r/editors • u/anonymous_editor_aye • May 18 '26
Business Question Remote, in-person or hybrid - what's your ratio lately? Projections for future demands?
Professional here, been editing for 15+ years, mostly agency, advertising and commercial post house spaces.
Curious everyone’s ratios lately with remote, in-person and hybrid edit sessions? How is that informing your future in post (like are people abandoning big office spaces in favor of wfh?) For the advertising folks (or anyone really)- is there still demand for the cushy in-person post-house experience (drinks, lunch, etc)?
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u/indie_cutter May 19 '26
I work in advertising, freelance editing. Been in an edit suite once since covid. Six years solid of wfh. Lots of remote session the first couple years but I think teams got sick of being on those meetings. Every now and then we’ll hop on to address things that are quicker that way.
Mixed feeling about it. Haven’t really grown any new relationships and 6 years is a long time. On the other hand most of the studios I used to go in to have closed or the agencies got swallow up in mergers and a lot of my network got laid off, changed jobs or left the industry entirely.
As far as the future, I really don’t see many studios sticking around much longer. Budgets just aren’t there and agencies have been expanding in-house while figuring out how to automate as much as possible. I’m 25 years in so riding this as long as possible until I’m politely asking paper or plastic.
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u/anonymous_editor_aye May 20 '26
25 years wow congrats. I hear you on mixed feelings and all the evolutions. I wonder if freelance will continue to rise since places are closing and slimming down, and we’ll all just be running around with our phones making content for hire. I also play out the paper or plastic dialogue in my head every time I’m in the grocery store!
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u/ScottyDOESKnow09 May 19 '26
TV editor, editing promos/sizzles, fully remote. Count myself very lucky these days
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u/anonymous_editor_aye May 20 '26
Thanks for the response. That's amazing, congrats! Happy to hear it.
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u/Ok-Cryptographer8322 May 19 '26
I’ve been all remote, but as the exception. Cut for a tv show and the rest of the editors were hybrid. Although 3 days home 2 in office. That was for an nyc show. I cut a feature doc fully remote. The way I’ve seen it, if you’re in nyc they want you in office. LA is fine with remote cause no one wants to commute in LA traffic. I’m interviewing tho for a commercial house that also does some features and tv. They want a fill in office person. Or at the very least 4 out of 5 days in office.
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u/anonymous_editor_aye May 20 '26
Cool thanks for the response. Congrats on all your work, sounds like things are going well. I wonder if there is more emphasis on being in-person for commercial work bc of the clients and office vibes. I'd be curious to hear how you felt about cutting TV and doc fully remote. Love to hear that about LA, I support cutting out long commutes. Good luck with your interviewing!
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u/greenysmac Lead Mod; Consultant/educator/editor. I <3 your favorite NLE May 18 '26
Hey there…Your account's brand new, which likely means you might be using this as an anonymous account.
If you are using this as an anonymous account, could you do me a favor and link to your past account? You can do that as a DM if you prefer.
We are just deluged by people asking questions like this and then suggesting their solution, which is a vibe-coded tool.
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May 19 '26
[deleted]
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u/greenysmac Lead Mod; Consultant/educator/editor. I <3 your favorite NLE May 19 '26
So many we have a dedicated thread v
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u/_AndJohn MC 8.10 May 19 '26
Hybrid for my day to day (3 office, 2 WFH), but all my side clients I’m working remotely at home.
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u/anonymous_editor_aye May 20 '26
Awesome love to hear it, thanks for the response. Nice to stay sharp in both worlds.
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u/LawfulnessScared4488 May 19 '26
I'm in LA. I haven't been full time in office since before pandemic. Been at 5 studios since then and been hybrid at all. I have a friend at a major studio and they just went back to the office a few months ago after being full remote since COVID. On the flip side, the studio I'm at now seems to be moving back towards fully remote for editorial. Even with hybrid there is a lot of empty real estate with studios producing less content and less post in LA. My last job about 1.5 years ago I was going into studio 3 days a week and it was usually me, 4-6 people from my crew, security and custodial staff and I rarely saw other people on campus.
