EVEN as other segments of the media and entertainment industry continue to reel from the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, Phase 3 Productions has instead pivoted and changed its course for the future.

The business which was founded by Dr Marcia Forbes and the late Richard Forbes is a multi-media production and television company which engages in streaming and the logistics for events plus other specialties in the media coverage space. Its clientele ranges from large music festivals such as Reggae Sumfest to other high-profile events such as Kanye West’s Sunday Service in Jamaica.

Now led by son Delano Forbes, Dr Forbes spoke with the Business Observer and gave introspection on how the company was impacted by the pandemic and moved forward since March 2020.

Business Observer (BO): How was the company impacted with the closure/scaling down of large-scale events?

Dr Marcia Forbes (MF): Phase 3 has been a key supplier to many event promoters; setting up screens along with multi-camera coverage for indoor or outdoor events was a substantial driver of revenues to our business. With the onset of COVID-19 in Jamaica, demand for these services evaporated virtually overnight. So, COVID-19 negatively impacted Phase 3 very early and very directly.

BO: How has the company pivoted?

MF: We had to think deeply and strategise quickly to face the challenges presented by COVID-19. Our Studio 45 at the Trade Centre in Kingston was reconfigured as a digital hub. In fact, that facility has been used more often since COVID-19 than it was used over the previous two years. Live-streaming webinars, online meetings via Zoom and other platforms, art auctions and a variety of corporate events, blended with multi-camera coverage, now take place at Studio 45 – even TV shows have been entirely shot from that location. Marrying content creation with distribution via online platforms, including social media, is a service that has been expanded since the pandemic.

Phase 3 Productions had to invest in new digital technologies to be able to meet its clients’ needs, the company also had to ramp up its online capacity. So even as revenues plummeted, we had to be investing for survival. Both our Trade Centre studio facility as well as our head office at the Winchester Business Centre were reconfigured to facilitate higher-speed Internet for content feedout for projects such as Reggae Sumfest and Rebel Salute.

Several new approaches to work had to be implemented and we continue to learn on the go. Phase 3 produced Jamaica’s first digital townhall meeting for the Ministry of Health and Wellness, the country’s first virtual wedding and various virtual tours – including to Blue Mountain Peak – for the Jamaica Tourist Board, and several annual general meetings for corporate Jamaica. This has been a time of peak content creation for Phase 3. The Mastercard TV commercial with Koffee is one of our standout projects. As you can imagine, we had to enforce very strict COVID-19 protocols on these projects. Again, this required some level of investments for portable sanitisation stations, deep cleaning after every use of our studio facility, ongoing purchases of masks and sanitisers and too, time devoted for COVID testing of our crews.

BO: What can one expect going forward as you diversify your offerings?

MF: Since the pandemic our client base has grown, although our revenues have not. There are many small-scale, comparatively low-cost, events but the competition is punishingly intense – everyone is live-streaming, everyone is offering some sort of online service! Being able to tackle complex projects has been Phase 3’s unique selling proposition. Within the past week, Sagicor’s Blast Off with over 2,000 online participants, and MDS MEmpowered have been successfully executed. There are other confirmed complex projects for the first quarter.

There are areas which Phase 3 has deliberately ignored but is now preparing to pursue as we move to not just survive but to thrive. However, this is not the time to announce these plans. P3’s approach is to do the work and then allow others to talk about it.