Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1259912
10 S P R I N G 2 0 2 0 C A S Q U A R T E R L Y with the remote results. As COVID-19 was ramping up in late-February, we took extra precautions with our regular clients on-site to make the review process safe. Stage 3 at Westwind has the good fortune of direct access to the outside via a sound-locked vestibule. The only people who need to enter the door are ourselves and our clients. Our rooms were wiped down every day before and after mixing. Our engineering staff was instructed to wear gloves and masks and not to enter the room unless absolutely necessary. All tech assistance and recordist functions were able to be done via remote access from the machine core. Supervisors and music editors were encouraged to work remotely and use Aspera to deliver adds to the machine room. Kurt and I would sit as wide apart from one another at our consoles and occasionally bump elbows in celebration of a bitchin' scene. When the mix was ready to present, a maximum of two producers/editors/EP's were allowed in the backfield if they preferred to approve in person. We would schedule a Clearview Flex review session with engineering if anyone preferred to weigh in remotely. By early March, nearly all producers, editors, and writers were remotely approving. But what about complete remote mixing under stay-at-home orders? When I first came to LA with my husband, Steve Urban MPSE, we were starting anew. We had over a decade of credits and experience, but we were hoping to break into new genres of work and teams that would allow us to expand our craft. Understandably, however, no one wants to put unfamiliar talent on a dub stage or in a spotting session with their client. Some decided the only way forward was to remain on the dub stage, strictly adhere to safety guidelines, minimize the presence on stage to essential personnel, and ensure that a quality product delivered on deadline. But, many have had to embrace the limitations of the stay-at-home quarantine. They have begun establishing new routines and workflows in hopes of serving their clients and maintaining the level of professional excellence for which our members are known. The good news is that many of us have been successfully working remotely in some manner for years. Sometimes it doesn't take a global pandemic to keep clients off the stage; sometimes, it's just a drive across LA traffic that forces your hand to solve problems creatively. For a couple of seasons and a couple of productions, myself and Kurt Kassulke CAS have been mixing at Westwind Media's Stage 3 using a remote approval system. With production offices located on the Westside, Craig Holbrook and the engineering staff at Westwind crafted an excellent workflow that allows us to stream high-quality video and audio to up to five different users simultaneously using a Clearview Flex system. The in-board talkback of our control surfaces is routed to allow myself and SFX mixer, Kurt, to seamlessly chat with all five users through our live stream while hearing the client's notes and discussion through a conference call. The stream is monitored closely by an engineer in the machine room to ensure all members of the call are successfully receiving the high-quality stream. With many mixes under our belt, we have perfected this system of remote approval for major broadcast network shows. While I dearly miss the face-time with my clients, and get excited when I hear one of them is coming to visit in person, everyone is thrilled D ubbing happens in two directions: facing the screen and facing the client. The success you achieve in a re-recording mix is dependent on ensuring that both directions get addressed. In the days leading up to California Governor Newsom calling for a statewide shutdown, stages all across Los Angeles were burning the midnight oil under the threat of lockdown. Complete mixes for productions that were approaching the final days of their post-production schedules were delivered, but a bigger question loomed: "What about everything that's already on the books? How can we offer mixes for all the productions that are already in the post pipeline?" POST-MIXING WORKFLOW SOLUTIONS DURING COVID-19 b y K a r o l U r b a n C A S M P S E