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?
Fortunately, we have not had any employees or clients come down with Covid-19 but we are only a couple degrees of separation from knowing people who have suffered. We check in with each other daily, and our conversation with clients always begins with finding out how they are doing personally before moving over to discuss work. We moved to WFH before it was a mandate, for everyone’s safety. The comfort of an edit suite has been traded for a home office, complete with additional “co-workers” AKA kids, pets, spouses and roommates.
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?
People certainly come first. After much discussion we decided to move to a WFH situation a week prior to our local government issuing a Stay at Home order. We would never want to risk the health and safety of our employees, clients, or anyone else we may come in contact with.
How have you adapted your behavior, practices, policies, approaches, ways of thinking and doing business in response to the pandemic?
In most ways, we have essentially recreated Lucky Post’s physical studio with 16 virtual locations. We have all of our clients assets securely archived so that they can create new work with past footage, and we are talking to clients about how we can develop spots while live action production is restricted. We stay connected to the team via daily video staff meetings, and – yes – happy hours too. It’s a shift, and an adaptation, but it is all based on our collective experience…that, and the need to laugh together when we can.
Were you in the midst of a particular project when the coronavirus outbreak hit and how did you manage to deal with that situation?
Yes, we were in the middle of a handful of large post projects when shelter-at-home went into effect. When we saw this pandemic spread quickly and enter our borders we started discussing ways to work remotely. With some very quick and efficient research with one of our trusted vendors, we decided on a combination of solutions that would allow our artists the infrastructure of working in a facility while maintaining the collaborative experience with our clients.
What’s your biggest takeaway or lessons learned from your experience dealing with coronavirus concerns thus far?
Preparedness is paramount. Seeing what is happening around you and being willing and prepared to adapt is everything. People have hidden skills that can quickly come into play in a crisis. Our industry as a whole, having operated on the promise of problem solving, is able to change and adapt very quickly. I have also learned a lot about people’s personal lives – from the art they like to what their kids eat – from all of the video conference calls. We’ve always been a company that mixed our personal lives into work, but this takes it to a new level…and I enjoy it.
What advice, if any, would you offer to your counterparts at other companies/agencies, your clients and collaborators?
I don’t know if this is advice, but maybe a call to action. Now is the time for us to collectively use our production (post) mindset to help our industry thrive, support causes and people who need help – even if that’s just to feel a part of a community. Being a resource is important. Help spark ideas and use imagination. What we do now will help set the tone for our future. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. And put people first.
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.
Now that we have been put to the test of a rapid shift to remote collaboration, we know we can do it again if needed. And if there’s a next time, it will be a known entity. There’s comfort in knowing we can do this – and even more comfort in the hope that we won’t have to.
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?
My hope is that people will find relationships deepened, and that we remember to take time to really connect. Things that we miss now – like Lucky’s morning crossword huddle – are elevated to a more epic status than before. It’s also an opportunity to look at workflow and best practices for creativity and efficiency under any circumstance. Nothing beats actually being together but we know we can work remotely without missing a beat. Our clients know and trust that we can do this, too.
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.
While we have not yet had this opportunity, we are happy to lend resources to public service campaigns.