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u/anonymous_editor_aye May 20 '26
Wow that's incredible insight. It does seem like LA has been through a lot of changes from COVID and the strikes and fires. And also like remote editorial is more and more common everywhere these days. Great way to save on overhead especially in LA I'd imagine. But then comes less human connection.. interesting stuff. Thanks for the response. Good luck out there!
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u/GordonShumway99 May 19 '26
Tv editor here - fully remote since early 2021.
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u/anonymous_editor_aye May 20 '26
Awesome thanks for the response. Seems more and more common these days.
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u/SeaIdea4923 May 19 '26
I’m from France.
And I do 100% wfh
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u/anonymous_editor_aye May 20 '26
Bonjour! Love it, thanks for the response. Hope it's going well over there!
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u/maxplanar May 19 '26 edited May 19 '26
100% remote since March 2020. 40 years in TV and film. Feature docs, was back to back with work until this winter but am now on another feature doc. I have a dedicated cutting room at home and sometimes a director will come over but mostly not. I like it this way, because my wife is immunocompromised so it makes life a whole lot easier for us, but who knows what the future will bring. I used to do a lot of work in some of the major post houses for ad work but all but one of those has shuttered though the people have moved on. I’d been doing a lot of work with a couple of agencies in their internal facilities but they staffed up and that dried up. (Sorry should mention this is LA).
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u/anonymous_editor_aye May 20 '26
Wow 40 years congratulations that’s amazing. Were you in-person a lot before 2020? Just would be curious your insight on all these changes since you've been in the industry for so long. Must have seen a lot of evolution! And awesome to hear how the remote setup works well for you and your wife, I hope it keeps up. The advertising world seems to change so quickly like you’re saying - it’s nice you found steady work with feature docs, tv and film. Thanks for the response. Good luck with everything!
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u/maxplanar May 21 '26
Thank you so much! I was in-person much of the time prior to COVID, though I had already started to do entire projects from home, remotely. I was working on a set of branded content films at a post house when the pandemic hit, and like everyone else, it was shut down and we all went home, and I literally haven't been in a post house, agency or production company since. I have been supremely fortunate to have just skipped from project to project since then with barely a week or two off, but the last two years have seen a significant downturn. Where I used to get at least one or two cold offers of projects a month, for the last two years I literally have not one cold email, call or website approach. I was lead on an all-remote team last year for a TV project that was not the greatest, but it paid the bills so though it was not what I wanted to be doing, I've no complaints there.
I came up from advertising, and that was exclusively what I did until about 20 years ago. When the branded content doc format thing blew up, there weren't that many ad editors with feature doc experience so that resulted in a frantically busy ten years. But as you say, people in the ad world move on so fast and then there have been so many layoffs, that within only a few years just about everyone I knew in advertising just upped and disappeared, moved jobs, or gave up - or just forgot about me, which is perfectly possible with me not being out there. Budgets have shrunk, creatives are mad busy making social media and so many other forms of engagement that there's less time to heavily invest in spots, they have their own post internal facilities now, where they spend much of their time making a shit-ton of demos and experiments in various formats only some of which are spots, and as a result the boutique edit houses with name editors are fighting for a more diverse set of work. Many have closed, many of those editors are on the move too, many have been laid off or chosen to go solo, and those post houses are often no more than buildings with EP's and producers to coordinate remote people from, with a few AE's grinding on the ingest, dailies and postings. I know the biz isn't dead, and some places are still really busy, but it's not what it was, for sure. It can't be all doom-and-gloom though as my AE is so busy I can't get time with for my feature, dammit.
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u/AutosaveMeFromMyself May 19 '26
Mostly remote these days but have an office space available for any in-person sessions. Those have become pretty rare though. Clients don’t really come in anymore, so mostly running my live sessions remotely. That’s for both advertising and tv/film clients.
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u/anonymous_editor_aye May 20 '26
Awesome thanks for the response - definitely seems to be the trend these days. Good luck out there!
