has largely been an offline process based on personal networks, Impact CEO Tyler Mitchell said. For the typical TV show or film, Impact estimates it can take as many as 2,500 hours to hire a crew of 500.
A network needs lots of people using it to succeed, and Impact still has educating to do with the production community — to get the word out that the platform exists and get people using it regularly. Possible strikes by the WGA and DGA later this year also loom. If the writers strike, productions would still go on, but if there's a strike by both unions, there won't be any productions to staff.
The company has a database of 1.3 million people, including 30,000 crew members who are active users. Outside the US, it's building out usership in English-speaking locales including the UK, Australia, and Canada. Further out, the goal is for the app to handle everything from distribution of call sheets to onboarding to payroll. Impact is free to use for now, but Mitchell said the plan is to earn revenue by charging productions for premium services — like communications and payroll — and charging vendors to transact on the platform.