Control at a Distance

The value of mentoring and encouraging staff to continually learn and develop their skills cannot be underestimated, particularly with the advent of remote working in the post-production industry.

In the latest episode of season three of the Making the Media Podcast, host Craig Wilson talks with Ed Bengoa, director of post production at ITN in the UK, about the challenges and benefits posed by the advent of remote working procedures.

In the episode, Ed tells Craig about her own experience of joining the organization while some COVID restrictions were in place. It was very challenging for her, she says, never mind for newer staff. Different productions want to work in different ways, with some favoring the flexibility which remote work can bring, while others prefer to work full-time in the office.

She believes this year the staffing situation is returning to normal, and that the role of mentoring is crucial to help staff develop.

“Everyone has had a mentor in different times of their career. You need to have someone that helps you out. You need to have someone that pushes you along. Someone that has your back. I do that all the time myself and I really enjoy it, and I also mentor other people within our team as well as with different departments, but I also want my team to do that.”

Ed also believes in the importance of lifelong learning, and that staff benefit greatly from experiencing other workflows or work environments.

“I think the idea that if you’re an editor you can’t go into something else is not correct at all. Sometimes, after a few years doing something, you realize that you can apply it to something else and I think allowing that to happen is really, really important and sometimes you become better at something else. Say you want to move into audio, even if you’ve been a picture editor. Picture editors do a lot of audio editing in their role. So I think to be close-minded about that is silly. I think I’m always encouraging that and encouraging people—even if you don’t want to move from one thing to another—just experiencing something else does give you a better understanding of what you’re doing day-to-day as well. So all that cross pollination I think is always positive.”

Ed also discusses the wider work of ITN’s post-production department. While ITN are best known as a news provider, they do extensive post-production work as well, for a wide range of UK-based and international clients.

Find out more on the next episode of the Making the Media Podcast, available on all major podcast platforms on Friday, July 7.

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