The key to creativity: Breaking down barriers in remote collaboration 

The current surge in video production shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, projections suggest that if the UK’s media and entertainment sector maintains its current growth, it could inject an impressive £53bn into the UK economy by 2033.

The future of the industry is exciting. But, to keep up the pace, creative teams are under increasing pressure to deliver high-quality content quickly. Tight deadlines and soaring standards have become the norm, creating a competitive environment that requires nothing short of excellence.

Crafting exceptional content is a collaborative effort, but the landscape of work is also evolving. The pivotal moment arrived in 2020 when the world transitioned to remote work overnight. Suddenly, everyone shifted from traditional offices to working across multiple screens – and our team members, talent and clients spread across more locations.

Today, teams are more distributed than ever, bringing new creative benefits. Teams can hire the very best talent and attract new clients from anywhere. People get to work where they feel most inspired and businesses can make space for more varied perspectives. But with every opportunity comes its own set of challenges.

When working remotely, real hurdles can start to emerge when it comes to managing time zones, navigating cultural nuances and ensuring seamless collaboration across borders. Add to this the pressure to keep work moving at speed, and suddenly you’ve got a team that can’t keep up the pace.

Yet, in the world of video content creation, keeping pace with demand isn’t just an option, it’s a strategic imperative. That’s why creative teams need to re-evaluate how they collaborate in today’s world of work – and the tools that they use to break down geographical barriers.

Connecting the power of creative minds

Nailing a creative brief can be make-or-break for businesses, and in the review process, feedback and ideas need to flow effortlessly. This is where collaboration tools can really change the game for distributed teams, minimising the back-and-forth by ensuring that everyone stays on the same creative wavelength.

A great example of this comes from Myth Studio, a London-based animation powerhouse. Launched during the pandemic, Myth Studio was born in the perfect moment. Lockdown rules made shooting video with people extremely difficult, and this supercharged the need for animation and motion graphics.

Despite global restrictions, using Dropbox Replay to simplify the creative process made building a small business and scaling it possible with fully remote teams, enabling users to review and provide frame-accurate feedback with precision and clarity. So much so that in June 2022, one of the biggest global names in the beer industry came knocking. “It was quite a turning point for us,” shares Jimmy Gordon, Myth Studio’s business partnerships director. Once one multinational company comes calling, more follow.

Using Dropbox Replay empowered Myth Studio’s in-house teams and freelancers with one centralised review process. 

But to tackle working with such big and global brands, Myth Studio had to rethink its resources. It needed to grow a collaborative team fast, and so it decided to augment the work of its nine full-time staffers with its wide network of highly skilled freelancers. This flexible approach enables Myth Studio to quickly respond to rising demand, by ramping up its creative power with additional support – and this has been a key strategy in its rise to success.

Frankie Evans, senior producer at Myth Studio explains, “When you’ve got a big project that comes on, and maybe the scope is a bit bigger than you thought it would be, you might have to double the team size.” But this new way of working requires the right tools to support it. “In order for this to work, people need to be integrated amongst the team and everybody needs to be singing from the same hymn sheet.”

Using Dropbox Replay empowered Myth Studio’s in-house teams and freelancers with one centralised review process. 

“When working across multiple locations, its live viewing feature creates a virtual space for synchronised playback,” says Evans. Whether reviewing something internally or setting up a live-feedback watch party for clients, all stakeholders can join and watch at the same time rather than depending on video calls and screen-sharing, where patchy connections can make the editing process confusing.

With organised version control and integrations with other popular editing tools, Replay also enables the team to turn around content and sign off final versions faster. “By having the right tools in their hands, our people are able to execute business-defining work, without having to be in the same room or on the same time zone,” says Gordon.

Today, Myth Studio’s tool set also includes Dropbox Dash and its Stacks feature, to organise business development files and client inquiries. Meanwhile, Dropbox Capture enables Myth Studio’s teams to create a video archive of their processes for onboarding remote freelancers and new team members.

By using the right tools, creative agencies like Myth Studio are dismantling the barriers to remote collaboration and utilising the benefits of distributed work to their advantage (see the showreel below). Teams can deliver high-quality content at speed, by bridging the distance when it comes to harnessing critical feedback – while enabling them to access more creative talent and global clients without limits on location.

Looking to 2024 and beyond, creating this environment – one in which creative minds can collaborate across borders – is crucial. The creative teams that utilise the right tools in today’s world of work will be well positioned to exceed in delivering the speed and excellence that the industry demands.

Andy Wilson is senior director of new product solutions at Dropbox.