CHALLENGE: Cartel sought a modern solution to scattered file management across various local servers, dispersed team members, and a closet full of hard drives. The lack of standardized processes & various technical issues that arose when using other competitive cloud-native storage solutions led to inefficient collaboration between its two office locations, adding unnecessary strain to the workflow and significant time wasted.

WHY SUITE? Cartel’s initial trial demonstrated how Suite would solve its most pressing issues. The intuitive feel quickly won over the most skeptical editors, who now acknowledge significant improvements to their workflow operating directly off of Suite. Time Machine and Suite Connect, along with Suite’s responsive support staff, also provide confidence for the team at Cartel to fully embrace the platform. The transition to Suite has resulted in uniform processes, reduced technical headache, and a boost in efficiency for key players.

BY THE NUMBERS:

• 50+ users
• 2 offices: 1 in LA and 1 in NYC
• Remote teams across the world

“I can't imagine going back to the old way of working. That’s a testament to improvement.”

Grayson Chaney, Assistant Editor, Cartel

Making a name for yourself in Hollywood has always been a difficult task. The team at Cartel, however, remains unfazed by the challenge. This boutique post production agency, with offices in Los Angeles and New York, completes editing work for some of the biggest commercial brands, streaming services, musicians, and more—often working on projects that must remain behind closed doors until completion. Cartel's portfolio includes Morgan Stanley, Toyota, Mazda, Hoka, Air Canada, Fanta, and other high-level confidential brands as well as top-of-the-charts musicians like Travis Scott, Muse, Calvin Harris, Dua Lipa, FKA Twigs, and Rüfüs Du Sol, to name a few.

The video editing work completed by Cartel’s experienced group of editors, directors, and producers represents the highest quality end result, and every project helps the world’s most well-known artists and companies shine brighter. The mantra remains true: Content reigns supreme in Hollywood. The post production team at Cartel knows this better than anyone, and despite recent headwinds across the industry, the team continues to churn out work.

“We're very fortunate to be rocking and rolling right now,” says Assistant Editor Grayson Chaney. “Especially with the slowdowns others are experiencing out there.” Editing videos that feature the best talent in the biz—you better believe the final cuts coming out of the numerous Edit Bays at Cartel’s two offices are polished perfectly.

Yet, until recently, the way in which this post production team collaborated was clunky and unoptimized. While the final cut always had a wow-factor, their team knew there was room for improvement behind the scenes.

Testing the cloud: Giving Suite a shot

Chaney began working at Cartel as a Vault Manager in charge of all media that came through both offices. Dealing with hordes of large files and video work, both over the cloud and on physical drives, Chaney quickly realized there had to be a better way of doing things. “We didn’t really have a uniform process for everything,“ he says about Cartel’s workflow prior to making the switch. “We started testing Suite because we were having so many issues with other workflows, and other cloud solutions were just too complicated. It’s human nature to avoid change or having to learn new things, but as soon as we got a few editors on Suite, we realized: This is incredible.”

Now an Assistant Editor at Cartel, Chaney’s days are busier than ever; from organizing footage, to phone screen comps, to searching for the right sound that’ll make an advertisement pop, he’s often pulled in numerous directions at once. Finding a more streamlined way to organize Cartel’s media via Suite, and then bringing the idea to his team is now providing real results, even on a personal level. “We’re almost done with one massive project on Suite, a multi-month job, that’s about to get released. I believe it's the job that got me my promotion,” he remarks.

Earning trust: Implementing the cloud

The most important part of introducing an alternative tool, application, plug-in, or workflow process is making the benefits clear to everyone while simultaneously putting whatever it is to the test. To combat hesitance, Chaney introduced Suite to individual team members with everything already prepped. The results were overwhelmingly positive. “We’d present this awesome alternative, get them hooked on it, and then teach the details afterwards,” he says. “The platform is simple, if you sit down and take 15 minutes, you can learn what you need to know. I would very regularly say, ‘I guarantee this is going to work. I’ve seen it work. It will make your life easier, along with everyone you work with.’ I had enough confidence in the platform to use my own reputation.”

