Closing the talent gap and regaining momentum in 2022
James Rose, editor at The Quarry, is confident we’ve entered the new year bolder and stronger than ever. But the last 18 months has highlighted an important need to consider how the industry can prevent a talent drain.
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Emerging into 2022, it’s becoming more and more apparent that the last 18 months has left a profound impact on our industry that will have a lasting effect.
Though we’ve seen a positive climb out of lockdown, and the industry has returned to a more consistent routine away from the survival mode that was thrust upon us at the start of the pandemic, for young talent, it’s far from being a return to normality.
Though we’ve seen a positive climb out of lockdown, for young talent, it’s far from being a return to normality.
It’s now more difficult for them to see a tangible career pathway in the same way they used to. Despite furlough, which was an absolute necessity for the survival of many businesses, lockdown brought with it a halt to progression and movement up the career ladder.
Above: Working from home was ok for many over the various lockdowns, but the face-to-face experience which young talent needs was sorely lacking.
Many of us were fortunate enough to continue working remotely, and even learn to enjoy our introverted, bedroom-working roots. Younger editors may have taken the opportunity to brush up on their theoretical knowledge - consuming Italian neo-realism box sets and binging art-house Swedish cinema – however, the essential experience of face-to-face collaboration disappeared.
You can be the most imaginative and creative editor in the whole world but, if you can’t navigate the conflicting demands in an edit suite, then you probably won’t get very far.
An intrinsic part of being a good editor is the ability to assimilate a multitude of opinions into one cohesive and coherent vision. You can be the most imaginative and creative editor in the whole world but, if you can’t navigate the conflicting demands in an edit suite, then you probably won’t get very far. This is just one of several key attributes that the present generation of aspiring editors has been starved of.
As an industry, we must be careful about how we move forward. We run an all too real risk of a talent strain, of losing our future’s best and brightest to other more enticing industries, where progression is seen to be more attainable. Covid has been that great accelerator, and with people at home watching Netflix and Amazon Prime for a year, there’s been an exponential demand for more series. A pattern of young talent jumping from short-form content to long-form has been greatly exacerbated. With their chances of career progression facing a potential two-year delay, they’re going to look for easier and more promising options.
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Above: A clear path for young talent coming into the industry needs to be laid down.
It’s vitally important, now more than ever, to lay down a clear and dependable road for young talent once again. To reclaim this lost time and close that lasting talent gap, we’re putting a huge emphasis on exposing our junior editors to key objectives, where they can build their experience in specific areas, giving them more responsibility and opportunities to develop which, in turn, gives us more space to house and nurture promising young talent.
It was more than just necessity – it was passion for the craft that kept us all going through the last year and a half – and it will continue to do so.
We have seen the industry adapt, and we applaud the efforts of production companies that have found safe ways to shoot throughout this most difficult period. Whilst things may have irrevocably changed, we must look to the future and to those low paid, long hour roles that for so long have been a necessary induction that all must endure prior to being let loose on clients. We must all address how we re-establish the opportunities within these roles, where the individuals can not only develop creatively but also hone their communication skills, their aptitude for problem solving and their ability to assimilate opinions.
In post, we’re dependant on all the decisions made up until the rushes land in our lap, so it’s difficult to try and look up the production ladder and predict what the future is. But in acknowledging that there is a problem, we’ve been able to address it, implement changes, place emphasis on new priorities and hopefully make a real difference to our staff. People still need to make adverts - brands still need recognition - and we know advertising works because otherwise we wouldn’t still be doing it. But it was more than just necessity – it was passion for the craft that kept us all going through the last year and a half – and it will continue to do so.
