How The Finish Line reclaims time to make work-life balance a reality

Let’s be honest: “work-life balance” is usually a carrot dangled in job ads to reel us in. More often than not, it’s a promise that vanishes the moment you start work.

The creative industry has long sold us the narrative that great work comes at the cost of your entire life. Another late night. Another missed bedtime. Another weekend stolen by endless renders and impossible deadlines. 

But what if there’s another way?

Enter The Finish Line: a post house proving that long hours and burnout don’t have to be the price of great work. They’re showing that every second can count. Not just for delivering great work, but for creating space for life outside of it.

In our recent Magic Hour virtual event, we caught up with their equal parts talented and friendly team to hear how they’ve built a fully remote, cloud-led culture. One that helps the team spend less time wrestling workflows and more time living life — all while still producing award-winning work.

Missed the live session? No sweat, we'll run through the highlights. Or better yet, watch the full conversation here — it’s well worth it.

Flexibility > infrastructure

Most post houses start with a physical space and build around it. The Finish Line flipped that script. 

They’ve been remote-first since day one. Choosing to invest in people and technology rather than office space. 

As Lily Ketley, Technical Manager, explained, “We focus on trying to put as much of our money into the talent and the tools that we have available, rather than into unnecessary office infrastructure.”

That decision hasn’t just changed where they work. It’s changed how they work.

“We come from an industry that is notorious for overworking, long hours and unhealthy work practices. We're committed to making sure that does not happen to our staff. Because if you are constantly overworked, you're not going to get as much done, and it’s not healthy for your mental well-being,” Lily continued.

And this balanced approach is paying off. The Finish Line has been named one of the Best Places to Work in TV three years running. Their team isn’t stuck in a cycle of overwork and late nights — they’re thriving. Just check out the stellar work they’re doing here.

Remote, but never disconnected

Of course, if remote work meant sacrificing speed or collaboration, it wouldn’t fly. 

But The Finish Line runs on LucidLink. That means their editors, colorists and finishing artists can collaborate in real time — without shipping hard drives, downloads, workarounds or all the usual workflow bottlenecks associated with VPNs and sync and share tools.

Here’s Magda Tautenhahn, Junior Finishing Artist at the Finish Line on what this looks like no matter where she’s working:

“One of the other finishing artists might say, ‘Oh, I’ve got a lot of blurring to do. Can you just give me a hand?’ And I can literally just jump into the project. I’ve got everything there that I need.” 

The result? Fewer delays. Faster turnarounds. More time to focus on producing top-notch work. Plus a team that supports each other, no matter where they are. 

“I don't have to sync down all the media beforehand. I can literally just jump in, help out, and then jump out again. And the other person continues, and I jump on the next job. Before, there were workflows where you had to sync everything down, sometimes terabytes of media, just to be able to do it. Whereas now, you can just help others out,” said Magda.

Breaking barriers for parents and caregivers

Post-production hasn’t traditionally been friendly to parents. Long hours, unpredictable schedules and a culture of being the last one in the edit bay don’t leave much room for family life.

The Finish Line is proving that it doesn’t need to be that way.

Gemma Comber, Junior Finishing Artist, shared how working remotely made staying in the industry — and being there for her kids — possible:

“I can do it all from home now, which is amazing. And most importantly, be here for my kids. I can actually be here to pick them up and drop them off. I haven’t got to sit on a commute, which feasibly… I mean, it’s not feasible with childcare hours.”

You can read more on how Gemma’s navigating post-production as a single mother here.

Magda shared a similar experience. “Working remotely has given me a way to stay in the industry and do what I love without sacrificing time with my family.” 

“Before, I felt like I wasn’t really present at work or at home. Now, I can be here for my kids and my team. I’m more available, and I’m much happier. I can still collaborate and be with the team without sacrificing anything, really.” 

This is what making every second count looks like in real life: reclaiming time to show up fully — for your family and your team.

Making client delivery seamless

Even in remote-first video workflows, post teams still need to collaborate closely with clients — for reviews, approvals or final tweaks. 

That used to mean manually copying files to external drives, relinking everything and hoping no media went missing in transit. For Juste Rutkauskaite, Junior Finishing Artist, that process is now a thing of the past.

“We used to take out at least two hours just to get all the media on a drive, relink it, export the project and physically carry it to the client site. Now, I open the project and everything’s just there, like a mirror of our headquarters.”

Instead of wasting time prepping files and worrying about missing media, Juste can focus on presenting their work — confident that everything is there when she needs it.

“That nervousness — of whether a drive would work or a file would be missing — just disappeared. And it gave us more time to actually review the show and focus on making it better,” she concluded.

The time-saving workflow that runs itself

LucidLink is the backbone of The Finish Line’s workflow — giving the team instant access to their projects whether they’re in London, Scotland or halfway across the world.

“The beauty of a good workflow is that once it’s done, you don’t have to do anything. It just does itself,” explained Lily.

Now time that could have been wasted waiting, syncing, transferring and duplicating is time the team can spend creating — or seeing their families.

Key takeaways for creative teams

• Flexibility fuels productivity: a remote-friendly approach doesn’t just help employees — it makes workflows faster and more efficient.

• Cloud collaboration is the future (and present): tools like LucidLink eliminate bottlenecks and streamline production.

• Work-life balance shouldn’t be a myth: with the right setup, great work doesn’t require burnout.

Reclaim your time like The Finish Line

The Finish Line proves that great post-production doesn’t have to come at the cost of work-life balance. You just need smarter workflows that give you time back.

Because every second spent syncing, searching or stressing is a second you’re not spending creating — or enjoying life outside of work.

There’s much more to this conversation — from managing client relationships to the tech stack that keeps everything running smoothly.

Watch the full webinar here to see how The Finish Line makes every second count.

Or if you’re ready to try LucidLink, start your free trial.