Collaborating with music and sound effects departments is based on Audiomovers and Zoom meetings, with composer John Debney logging in from his studio in Burbank, while the orchestra and choir were recording at Air Studios in London. Talbert is able to log in to offer notes and suggestions during the recording sessions. Dance foley is also being recorded remotely from London.

Tronick explains, “I’m working off of a local drive, which has all the media, but it’s updated almost nightly by Rich and Jill who update my system with changes that Joe has been making with David on the primary Avid. Visual Effects are constantly updated by Warren Hickman, the VFX Editor. “Luckily for us, the Netflix post team headed by Jesse Torres and Mike Morgan and our Post Supervisor, Graham Stumpf and his assistant, Gladys Garcia Valiente, have been on top of this.

And it’s been a very impressive process as far as not letting the demands of post-production outrun the technology that’s required to get the work done,” he adds. “My primary concern is for the health and safety of my crew. At Netflix, the philosophy is ‘no risks’ and everyone respects that. There are no ultimatums. There are no demands. Every individual is given the opportunity to do what’s best for him or her as far as completion of this movie.”

When mixing commences at Warner Bros., it’s a personal choice, whether you want to show up at the studio or continue working remotely and monitor the mix on ClearView Flex,” Tronick finds that there are some advantages to working from home, like the convenience of not having to commute, and enjoying dinners with his wife Barbara. Yet he admits, “I always thought that working from home would be a little bit more civilized, but it turns out it’s just as hectic and stressful, getting an occasional 10 minutes for lunch, and dealing with unexpected Zoom meetings.

He also misses the hands-on sense of collaboration that comes from sharing a space, “because it allows for certain spontaneity to exchange ideas and approaches and trying different things whereas with Evercast or any of these systems, we’re always at the mercy of Spectrum cable.

“I think the technologists are seizing on the situation and extracting what silver linings there are and those will become permanent in the process,” he adds. “I don’t know what the new normal is going to look like exactly. But I am skeptical whether it will be able to duplicate the old normal.”

LISA BROMWELL, ACE
Sent home to work in early March, Lisa Bromwell, ACE, recently finished the final two episodes of Netflix drama Shadow and Bone. “The media was transferred to a G-Raid drive and brought to my house along with the equipment I needed,” she explains.

“I guess we’re on an honor system because there’s no specific security measures other than a memo that went out reminding us of the NDAs we signed. We use Evercast when we need to work together. For things like sound spot or VFX reviews where there are a lot of people, we log onto a PIX session and talk via Zoom.” Assistant editor Paul Alderman uses TeamViewer to access the system and transfer files.

Looking ahead, Bromwell says that if invited to return to the post suite, she’d be fine provided there are the right safety protocols in place. “We’re lucky we have a showrunner who cares about safety. I’m not sure they all would prioritize people this way.”

 She’d also be happy to adopt a hybrid workflow. “Doing the first cut from home would be ideal – it’s the hardest part and that drive home, when my eyes are tired, has always been difficult, so I’d love to work from home for that part. “Ideally, when with the director or producer,  I would prefer to be in the same room,” she continues. “But I’d like to be flexible about coming into the office. Toward the end of the process, when there’s a lot of waiting on notes, or very minimal notes to execute, I’d be just as happy to do that from home.” But she warns that there need to be rules. “And they need to be enforced so ‘working from home’ doesn’t mean always working,” she says.

“I can just hear execs saying, ‘Well, you’re home, your Avid is there, just do this one little thing, never mind that it’s Saturday or 10 at night…’ I’ve been around long enough that I would be comfortable refusing, but a younger editor might not be so brave.”

“No one forced us to go back but [director Adam Robitel] and I have a relationship [they worked together on Escape Room, 2019] where we agreed that at the stage of director’s cut and studio notes there is no substitute for being in the same room to get the creative juices flowing. It’s those off-the-cuff comments, the little suggestions and pitches, the spontaneity that gets lost remotely. “That collaboration is so important at this point in the picture and is really helpful for the director.”

Before going back to the studio, Mirkovich laid some ground rules. “I talked to the studio heads in my department and arranged for us to have bigger-than-normal rooms for cutting, for VFX production and VFX editing. That was possible since the lot was vacant and gave us the space to socially distance without feeling too cramped.” Everyone had antibody tests, masks are worn during sessions, social distancing applies in a suite and the team are swab-tested once a week. “Maybe I’m overcautious but I want to keep my crew healthy.”

At press time, Escape Room 2 had the only editorial team cutting on Sony’s lot, therefore they have a two-story building to themselves. “It feels like living in a leper colony. Social distancing in a creative meeting is like going to dinner in a hazmat suit. I am nervous for my crew right now as the outbreak is spiking which is why it’s likely we’ll revert to home. I’m not sure what the new normal is any more.”