Challenges and Opportunities in Remote Work for the Entertainment and Live Performance Industry

The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns caused global disruption, affecting every profession to varying degrees. The entertainment and live performance community, which thrives on congregations of people, has suffered immensely. It is important to draw attention to this community and understand the challenges and hardships it has been facing in continuing its practice and, in many cases, making ends meet. It is appalling that we lack this perspective, which is largely absent in broader media coverage.

As our society transitioned into an era of remote work, there were few tools available for every profession to conduct their jobs remotely. Most of us have relied on similar teleconferencing tools such as Zoom, Teams, and Slack, which have a feature set tailored to typical desk work input/output hardware. While these features have served many professions well, live-audience performers have been left behind. Addressing their needs is not only crucial for them but also an opportunity to enrich the overall remote experience for every user.

Building a foundational layer of knowledge by studying professionals who require more technological enhancement to conduct their jobs satisfactorily is important. This approach can lead to innovative ways to push the boundaries of remote technology.