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Group745
Group745
Group745
Group745
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Group745
Trends and Insight in association withSynapse Virtual Production
Group745

"Though it May Not be Business as Usual, We Continue to Deliver for Our Clients"

23/03/2020
Creative Production Studio
London, United Kingdom
245
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Coffee & TV co-founder and CEO Derek Moore responds to the coronavirus pandemic

The rapidly evolving COVID-19 pandemic has presented a multiplicity of challenges for our industry and far beyond. I doubt that many were truly ready for this occurrence and appreciate that as of this moment, it may be difficult to predict what the long term implications for us all may be. However, as a company we’ve recognised that our founding values have held us in good stead; enabling individuals and creating a highly interactive, fast moving and collaborative culture, were always of paramount importance, yet never has the studio and or our brilliant team, had to be as dynamic and as flexible as they have been these past couple weeks.

At the outbreak of Coronavirus it was evident that thoughtful planning and clear communication would be key to successfully navigating the challenges that we were about to be presented with. We set out our priorities and communicated them; first and foremost the necessity to look after the safety of our staff and clients. The need to keep core studio functions operational and the desire to do the right thing for society in general - to support our partners, neighbours, and community, to successfully manage through this outbreak.

We created a multi-phased outbreak response plan and escalated our way through it, in line with government advice. To enable social distancing, it was imperative to make it as easy as possible for people to stay home from work. We set about establishing remote working stations for all of our artists and implementing adapted workflows. 

At Coffee & TV we’ve long been advocates of flexible working, enabling individuals to work from home and teams to connect virtually. Having an already established methodology has certainly helped with unexpectedly having everyone have to do it at the same time! 

Though it may not quite be business as usual, we continue to deliver for our clients. The quality of work hasn’t changed, we continue to achieve our usual high standards. In fact, with so many workforces now successfully functioning remotely, I’m hopeful a takeaway from all of this, is that more businesses have confidence in the capability of their staff and that companies of all shapes and sizes will be encouraged to improve their remote working policies. 

As we move forward, with no current timeline of when the COVID-19 outbreak will subside, we’re adjusting to the new normal and preparing for the long haul. We are focused on keeping our staff, clients and suppliers feeling connected and finding ways to encourage and maintain our innate creativity. We are so lucky that we have creative, engaging and inspirational work to do, I really feel for anyone that doesn’t love what they do at this time.

Perhaps the biggest challenge is helping our teams to not feel isolated. To combat this, we have daily all-hands meetings on Zoom, where all 40 or so permanent staff plus freelancers all get to see each other and talk. Whilst we may not have the level of interconnectivity and general chat we’re so used to in the studio, our communication channels, whether for the whole company, or within smaller teams, remain open and flowing. And just as in the studio, when and where need be, the communication is direct, clear and purposeful. 

I feel everyone is pulling together to strengthen our sense of community. There is an unbelievable flow of information, not only work and virus related but also helpful tips on how to entertain the kids when they are off school, how to structure your day, how to live in the present moment, etc. We have moved our Sanctus (mental health coaching sessions) online, started an online meditation group for those that are interested and there’s a C&TV virtual boozer on Zoom most evenings. We are continuing to explore ways we can not only survive this difficult period but to thrive and come out the other side feeling even stronger and more connected to each other.

These really are unprecedented times, with a lot of fear and rumours around. This is the time to put people before profit but it's also important to carry on as best we can and continue to focus on our passions, our work and on each other. At C&TV we continue to work on creating the most beautiful imagery we can and sharing as much love as possible with the world.

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