59 OVER THE TOP What next?
But having experienced how little safety net there really is, they are going to be painfully aware of how film and TV labour – and that includes coders, developers and all kinds of other digital professionals – have been taken advantage of in the past. This has not always been the fault of production companies or the industry – most of the time they have been following the prevailing laws of the land (although sometimes they have lobbied for these). There is going to be a hard pushback and a demand for a better deal. There will be strikes and there will be renegotiation of contracts – and this could lead some companies to go to other parts of the world for cheaper or more willing workers. At the same time, content producers are going tighten their belts, cutting away whatever they can – and looking for the cheapest labour – or looking to automate when more economical. The post-coronavirus era could be the time when cheap AI really does take over from human beings en masse. After months of lockdown, there will be evaluations of staff and many who have been put on hold now won’t be asked to come back. The post-coronavirus production is likely to be centralised, using a lot of remote tools and as small a crew as possible. Whereas a production might have once been a symphony orchestra, it will now be a small band with one roadie.
THE POST-CORONAVIRUS PRODUCTION IS LIKELY TO BE CENTRALISED, USING A LOT OF REMOTE TOOLS AND AS SMALL A CREWAS POSSIBLE
TAKING YOUR WORK HOME Covid-19 has forced people into networked workspaces – ‘working from home.’ It has made businesses take that leap they always considered, but never really worked out the details for. Suddenly, broadcasters have had to find ways of making productions work with a distributed crew working only through their browsers, or have had to find a way to finish a feature film without access to a post facility. These lessons are going to stick, especially since the return to work will be gradual, with some countries going back to their traditional workplaces before others as health officials and governments dictate accordingly. There is going to be great caution around the possibility of a resurgence of the virus. As a result, there might be many situations where people are simply told to keep working from home. Some might have found that they like it and have worked well
in their living rooms and might request to have the situation extended. The economic impact of the coronavirus, the collapse of markets, greater unemployment and potentially less access to capital all means companies will be looking to cut expenses. While some of these cuts will be in staff, some might be in real estate. Companies may embrace decentralised working wholeheartedly and shut down some of their brick-and-mortar facilities. If you’ve had months of good results with people paying for their own office space in their kitchens, would you want to bring them back to provide shelter for eight hours a day if you didn’t have to? There’s going to be a rough ride ahead. But there are also a lot of opportunities in the coronavirus crisis – for new ways of working, new economic models and new priorities about what’s important and what’s not. But more on that next month. Until then, stay safe, stay connected.
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