How has your company been impacted by concerns over the coronavirus–or the virus itself if a worker or client has been stricken–in terms of business, your staff, client relationships?
We are very fortunate that, at this time, our immediate family, friends, staff and clients have not been directly impacted from a health perspective by the current COVID-19 virus.
The well-being, health and safety of people is clearly top priority. What measures have you taken to protect your staff and collaborators during this challenging time?
As more data and information on the situation came to light, I spearheaded next steps in late February for The-Artery to transition to remote operations. Thanks to our spacious physical layout and thorough cleaning measures of our collaborative hub, THE-LAB, our team members were able to safely practice social distancing before the eventual move to remote in March. Although we had a number of high-profile projects (such as two campaigns and one feature film) in the works that needed client and agency participation, our virtual resources and capabilities fully prepared us to communicate with them from the safety of our own homes.
How have you adapted your behavior, practices, policies, approaches, ways of thinking and doing business in response to the pandemic?
We are successfully remote thanks to our organized and nimble team of artists and producers who are well-integrated into The-Artery’s signature pipeline and workflow. These members are executing amazing work at the highest level and hitting all client expectations. We start and end our days with team updates and follow-up with detailed communications to our at-large teams and clients.
Were you in the midst of a particular project when the coronavirus outbreak hit and how did you manage to deal with that situation?
Along with delivering a challenging campaign and putting the finishing touches on a Netflix film, we have just kicked off another 5 spot campaign that required live-action production, editorial, VFX, color grading, finishing, and delivery. The location shoot for this was filmed at the end of February right before the travel restrictions took place. Upon return in March, both The-Artery and the agency immediately hit the ground running and, within two weeks, we were all ready to move the entire production to remote. Deployment of gear was assessed and addressed during that Friday and over the weekend led by our tech guru, Jake Durand. Following through, everyone was up and running first thing on Monday morning. We’ve been successfully moving forward since then.
What’s your biggest takeaway or lessons learned from your experience dealing with coronavirus concerns thus far?
I think what’s remarkable is how wonderfully flexible our clients have been. We’re also most grateful that brands and holding companies are amenable and supportive to making this situation a positive and productive experience. We all imagine that we’ll be taking lessons learned from this crisis into future working models.
What advice, if any, would you offer to your counterparts at other companies/agencies, your clients and collaborators?
Like with any production, preparation and communication are key. Especially with our team, it is super critical to be aware of client expectations and be ready to offer any support — whether technical and/or emotional — they may need during this incredibly stressful time.
Contingency plans have been prepared by many in light of the situation. Please share any aspects of those plans or tell us how your short and long-term business plans have been affected.
At this time, we are working along the same plans we had when we adjourned to remote.
We are, of course, working with our financial teams to prepare documentation that will help us to apply for short-term government support to help ensure that we can retain all of our staff through this remote period. Our long term plan is to ramp up our education process with both current and potential clients to share how we’ve successfully transitioned to this new remote mode of operations.
It’s said that strength emerges from adversity. Do you see any silver lining or positive dynamic emerging for our industry/marketplace from this global health crisis?
The key to our success in this crisis has been preparation as well as a willingness for everyone to find a way to trust the process. Clients will likely take away the notion that a successful project doesn’t require full attendance during production and they can trust the remote process. The direct relationships they enjoy with trusted creative and production teams are what drives this process. From a production standpoint, the close relationships our creative teams have with their artist counterparts are not impeded by distance. On the contrary, because we’ve been working with these creative pipelines for quite some time now, ramping up to manage multiple productions has proven to be a very successful workflow. With live action shoots now on hold, we foresee a virtual renaissance in photoreal CG/VFX, motion graphics, virtual productions, remote talent, and stock footage repurposing.
Have you deployed your company’s creative and communication skills to address the pandemic (PSAs, educational videos, other initiatives)? Please tell us about these efforts.
We have escalated our industry presence wherever possible by following our clients and friends on social media as well as sharing any creative pieces or social good initiatives that speak to safe social distancing measures, key hand washing practices, essential worker/small business protection, etc. We are also taking advantage of every opportunity to participate in conversations like this to learn how other teams are managing through this crisis. Industry town meetings with fellow producers – city, state, and national – are a great way to stay in touch and help keep our industries positive and moving forward.
