Eight years after opening their doors in Sydney, production company, Entropico has opened in the US. Co-founders Harry Hunter and Erin Moy share with B&T, how they’ve managed to expand and thrive during a pandemic.
Entropico has an integrated approach to creative production. The production house is known for investing in new talent, as opposed to purely relying on contractors and freelancers, something that Hunter explains happened fairly organically. While Hunter makes it clear that Entropico does still work with plenty of freelances, they’ve found having a core team incredibly productive and has been key to the company’s growth.
Hunter said: “It’s something that came up early for us, we wanted to be able to commit harder for people, we do use contractors, but we found if we committed to making great work with a practitioner, then we could grow and they would grow much faster.
“We were seeing our team developed faster and faster because they didn’t have to worry and had support.”
Moy added: “I think for a lot of creative people, they just really like the support, and not just come in for a job and come out.”
The production company is committed to fostering young creative talent and growing with them. It’s a unique approach in the current freelance landscape and it seems to be paying off. Perhaps, because during a pandemic, creatives want a feeling of family and certainty in these uncertain times.
While some production companies seemed to lose their bearing during COVID-19, Entropico seemed to hit its stride, and the announcement of Entropico opening in the United States feels like a culmination of hard work and a healthy culture.
When Entropico officially opened in the United States earlier this year, Moy and Hunter were both in Australia and dealing with lockdown restrictions, a reality that may have taken away some shine, but none of the glory.
Moy told B&T, “It’s amazing to have a team there, but it is a bummer we can’t go to the office.”
Interestingly, the move to the United States wasn’t in place before the pandemic but rather came about during this time.
Hunter told B&T, “We are a business that’s grown reasonably steadily, and with everything that’s happening in the world, we’ve started to shoot remotely, and it made sense for us to make the move.”
If anything the pandemic felt like the right time. Suddenly, agencies, partners and creatives were more comfortable working across time zones and countries. Moy explained, “Clients and agency partners are more open to remote working, even if it’s Sydney and we are shooting in Sydney, we can have a production partner in the states.
“Recently, I did a music video project, we did everything remotely and then we just had a super controlled onset environment, and did all the post remotely and it was just so nice to have that on the set moment, but it was also great to do all the creative working via online.”
On the day to day front of running a production company during a pandemic, both Moy and Hunter agree that adjustments have needed to be made to continue to be productive.
Hunter said: “It’s been for us about structuring the week, and knowing when that starts and ends, so we’ve implemented bookends.
“Also seeing how creative changes, to the situation people are put in, so looking how we can work with peoples different ideas.”
Moy added: “We are always pretty flexible with peoples’ time, particularly with different time zones. We want people to have time for mindfulness, exercise and their private life.”
Entropico has also prioritised non-work chatter, wanting everyone to engage and bond, even if only via email, most email chains turn into banter, which is something the company encourages.
Hunter continued: “We do try and keep email threads social, we are keen to have people maintain as we grow and change, that’s where people get our DNA.”
Moy said: “People are better at their boundaries this time, they will block out time to go for a walk.”
Entriopico are committed to moving forward, expanding their business and nurturing their staff and clients.
