Back in 2018 Angela was approached by ScreenSkills, the UK trade body for the screen-based industries, to develop and run a series of face-to-face workshops for VFX and Post teams on developing effective client relationship and negotiating skills. After a research phase involving conversations with owner, managers, producers, and production co-ordinators from a wide range of companies, the first tranche of course was run in London, Glasgow, Manchester, and Bristol. It was decided to run separate course for VFX and Post teams to meet their specific needs and commercial circumstances.
Based on the very positive anonymous quantitative and qualitative feedback, the course was then re-commissioned by ScreenSkills numerous times. Word of mouth recommendations about the value of the course spread quickly and the courses were usually oversubscribed.
Going online as teams work from home
Fast forward to May 2020 it was agreed to re-run the courses virtually based on the needs of VFX teams working from home. The virtual sessions, delivered by Zoom were very successful and oversubscribed, so a further series was run in Autumn 2020.
Developing the course to make it even more effective
No course should stand still. The course has been developed and improved from the contributions and experiences of every single participant. One specific additional change, that made the courses even more effective, was the addition of a one to one follow up mentor call with Angela for each participant, helping them to embed the changes they had agreed to implement as part of the course and to troubleshoot challenges.
Who took part?
VFX studios who have put teams through public and bespoke courses include: Axis VFX, Cinesite, Framestore, Industrial Light & Magic, VineVFX, Lexhag, Evolutions, DNeg, Molinare, Union VFX, MPC, Glassworks, Milk VFX, Technicolor and many others.
Job titles of those who have attended courses include: VFX Line Producer, VFX Producer, VFX Bidding Producer, VFX Production Coordinator, Associate VFX Producer, Junior VFX Producer & VFX PA.
Participant responses from recent online courses
‘One of the best training session I have been on. Everyone was engaged. I really thought it was great.’
‘I really enjoyed this morning. The pace, the content and the delivery were just right’
‘A very well run and insightful session.’
‘Gives great insight into how other companies and individuals deal with universal challenges.’
‘Fantastic structure and content. Great use of the video conference tool.’
‘I really enjoyed the course and there were some good practical tips shared that I can utilise in my day to day role.’
‘Really insightful look at the VFX problems and solutions that people are dealing with in these challenging times.’
‘Content was excellent with tangible take-aways.’
‘This is a very effective course. My manager and I previously attended the face to face course and we have put the techniques into action and found them to be very effective. Our clients have told us our bidding process is super-clear; that is due to the techniques we have learnt.’
‘ An eye-opener of different techniques to use in different situations - thank you!’
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
The original course continues to develop and adapt - to the needs of different roles in Post and VFX, and to help teams meet the challenges of changing working patterns including hybrid working from both office and home. As client demands ramp up, and the brilliance of the UK VFX, post and animation scene continues to be appreciated, especially by US studios, the need to develop effective client relationship and negotiating skills will only continue.