Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1314046
Comms for Socially Distanced and ZONED MEDIA MODERATOR Tom Kenny PANELISTS: Gerry Formicola Richard Lightstone CAS Brent Marchenski Peter Schneider CAS TOM KENNY (Mix) BRENT MARCHENSKI (MasterChef Canada) RICHARD LIGHTSTONE CAS (Cinema Audio Society) GERRY FORMICOLA (Second City Sound) PETER SCHNEIDER CAS (Gotham Sound) The "Comms for Socially Distanced and Zoned Media Production" discussion was sponsored by Clear-Com and moderated by Tom Kenny of Mix magazine. The panelists were Peter Schneider CAS, mixer and founder of Gotham Sound; mixer Brent Marchenski, Toronto, who was with one of the first productions back to work with MasterChef Canada; Gerry Formicola, President, Second City Sound in Chicago; and Richard Lightstone CAS, mixer, journalist, IATSE Board member, and former CAS President. Tom Kenny began by laying out the situation. "The set is undergoing a huge transformation. Production is back and ramping up slowly across the country. (There are) new ways of working, some of them forced by compliance, some of them not." After introducing the panel, he went right to the contributors. Peter Schneider said that "When the pandemic first hit, there was a huge push by news organizations to keep the flow of information going and so we were able to help them. Now that production is starting, it cannot start in the same way. Comms on set used to consist of walkies and ad hoc huddles. Because of COVID work restrictions, that can't happen now. So, that's where we've been able to supply full duplex comms systems to productions." The panel all found that the idea of "zones" is being implemented to separate departments. The rollout looks to have a central zone surrounding the actors which is the most protected, with movement between zones being restricted. The challenge is to create a system where natural conversation can occur inside and between zones, and walkies don't cut it. One solution is the Clear-Com FreeSpeak system of full duplex wireless intercom products. Tom then asked Brent Marchenski about how a zoned production looks in action. He told us that, initially, it was difficult because we're social people and want to be near each other. Before production began, they sat down with their Health and Safety Officers and mapped Recap by G. John Garrett CAS