Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1475048
20 FA L L 2 0 2 2 I C A S Q U A R T E R L Y can and for less money. Otherwise, why would they come up here to have it done? However, I will say that the ability to stream picture and sound from the mix stage to a client in another city has helped keep a bigger and bigger chunk of it in Toronto. We were streaming reviews remotely for many years before the lockdowns started and it became mandatory. Would you say that COVID really helped open opportunities to keep work in Toronto and distribute more work to it? It didn't hurt too much. Production and post got back up and running very fast during COVID, faster than California did, I think. I think it was because we were so used to working remotely with producers on Zoom or Skype, streaming sessions, and so on. COVID really helped make it clear that this remote style does in fact work and that it can be done well. That said, it's still better for everybody to be in the same room. Do you think that Toronto's comfort level with remote work helped to give you a leg up while many American-based studios were still setting themselves up for remote work? I think that it helped a lot. We didn't have the feelings of needing to figure it all out from scratch since we had done it before. From what I can see right now, Toronto is as busy as it's ever been in film and TV post. Facilities are expanding and lots of new mixers are getting a shot in the chair. One last question for you: Do you have any words of wisdom to share with anyone interested in getting their foot in the door in audio post? I would say to take opportunities as they come to you. Other than the fact that it's audio- related, what I am doing now is nowhere close to what I thought I wanted to be doing when I was in school. Over the course of that time, different opportunities presented themselves to me and I tried to take advantage of them. Of course, change is often tough when it's happening, and the detours don't look so serendipitous at the time. There's definitely a benefit to taking courses in audio or going to a specialized school. Besides the technical grounding, it's a great way to meet people who are connected with the business. I think that the days of hanging by the studio door and offering to get coffee are behind us; you need to have a bit of technical understanding of audio to really get started. I always think about what a colleague said to me after I involuntarily went freelance. The company I was working for suddenly folded, and I was really worried about how I was going to get work and be able to support myself. He said, "If you're competent, you're reliable, and you're not a jerk, the work will find you." In my case, I've been fortunate that it has so far.