Producer Brett Roblez’s Success Tips for Remote Post-Production Gigs
Posted on: Feb 13, 2025
Photo Credit: Photo Provided By: Brett RoblezBrett Roblez is a producer and director from Baton Rouge, Louisiana who recently created a fascinating documentary called Dead People, Crazy People, Drugs and Politicians. While working on the documentary, he utilized remote team members for the first time from Atlanta, Kentucky and Louisiana, including a colorist, editor and composer.
Since I’ve also worked with remote team members a fair amount as head of a project and as a remote staff member myself, I thought it would be interesting to share some lessons we learned along the way. In true remote fashion, we had a Zoom call and came up with a few pitfalls to keep in mind when working remotely.
File Transfer Software Limitations
Google Drive can be useful for uploading small or single files to share with others, but Brett’s team ran into a lot of trouble once they needed to transfer large edited files. Google Drive zips large files individually, one by one, within the larger folder instead of the entire folder. Brett had about 4TB of files total to transfer, and Google had a lot of trouble zipping so many large files and they would just freeze or fail. That’s a lot for the receiver to unzip individually.
The Google Drive PC app circumvents file zipping, but it didn’t work well for collaborating with multiple team members who each had a different Google Drive account of their own. The design of Drive folder sync prevents files from appearing in a shared drive, as it only syncs with a single system. They had to log in and out constantly of six different accounts to get everything in one place. It took a week to get everyone’s files and footage in one place.
Then, as many will commiserate with, they had to deal with syncing and re-linking everything in Premiere whenever a new person would open the file on their own system.
“It seemed like every time we opened the project, we thought we were one file away, but it turns out someone hadn’t uploaded something yet or another file would be missing.”
Potential solution: Utilize Dropbox or a paid file storage and transfer system designed for large files and shared access.
Internet Speeds
Internet speeds can also be a problem. Brett’s team ran into trouble when some renovations took place at the office building where they’d been using high-speed internet that could handle terabytes worth of data. His Kentucky teammate was in town working. He needed to go home in order to upload footage once he got home. However, he lives in a rural area and his best efforts to upload the footage from home, the library and other options failed.
Potential solution: Filmmakers who plan to transfer large amounts of data digitally should make sure they have a fiber connection available to them and their teammates, which might mean paying a temporary office fee somewhere with a fast connection. Another option is to plan transfers by mailed drives, and use a workflow schedule and system that allows for the drive to move from one person to the next, instead of working and sharing simultaneously.
Relying on Mail Delivery
When they realized the digital transfer from Kentucky wasn’t going to work, they decided to mail a drive via the United States Postal Service. However, the drive never arrived, and after two weeks, it was determined as “lost.” Another drive had to be purchased and sent, and ultimately, it took almost a month to get the footage to the recipient. Mail isn’t really an option for international collaboration unless you’re really patient and want to pay exorbitant fees.
Potential solution: Utilize private carriers or Priority Express with USPS with insurance and tracking number. You may also want the recipient to sign for it or for the delivery to be certified.
Room for Confusion
Because Brett and his team were on a deadline, hoping to have a screener for the American Film Market, they had the colorist working on a final cut from the editor. During editing, they had a composer building out a library of songs that might work, rather than working directly on the finished film. They planned to have the composer finish their work with the finished draft.
Once they had what they believed was the final file, they had both the composer and colorist working separately. The composer had rented out a theater Dolby space to do the mixing and mastering while the colorist was working on the Premiere file they had. However, after some cuts and final changes, it turns out the team had gotten the wrong Premiere file from the editor. So, they were working on the wrong time code for the film.
I’ve also run into trouble with file name issues during a project that had several steps coming from my collaborator. There were scripts, sketches, character approvals, storyboards, rough cuts, review animations and final animations. The freelancer kept sending me files named “Episode 1,” and I learned to communicate a file naming system clearly from the beginning of the project, with names such as EPS1SB, EPS1rough, EPS1review and EPS1final.
Potential solution: Have a file naming system in place that utilizes dates and indicators as part of the file names, so each new revision or version has an updated file name with the version indicator and date in it for cross confirmation.
Hardware Failure
When they realized they had the wrong Premiere file, they asked their editor for notes on the exact time codes that were changed, but they were met with some bad news. The editor’s motherboard had become damaged, and he lost everything on his computer. Their music composers had to start over from scratch with the new Premiere file.
Potential solution: Have all notes and important decisions noted somewhere in the cloud in a spreadsheet, or project management software like Airtable or Google Drive. Require that your freelancers or team members back up to an external source or a cloud file storage you have access to and can make backups of. Also ask if they have insurance, or make sure you have insurance that covers hardware and data loss issues so you aren’t paying others out of pocket when their workflow is impacted and work has to be redone.
Time Zone Differences
While Brett didn’t run into huge time zone differences, I have run into time zone issues working with people across the country or the world. When working with people in a different time zone, the entire schedule for collaborative work and meetings will have to shift to a time that works for both people. It may seem like a minimal consideration with a difference of a few hours, but it can make things difficult when working with someone up to a full day ahead of you.
Potential solution: All communications have to remain clear when setting days/times so everyone is on the same page. You’ll want clarify which time zone you are setting your meetings or deadlines by. Setting an expected schedule for work completion and review can also be useful.
Working remotely can offer a lot of benefits when the proper systems are in place. If you plan to work remotely, be sure to set aside the time and budget to set up systems of workflow, communication, tools and file storage, and transfer with backup plans. With the right pre-planning, you and your team will be able to work confidently and efficiently.
Jessica Mathis (AKA Divinity Rose) is an award winning screenwriter/performer/producer from Louisville, Kentucky. She is the CEO of She Dreams Content Development and Production, which focuses on female forward projects in comedy, docustyle and genre entertainment.
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