that equation changes.
JD, Fifty Fifty With any step forward in technology and when new services become niche rates increase, but as we’ve seen in the past, this usually doesn’t last and the market settles. I feel the same on rates for HETV and SVOD work and have already witnessed a taming of what initially felt like quite a leap in rates.
Brian Hardman, Head of Post Production Broadcast Operations, dock10 Yes, they appear to be and will continue to be because they appreciate the level of service they are requiring.
Is talent an issue both post-Brexit and with an increased volume of HETV in the UK?
Natascha Cadle, Creative Director, Envy There is a huge demand for staff right now, throughout the whole industry, in post as well as production. There is certainly not enough talent in the market to fill the current roles available. Our philosophy has always been to train people.
TU, The Look Yes, convincing clients to work with creatives they are less familiar with has always been a challenge, however it’s likely that they will have to adapt to a post team creative experience rather than having the same person for three weeks.
DK, Oneracoon There is clearly a shortage of talent across the board. With the US market committing to making more content in the UK this is only going to become more accentuated. There is no doubt that our industry needs to attract new talent.
JD, Fifty Fifty It definitely feels talent is light in this current period as we see a large boom in commissions and productions post Covid. Hopefully this provides an opportunity for the industry to invest in training and allow the next generation to come through.
SK, Evolutions Talent is an issue now – whether it’s post-Brexit or post-pandemic, I don’t know. We are actively trying to engage with local sixth forms and schools to welcome young people from more varied ethnic and social backgrounds into our industry.
BH, dock10 Many things are an issue post-Brexit and post is no exception to that. However, post production is a very resourceful sector and it will adapt to the challenge along with the inevitable rise in associated salaries for some.
RB, Clear Cut There is an emerging drain of talented staff into production roles (for instance PPS and inhouse editing assistant roles) fuelled by the demand of streamers and international broadcasters. The production community are looking to source those staff members from the highly trained post-production community. Funding for training in the broadcast sector has been heavily weighted to the freelance community for many years, leaving post-production to train its staff without any financial subsidy. While those trained staff were retained in the post community it was a sustainable model, if expensive, but if those people start leaving the post sector for jobs in production and have to be replaced with less skilled staff then the resulting skills shortages will affect the whole post-production sector.
Have you increased your investment in on-set work?
CS, TFS Yes we have just opened our TFS On-set Dailies and DIT department as part of our Picture offering, to support not only productions shooting on the studio campus but also wider productions shooting at other studios and on locations worldwide. We have made a considerable investment in technology.
Jess Nottage, Technical Director, Clear Cut Our investment strategy is focused on providing our clients with the latest technologies, supporting services that enable them to run their productions most effectively. This has recently led to an increase in equipment purchases that enable remote on-set data management services. As the cloud becomes more accessible, I expect that investments in tangible assets will reduce and be overtaken by training and investments in cloud services.
How does UK post retain the work in the UK?
CS, TFS There is a huge wealth of creative talent in the UK alongside some fantastic facilities for both production and post. Although these are at stretched capacity it takes a considerable amount of time to build facilities, a skilled creative talent base and a way of working based on an understanding of current and future technology yet derived from past experiences. This is a well-trodden path for the UK industry and we have become synonymous for quality therefore as long as the tax credits remain and we’re able to facilitate the content production and finishing, our industry will remain buoyant.
TU, The Look This is probably the biggest challenge. If the exchange rate of sterling becomes less attractive that could impact the UK. If tax credit benefits run out by picture post stage that would also be challenging. However, there are some potential upsides, clients can access UK post services without coming to us if they so wish, and I think the UK continues to offer a level of service which is currently unmatched.
SK, Evolutions The UK is better at providing post facilities than most other territories, and it’s because of the world-leading creative talent that we have here. I don’t see high end television being posted overseas at all, personally. There is also the UK production boom here, with all the incentives that the UK offers to shoot in the country. We are a centre of excellence for production, there’s no question, and that includes post.
Jai Cave, Technical Operations Director, Envy For years an increasing amount of US broadcasters and SVOD work has been produced and posted in the UK, due to UK talented producers, craft and finishing editors. We see this trend continuing.
RB, Clear Cut While the UK is immensely attractive to overseas productions, for our fabulous skills, range of services and experience, the financial imperative driven by budgetary provisions means that any cap to the tax benefits afforded to a programme will limit the full extent of work offered to the UK. There is more work available than comes to the UK. Thus post production can be taken to other markets for the wrong reasons.
