Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1006097
www.postmagazine.com 28 POST JULY 2018 W orking remotely has become commonplace in the post community. Editors are based in different countries from directors and production crews when working on a film, large visual effects houses with multiple facilities around the world share assets with one another while working on the same projects or even scenes and colorists in one city collaborate with their clients in another city via live remote sessions. Thanks to continually advancing technologies that allow such remote workflows and collaborations, it's become the norm. Here's a look at how some studios and vendors are navigating their way to meeting custom- er needs via remote workflows and collaborations — Post's coverage continues next month. DEMYSTIFYING REMOTE By James Hattin Founder VFX Legion Burbank, CA www.vfxlegion.com Burbank, CA's VFX Legion (www.vfxlegion.com) is a visual effects studio that has spent years work- ing on the puzzle of "remote" work. Remote isn't disruption, it's a generational shift. It isn't just about visual effects, it's about changing the narrative. America is at full employment, but there are still vast swaths of poor communities that have little chance of recovering as their industries have been devastated by trade, or simply from technological changes. These same communities could benefit from training and telecommunications. I've been operating VFX Legion since 2013. Today, the concept of remote working is very wide- spread. Generation Z has invaded the workforce and expectations of work/life balance have seen a seismic shift. But five short years ago, the business landscape was very different. The brick-and-mortar office was the bedrock of the working week. Artists needed to be in the studio and on time. Last-night crunches and long stretches of studio overtime were part-and-parcel of the job. We accepted it. I launched VFX Legion to combat the assump- tion that any of this was necessary. We founded our remote model on two core beliefs: Artists don't need to spend hours commuting or spend half their life toiling in the studio; and a virtual workforce can be as — if not more — capable of producing high-quality work as a brick-and-mortar shop. But even half a decade later, at a time when WFH is an acronym entrenched in the working ver- nacular, there are still many who don't grasp what "remote" means. Or worse, they see it only in a neg- ative light; an obstruction or hinderance in the pro- duction of work. Enter a conversation about remote and you're instantly on the back foot, defending against misconception. Why communicate across continents when you can communicate across the office aisle? Here are a few misconceptions: YOU JUST MANAGE FREELANCERS This is one of the most common misconceptions we face. Many assume that "remote" means cheap and fast; commodity rather than artistic endeavour. This couldn't be further from the case. Legion is not set up to send work to cheaper countries for a fast turnaround. It's set up so we can access the very best of talent in a way that makes sense for them. Some of the world's best supervisors don't want to live in the most expensive cities in the world. They want to do what they do near their families, where the cost of living doesn't border on absurd. "Remote" gives us access to this talent. At Legion, on any given project, a production can have some 600 years worth of expe- rience taking on the workload, and all at an affordable price point for us, and a favorable price for the talent. We can access the people that have done two de- TECHNOLOGY ADVANCEMENTS ENABLE REMOTE WORKFLOWS & COLLABORATIONS — PART I VFX Legion can access talent worldwide. GOING BEYOND BORDERS