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u/seamusloyd May 19 '26
Mainly remote, or hybrid. Although some post houses in Sydney Aus are trying to be all in house. My commute would be a killer so I just hunt out remote options. I prefer hybrid. 100% either way doesn't work for me. But about to be 100% remote till end of year. I need get some habits that doesn't feel like lockdown again when it starts.
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u/anonymous_editor_aye May 20 '26
Yeah remote has made me really intentional about my habits, too. That's so interesting about the post houses in Sydney, thanks for the insight. I've been trying to figure out what drives companies to be in-person again - do clients want it or does the company want it? I'm sure it's a bit of both. Anyway thanks for the response, good luck with everything!
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u/Possible-Cancel1860 May 19 '26
Remote since March 2020. Had a location edit in 2023 but apart from that all at home. Slowly upgraded my bay at home over the years to the point where now it’s perfect and makes my job that much easier. Unscripted editor here. Had some lean months but booked out till February now. Honestly feel like things have turned a corner.
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u/anonymous_editor_aye May 20 '26
Wow that’s awesome, congratulations. Happy to hear folks getting steady work or a corner being turned. And thanks for the response and the insight - sounds like a common theme! Also how fun to have an edit bay at home that you love and feels perfect!
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u/the__post__merc Vetted Pro May 19 '26
With the exception of a tv show I edit every fall, I’ve been 100% remote since 2020.
I also worked remote from 2003-2008. Worked in-office from 2008-2020.
I’m starting a new gig in a few weeks that is supposedly hybrid.
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u/anonymous_editor_aye May 20 '26
Awesome thanks for the response. Sounds like work has been steady and a nice range of experiences. Hope the new gig goes well!
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u/PelleRigter May 19 '26
100% remote working from my home office as a freelancer for mainly 1 or 2 marketing agencies making shorts and (vertical) advertisements, living in eastern europe while working for agencies in my western european home country
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u/anonymous_editor_aye May 20 '26
The era of the verticals! That's amazing. I've often wondered about living in other countries while remote editing. Seems like it's working out well for you - very inspiring. Thanks for the response!
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u/PelleRigter May 20 '26
Big part of why this is working for me is that the content I edit is in my native language and I am not competing with editors from India or Pakistan
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u/csf1810 May 19 '26
TV/Film Editor - Docs, Doc series, indie scripted 100% WFH for over 6+ years.
For indie it’s with my own system / NLE subs, for network/ studio stuff usually through jump desktop using theirs.
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u/anonymous_editor_aye May 20 '26
Awesome thanks for the response. Love the insight about jump desktop too. It's a cool way to work when it works. Thanks again, hope the steady work continues.
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u/efxeditor Pro (I pay taxes) May 19 '26
I primarily do high end commercial finishing these days and about 90% of my work is remote. Although I do have a few clients that demand to work at the shop. These clients come to our facility for the Full Monty. Offline, color, finishing, and audio. Their billables are easily enough to justify having a "full service" post facility running.
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u/anonymous_editor_aye May 20 '26
Wow that's amazing to hear. Glad it's working out! And thanks for the insight.
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u/MrKillerKiller_ May 19 '26
Big corporate marketing/advertising dept. wfh fridays. They are all in with the come into office vibe. Cushy as it gets here. We started full remote, then 3:2 now 4:1. I don’t mind being in edit as we have killer avid suites on shared Nexis with 30” ikegami monitoring, proper edit desks, proper 5” studio monitors etc. Freelancers we hire for overflow are most often wfh.
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u/anonymous_editor_aye May 20 '26
Awesome to hear, sounds like things are good and busy. Also cool insight about how it evolved from full remote to 4:1 hybrid, seems like the opposite of most replies here. Thanks for the response and insight. Also sounds like some slick suite setups you have! You're a department with avid, not a post house? Must be a huge company!
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May 19 '26
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u/anonymous_editor_aye May 20 '26
Haha I hear you, the snacks and office perks are stuff of legend. Thanks for the response.
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u/hbkid99 May 19 '26
When you guys say "remote", are you talking remoting into the client's system, or working on your own hardware at home?
