Local 695's Networking Crash Course Helps Film & TV Productions Safely Distance
Film and television productions are experiencing an unexpected need for remote networking because of COVID-19 distancing recommendations. Audio and video networks have long been essential to sports and live broadcast, but this technology is new to film and episodic TV production workers.
To meet demand, IATSE Local 695’s James Hunt quickly developed a one-day Networking Crash Course that focuses on programming network switches for audio and video signals and enables Local 695 to work remotely. Video engineers and video assist technicians can send secure, network-enabled video monitoring to remote locations for directors, writers, producers, and other crew that allows them to work more safely by moving video monitors far from set. With distancing so important right now, this technology makes it safer for everyone on-set by moving some people off-set and lowering the density of crew in working areas.
The distance learning course has been very successful with nine courses taught and more courses scheduled thanks to worker demand. The need for this networking class is so high that scheduled courses already have a long waiting list.
“Producers are now requesting the use of networking technology for Video Assist on production so that crew members needing to gather around video monitors can work at greater distance from each other. Producers, writers, the director, and others can work off the set at network-enabled remote locations. We just trained 176 members and I can’t tell you how many said how great the class was. And that includes members who were new to networking as well as members who use it quite often. That’s an outcome that doesn’t happen often!”
Networking Crash Course: Audio & Video IP Essentials covers network topology, connection types, IP addressing, Ethernet protocols, audio protocols, dedicated paths, video protocols, VLAN, QOS, multicasting, and remote control. James Hunt is available to teach this course to other locals. Contact us to request his information from the Trainer Database.
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