Feature callouts: What’s working for Cartel

While Suite’s cloud storage facilitates faster, more reliable dispersed video editing work at Cartel, there are also a few specific product features that provide real-world, everyday wins. Here are a few standout features:

“We love… I love… our Vault Managers love… our Producers love… Suite Connect,” says Schachte. “The industry standard for sending large files has been MASV. But with Suite Connect, DITs out in the field can now easily upload media directly to Suite for our team to get working right away. It's quick; it's even better than MASV for us. We don't have to upload, then download, put files on this drive or that server—it’s already there. Suite has removed so many steps from the process, giving us more time for everything else.”

“With Suite’s cloud-based workflow, we are confident that our data is secure on the cloud,” Beatty comments. “The worry of a single editor working off a personal, local hard drive, and having that crash or go missing mid-project is much less of a fear knowing the media is backed up frequently with Time Machine. We had an issue where someone accidentally deleted a bunch of stuff—people were freaking out. But Suite makes it so easy to get that media back. You just drag the recovered files [from Time Machine] onto your drive, and you're right back to working.”

As the post production team at Cartel hums along, the company’s bookkeepers are also noticing a difference. “Our hard drive purchasing is also down,” Chaney notes. “When we started on Suite, we issued SSDs to each Editor and Assistant Editor; now, everyone just takes that drive wherever they go. It’s essentially  a reusable Cache Drive for someone using Suite, and when one job ends, you simply wipe the old cache and start pre-caching the next job. As long as you have Suite on the computer and your cache drive plugged in—you have everything you need to work off of the cloud with local speeds.”

Finding success: Simplifying on Suite

With headquarters in Los Angeles, a new office location in New York City, and numerous team members around the world, Cartel’s workload has become increasingly complicated over time. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. “It's critical for us… being able to work not just in LA but anywhere in the world,” says Sarah Schachte, Cartel’s head of production. So, with many dispersed components and, now, full-time employees based over 2,000 miles away in The Big Apple, Cartel required a faster, more reliable way to share media. Shipping drives just wasn’t cutting it anymore...

Cartel was quick to realize the time & cost savings that Suite provided by working on real projects in real-time. “It's not just the editor's life that improves,“ notes Cartel’s Lead Cutting Assist and Tech Manager, Scott Beatty. “They always have access to the most up-to-date assets—we don't have to wait for a hard drive to finish copying & get delivered before they can begin working. For the assistant editors, it's so much easier to be in sync with everyone, no matter where they are in the world. We don’t have to worry about drives or access to media outside the office.”

“It's so nice to know—this is it, this is the most up-to-date media,” adds Chaney. “It makes you feel like you’re all in the same edit bay. For example, if we have an Editor in New Jersey, Assistant Editors in California, and the Producer is traveling, Suite makes it seamless… you get that feel of everyone being in the office. I can't imagine going back.”

Always connected: A new source of truth

Cartel’s clients and reputation demand the best, that’s evident from the first moment you see the company’s portfolio of video work. Now, the team operates with less friction, and far fewer steps between the first edit and the final cut. “The Suite team told us from the start, and it’s been proven time and again: Suite is the source of truth,” says Chaney. “It hasn’t let us down, no matter how big the job – like this year’s March Madness campaign for AT&T.”

At this point, it’s difficult for Chaney to imagine a different way of storing, sharing, and editing media. “I walk into any situation with a level of confidence that makes the Editors feel more at ease,” he says. “I don't want to go back to a time where we don't have that.” And to anyone still unsure about why they should adopt Suite’s cloud storage, Chaney elucidates, “We still have local back-ups and use LTOs for long term archival purposes, but don’t knock a cloud-based workflow before you try it. It’s so liberating to work this way. If the thought of reverting back to the old way of working fills you with dread, let me tell you: the new way is pretty good.”

‍

Ready to collaborate on Suite?

Click here to begin your 14-day Free Trial.

‍