Our team recently had the privilege of Zooming with Brett Abbey the CFO of Mob Scene, a leading entertainment marketing agency. In this interview, Mark Severance, Director of Cloud Sales at RKL eSolutions, sat down with Brett and discussed how Mob Scene is adapting to change in the COVID era. Below are the cliff notes, but we invite you to view the entire video Adapting to Change in the Entertainment Industry. (We’ve included chapters so you can skip to the sections that interest you most).
Brett started to see industry changes in February when Mission Impossible shut down production. So the first question they had to answer in short order was how they would thrive when there are no sets to work on? Mob Scene’s work around was to collaborate via remote production and interviews. Sometimes even sending camera kits to people’s houses.
“Not only was production a challenge, but operationally we had to figure out how to work remotely,” revealed Brett. At the center of their accounting technology stack is Sage Intacct, a cloud solution which enabled Mob Scene to make the transition to remote work and a paperless environment rather seamlessly.
Brett also highlights, “Cash has become our leading bullet point.” ”Cash Is King,” more than ever and Intacct has given them the ability to analyze various cash flow details instantaneously.
One of the most significant changes for Brett and Mob Scene is they are now running about 12 ‘What If’ scenarios as part of their planning process. Given the unpredictability of the current environment, it’s paramount that they remain adaptable for whatever lies ahead.
Beyond technical matters, Brett reminds us that people across the organization look to finance to make sure things are ok. It’s important for finance to stay engaged, participate in other department meetings (e.g., editorial and graphics), and to be transparent in these dynamic and challenging times.
Join our Entertainment Finance Professionals Networking Discussion on Thursday Sept 24th at 4pm pst, as we discuss Strategies for Streamlining and Saving, with three industry experts.