Coronavirus crisis; what has the production industry learned?

Q3: What lessons can the industry take away from this crisis?

"I hope we will learn, and the lessons of the crisis won’t turn out like so many New Year’s resolutions. We can see we may need less office space, that fewer people may need to come on shoots, and possibly that greater speed and efficiency can be achieved through that. Also important in lessening the environmental impact of commercials production. This is something that the IPA and APA Group working on making productions more green, and our AdGreen guru Jo Coombes, are determined to make happen, and when you see that 60% of the carbon from commercials productions is from flights, fewer people flying would be a big win."

Steve Davies, CEO, APA London

"Not sure what actual lessons we can take away from a global pandemic that are specific to production companies, except buy some interruption insurance for infectious diseases. What’s been very positive is the supportive community based approach to discussing how we move forward and get back to work.   

Production companies function by offering creative solutions and being nimble whilst also offering production value, and that was before Covid. We know how to adapt and are constantly doing so in a very shifting and competitive landscape. As technology changes the where and how media is consumed is forever evolving.   We know about survival and sustainability in a turbulent and continuously changing production environment.   

Not sure what actual lessons we can take away from a global pandemic... except buy some interruption insurance for infectious diseases.

The new ways of working and the changes are not just here for the short term, Covid-19 has accelerated changes already underway. Smaller size crews, remote working in prep, shoot and post meaning far less travel and a chance to become more efficient from an environmental perspective. A welcome side effect of working remotely could be the return of trust in the process."

Rob Godbold, Founder and EP, Bold London

Above: Steve Davies and Rob Godbold. 

"Well, the least we can say is that we have to admit that the production of advertising films is by no means an essential profession. It’s at a time like this where we really do take a step back and put things into perspective by paying a huge amount of respect to all professions tirelessly putting themselves on the frontline to continue to keep the world going. That is a fact. But we also know that there has never been more content viewed than currently and, actually, the hunger for good and creative content has never been greater. So, let’s all make it work in a healthy and safe way to make better and smarter content for all."

Ruben Goots, Founding Partner and Executive Producer at HAMLET Brussels

"Although made up of individual companies that so often compete for work, the crisis has really demonstrated that we are a creative community that is cheering for each other. The time people have taken to share their work knowledge and non-work related expertise has been wonderful. I’ve been really enjoying the HomeWorksCreatives account on Instagram, set up in part by Nick Armitage at Nonsense, where we get a glimpse into different artists and makers' home, studio and creative processes whilst in Lockdown. I hope this spirt of collaboration and collective learning continues. 

Most user generated work is shit.

For digital and interactive, I think it is the lesson that the combination of creativity and craft is what will help us thrive as we move into this next stage of the pandemic management. We will be reminded that early immersive website work can once again be creative and inspiring but, unlike these platforms a decade ago, these experiences can take the user anywhere at anytime as we deliver beautiful, super-light experiences straight into their smart phones."

Sarah Cutler, Director of Partnerships, makemepulse

"You never know how much you love something until you take it away. New ways of working are possible. Most user generated work is shit."

Tor Fitzwilliams, Managing Director and EP, Anonymous Content London

Above: Ruben Goots, Sarah Cutler and Tor Fitzwilliams.

"There are many lessons that we can take away, most of which Steve (Davies) touched on. On a broader level, I would hope that, through the process of resolving how to re-mount productions, we have proved to ourselves that we are stronger when we act together. There have been many conversations on how best to approach returning to production; the how, the when, and the risks. 

There have been many conversations on how best to approach returning to production; the how, the when, and the risks.

The coming together of all the voices in every part of our community to create a standard of practice that we can work to and that keeps all members of our teams safe while continuing to work, has been truly outstanding. Many of us are producers, by nature, we solve problems; my hope is that when we return to working at full capacity (whether that be with or without PPE), we will not forget the importance and value of the group effort that evolved from getting us all back up and running."

Jani Guest, Managing Director, Independent London

"My hope is that we can share best practices and methodologies and move beyond competitive practices when it comes to safety. As an industry, companies tend to - understandably - be very tight-lipped about process. Now is the time to allow competitors to look under the hood and share, share, share in the interest of the health and safety of our colleagues. 

There is always tremendous innovation that comes out of periods of change like this.

We're glad to see the trade unions working together to help create standards that will hopefully operate as a baseline for all production, but the only way to ensure that's the case is for agencies and brands to seriously vet their production partners. Beyond that, there is always tremendous innovation that comes out of periods of change like this, and as an integrated company we expect to lead the way on both the live-action and immersive sides of our business. If past experience is any indication, the best decision is to embrace the changes as quickly as possible."

Brian Latt, Managing Partner, m ss ng p eces

Above: Brian Latt and Jani Guest.

"An inherent part of production has always been flexibility; no job is ever the same and every time a script comes in, that is how we treat it, as unique. That’s why I strongly believe we have been so quickly able to adapt to this new environment. We’re used to constantly adapting. And I mean everyone, from producers to art directors to units assist. Everyone is our industry; we are now, and have always been about the solutions. 

To answer the question, it’s a reminder to us of what forward thinking, adaptable and solutions-driven people we are and we work with. These are not lessons per se, but rather reminders to us all. We get shit done. 

Kate Roydhouse, Co-Exectuive Producer, Sweetshop New Zealand

"The new landscape we see before us is about economic desperation and creative intelligence coming together, hopefully, in the best way possible to allow for good work. We start this new post-lockdown stage poorer than before, but probably, and hopefully, more willing to collaborate and make things work. In moments like these our role as consultants for clients should be considered worthwhile because we can solve problems if we are willing to disintermediate the process to allow for any given job to go through less 'links' in the chain, to allow that chain to get shorter and therefore the projects to ultimately be better.  

I think and hope that the next period will allow us to make the adjustments that we were already making before the lockdown.

I think and hope that the next period will allow us to make the adjustments that we were already making before the lockdown. We [production] were already in a crisis before and we are in a worse crisis now, but only from crisis and chaos we’ll see the creative solutions and creative evolutions of any business. This is the moment in which creative and production can get closer to allow for budgets to go further. This is the moment in which we can work together to find production and creative solutions to projects that require the 'how you’ll do it' to be presented side by side with 'what you’ll do'. That is crucial for great work, for production and creative to not be separate. 

Karim Bartoletti, Partner, Executive Producer and MD of Advertising, Indiana Production Milan