IT for freelance editor collectives.
Several independent editors, no office and client work that has to stay safe. We set up where the shared media lives, how everyone reaches it, who can see which job and what happens when someone leaves.
Quick answer
A collective of freelance editors has no shared office, so storage, access and backups have to work over the internet. We set up shared cloud or network storage, secure remote access, backups and a simple routine for adding and removing members, remotely anywhere in the US or on site in Los Angeles.
What a collective without an office runs into.
- 01
Whose storage is it
A NAS in one member's home, a cloud plan paid by another and drives in a third place. When the member with the NAS leaves, the media and the access leave with them.
- 02
Each laptop is its own network
Every member has a different router, different habits and different updates. One unpatched laptop with access to client footage is a risk for everyone in the collective.
- 03
Access is all or nothing
A shared folder that every member can open means every member sees every client. Per-job access keeps clients' work apart and is easier to explain to them.
- 04
Review and delivery are ad hoc
Each editor sends review links their own way, so the client sees five styles and nobody can say which links are still live.
- 05
Members come and go
Collectives change. Without a routine, a departed member keeps access to review accounts, shared drives and passwords for months.
What we set up
For a freelance editor collective.
Shared storage that suits a team without an office
Cloud storage, a NAS at a chosen location or a mix, with ownership in the collective's name and permissions by client and job.
Secure access from every member's home
Encrypted remote access with multi-factor sign in, so editors can reach shared media without opening the NAS to the internet.
One review and delivery routine
A shared review tool set up with consistent settings, so clients see one style of link with versions and expiry where the tool allows.
Backups and member onboarding
Backups of shared projects with a restore test, plus a short checklist for adding a member and for removing one the same day.
Before you hire anyone
What to ask any IT provider.
Ask us the same questions. A good answer is specific and can be checked.
Who owns the storage and the accounts?
The collective, in an entity or a named account that survives a member leaving.
How do you handle a member's laptop?
A short baseline: updates, disk encryption, multi-factor sign in and a password manager.
How is access limited by job?
Permissions per project, reviewed when a job ends.
What do we do when someone leaves?
A written checklist and a same-day removal of accounts and links.
Can you do all this remotely?
Yes for the configuration. Ask what needs a person on site and who will do it.
Questions people ask
Do freelancers need to worry about TPN?
It depends on the client. We have a plain-English article on TPN for freelancers and remote editors. Studios and streamers decide what they require, so read the specific client rules and ask us if something is unclear.
Should the NAS live in one member's home?
It can work, but ownership, power, internet and what happens if that member leaves all need answers. Cloud storage, or a NAS in a shared location with clear ownership, is often simpler to keep running.
How do we give clients one consistent way to review?
Choose one review tool for the collective, agree on link settings such as passwords and expiry, and have every member use it. We help with the setup and the written routine.
We have no budget for a full setup. Where do we begin?
Start with the free-to-fix items: multi-factor sign in, a password manager, a second copy of active projects and a one-page offboarding checklist. We can talk through the next step after that.
Do you work with collectives outside California?
Yes. Remote setup is available anywhere in the United States.
Plug us in. Tell us what your studio runs on.
Tell us what you see on screen. A person on our production consulting team reads it and replies, usually with the first thing to check.
Keep reading
A checklist for adding and removing freelancers, accounts and devices without leaving access behind.
How editors reach studio storage and machines securely, and where a VPN helps and where it does not.
Review links, comments, versions and approvals for clients, without emailing downloads.
NAS, direct-attached and cloud storage compared for small creative teams, with the sizing arithmetic.
Do freelancers and remote editors need TPN? What the MPA Best Practices say about contractors and work from home, and what vendors usually need from you.
Remote post-production is now the norm, not the exception. The right combination of tools and infrastructure keeps distributed teams productive without compromising security.
A practical guide to setting up Frame.io for remote review, client approvals, and collaborative editorial workflows from initial project setup through final delivery.
Describe your studio and we will take it from there.
A real person on our team reads every request and replies within one business day.