Comment: Why I believe remote working is the future of post-production

For many, hybrid working has become the new norm. It’s not, however, an option that has been available to everyone. Until recently it was not a way of working that editors and post producers could choose.

But, as technology continues to advance, further reducing barriers to remote collaboration, the industry is poised for significant change in the habits, locations and routines of its workforce. It’s a change that needs to be adopted for both its benefits to the individual and to help ensure an adaptable, efficient, and environmentally conscious production industry.

There was an expectation that editors and post producers wanting to work from home would lessen when things went ‘back to normal’ after COVID. The exact opposite has happened; the pandemic allowed the thorough testing of remote working tech and proved their viability, opening up new possibilities – and amazingly we found use of Hireworks Connect boxes stayed at the same rate post lockdown, and has continued to increase since.

In the past four years since the average internet connection speeds in homes has massively increased. This core infrastructure has been critical to enabling remote work possible for editors, whose work requires huge bandwidth to deliver seamlessly, as well as the highest possible security and protection systems.

The view that only the old ways work is being dispelled as productions and post supervisors realised that productivity and timelines were not being affected (or in many cases improved) since moving to a hybrid mode.

With the tax credit system making international co-productions the typical way for a programme or film to be financed, this evolution in accepting and enabling work-from-home set ups is making it easier than ever to collaborate with teams in different countries. For example, teams working between the UK and US can now be synced purely on Nexis storage, a previously very manual process, which is now automated.

Other technologies such as Evercast allow collaborative review of edits with producers and directors regardless of location. A whole ecosystem has grown around remote working since and during the pandemic to fill most requirements of the industry.

As long as the security requirements are being met, producers are willing to adopt or trial these new workflows.

There are massive financial benefits to the hybrid approach too. For studios it allows certain cost saving efficiencies and time efficiencies – if employees can save time on travel and economise their availability, it helps everyone by paring down working and travelling hours.

And as we all know, the reduced travel and ability to be at home has wider benefits for a wide range of people. Whether its parents having to juggle childcare with work, or carers who would otherwise not be able to work due to their responsibilities at home. Hybrid working can be a vital option that is the difference between earning an income and not.

We’ve had many editors comment on how much new workflows that enable them to work from home have improved their work-life balance and mental health. Not having to travel to remote locations increases time on-project whilst also allowing editors to work around other commitments. It also allows more flexible working hours, which can enable myriad real life requirements – for carers, parents, people with health issues, mobility issues, and life’s other commitments we all have as human beings.

There are also benefits for the planet thanks to savings in powering studios, equipment, energy costs, travel, and maintaining costly central London locations. Overall, this can allow a more carbon friendly approach to production. Avoiding travel into the office from a home office or shipping editors, talent, post producers from country to country following productions results in fewer carbon emissions, and less of a footprint for the production overall. For example, we have all of our edit suites across Soho that the likes of Netflix, Disney, HBO still rent from us – they like it as its more flexible for them too – and they can also send staff home with a HW Connect box so that they can be in or out of the suites if it suits them.

The shift toward remote and hybrid working models in technical roles within production and post-production has redefined the landscape, proving to be both a viable and desirable approach for teams across the globe - and it’s about time.

Looking longer term, enabling our technical workforce to work remotely will be the key to ensuring the longevity and security of our talent. Competing with other industries for flexible working provisions and opportunities – allowing staff to work from home, or the edit suite, or a mix of both – will show people that they can both have a life, a family, and a balance between these and their craft.

By offering increased flexibility, better work-life balance, and a more sustainable production process, remote work enables studios to attract and retain top talent who can seamlessly integrate their professional responsibilities with personal commitments – and power the industry when we need it the most.

Steve Good is technical director at Hireworks