Happy International Women’s Day from Hotspring

How remote working changes lives

We at Hotspring firmly believe that remote working is more than just a “nice to have” – it has the potential to change lives. A recent study titled “Invisible in Visual Effects” found that women received just 21.6% of all VFX credits across the top 400 grossing films from 2016 to 2019, and only 16.2% of all senior positions across the four-year period. However, whilst male VFX artists are most visible in the industry, from awards to credits, female talent is in abundance.

The reasons behind the disparity in visibility are multifold, but one significant contributor is the lifestyle – long hours in the office, and often working around the clock to meet an upcoming deadline in overtime. 75% of the unpaid domestic labor still typically falls on women all over the world, as found by a UN report, and on average, they get paid 24% less than male employees in the workplace.  By enabling artists to work independently,  from anywhere in the world, and offering access to the best studios and design briefs, more women are able to carve creative careers while balancing family priorities. Equally, flexible working conditions mean men also get the chance to spend more time at home and contribute to family care and domestic chores.

Thriving Network of Talent

The potential for talent is everywhere, given the opportunity to thrive. Hotspring was created with the principle in mind that no matter where our artists and producers decide to reside, they have the chance to build a career on their own terms. On this International Women’s Day, we want to celebrate the tremendous value the women on our team bring to the table and share how remote work changed their lives for the better.

Mayumi Bourah, Production Manager at Hotspring tells us that even though as a mother of a 6 months baby boy, she’s awake pretty much all the time, work never gets in the way of family life.

“My team and I attend to the client’s requests, on calls and on the app. Every day brings a new challenge and we solve it together. 80% of the work is automated on the platform including reports, so we can concentrate on the clients exclusively. I keep an eye on what’s happening throughout the day and I enjoy it – I always wanted to work on the front end, and now I can! Plus, I get to talk and laugh with my baby, watch him play right beside me all day long. He naps on my lap while I work, it’s peaceful,” – explains Mayumi.

Work / Life Balance from Day One

Changing the way we work changes our entire lifestyle – it’s a lesson the world has been learning over the last few years. The technology to make remote working a viable option has been around for years, but for many industries, it was the culture that proved the true obstacle. For VFX in particular, studios needed a secure platform designed for collaboration with artists before they could even consider remote working as a possibility. 

As a result, this shift to working from home is still relatively new in the West, and even more so in India where Mayumi resides. The giant VFX hubs in the country very much subscribe to the sense of security a brick and mortar office provides. Mayumi has worked across the spectrum of production in VFX and animation – producing commercials at Trace VFX, animation at Reliance, and film at Gener8 in Vancouver. 

“Prior to Hotspring I had a tough time tending to my family’s needs,” – Mayumi continues when we ask about her previous experience. “I was never there, not necessarily because companies made me work after hours, that was just how the industry worked. Work means a lot to me and over time, achieving family harmony had become a myth. I reached a point where either I had to choose between my family or my career. With Hotspring, I get to spend my days with my family, travel around, and still work on great projects and be part of a dynamic team who have my back.”

We, at Hotspring, believe there is a better way to work, and a better way to live, where our team members and wider network of talent can fulfill their career dreams without having to sacrifice their family lives.