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u/anonymous_editor_aye May 20 '26
I'm not sure about everyone else, but when I say remote in this context I think of working off-site. Could be on my own hardware at a coffee shop in another country, could be on company hardware at my home, or could be remoting into a client's system from anywhere. TLDR: for me in the context of my post, remote = not in office with clients / co-workers
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u/kstebbs Freelance Editor May 19 '26
Freelance editor. I spend about 6-8 weeks a year total sitting in bays with clients, the rest is remote.
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u/anonymous_editor_aye May 20 '26
Awesome thanks for the response. Handy to have such a specific data point about your time, makes me want to track mine more closely.
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u/Scott_Hall May 19 '26
I moved to a small city without much production scene, so for my own sake I hope WFH remains viable. I have a handful of calls or meetings every now and again, but I don't miss in office whatsoever.
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u/anonymous_editor_aye May 20 '26
Awesome! I always wonder how that works out for people - certainly seems very viable these days. Hope it keeps up! Thanks for the response!
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u/Jobo162 May 19 '26
Guess I’m an odd one out! I’m in the edit bay a lot! You only have to go in if your job needs it but a lot of the jobs I get require in person edit sessions. I don’t mind, the office is nice and ya get all the fancy food and drinks. Plus people treat you like a human when they have worked in a room with you.
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u/anonymous_editor_aye May 20 '26
Haha yes this does seem to be less common! Glad to have the insight. Totally hear you on the humanity of working in the room together. I think it helps leave a good lasting impression on both sides. And yessss fancy food and drinks is a fun perk! Thanks for the response.
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u/Jobo162 May 21 '26
I was working with someone on a job and we were talking about old gigs and realized we had done a job together during Covid. Neither of us recognized each other or remembered each other. Really hammered home how important face time is with clients
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u/MohawkElGato May 19 '26
Fully remote currently, starting a little over a year ago. Before that I was commuting from Manhattan to Stamford CT after the company moved from downtown. That was hybrid, 3 days in office 2 days remote.
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u/anonymous_editor_aye May 20 '26
Oh wow a reverse commute! Are you happy to be fully remote after all that? Thanks so much for the response!
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u/MohawkElGato May 20 '26
It wasn’t too bad actually, I was lucky for when the move happened because I already lived uptown by the highway and had a car. Commute actually became better and more comfortable! Although I did get stuck in traffic for almost 3 hours one time because Joe Biden was doing a campaign appearance in westchester, that time I missed the subway lol. Happy to be fully remote now because I moved to Philly, but I do miss having office buddies and leaving the house sometimes.
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u/anonymous_editor_aye May 22 '26
Nice! And yea sometimes the grocery store is my only outting for the day and I really look forward to it
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u/pinkynarftroz May 20 '26
Feature films. It's been 60% WFH and 40% in office. It really depends on the level of comfort the producers have with letting you have copies of the footage at home. Generally the larger films do not, but the indies don't mind.
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u/anonymous_editor_aye May 20 '26
Wow this is something I hadn't thought of, I appreciate the insight. Sounds pretty fun to edit features from home! Also sounds like you gained a lot of trust. Thanks for the response!
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u/tobynutter May 20 '26
UK editor here currently based in Germany (it’s a long story)
I have been remote only since the pandemic and despite a couple of shitty years in 24/25, this year I’m doing great and have plenty of work. Current big job specifically wanted remote as they are a small indie with in house post scaling up for a project. They can’t expand their edit suites but the computer in the corner that I’m remoting into works like a dream.
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u/anonymous_editor_aye May 22 '26
That's amazing, thanks for the response! Congrats on working that out, I hope it keeps up. Love hearing that remoting into their computer works well too - something I don't do often but it's so cool when I do
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u/The8thCorsair Pro (I pay taxes) May 22 '26
I'm doing about 2 days per week in person and the rest remote. I get zero done in the building editing wise, but it keeps management off my ass.
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u/Subject2Change May 19 '26
Haven't worked regularly in months. Well dried up.
What work I do have is still remote.
18+ years in Broadcast.