Meet the Team | Magdalene Tautenhahn

Today we’re chatting with Scotland based, Jr Finishing Artist Magdalene Tautenhahn about the RTS-winning hospice documentary that set her on this path, why reading a room is the most underrated skill in post-production, and how hiking the Scottish hills is the perfect antidote to a life spent in the suite.

Was there a specific spark that made you realise you wanted to work in post-production?

I had a fantastic team during my final project of my BA studies and we decided to create a documentary about a hospice experience in Glasgow. It was a wonderful and yet very hard and humbling project, not the least because of the subject matter. Everybody was absolutely amazing from the families, the hospice and staff to the whole team, and during the process every team member started to find their niche. I enjoyed being behind the camera and seeing it all translated into the recordings, but the part I enjoyed the most was to make the story come to life in the suite. Paying the respect it deserved and making it the best it could be. I remember one weekend when other students were out celebrating an event and I was in the suite late, putting some final touches on our project.

When the final film won the RTS award for Best Undergraduate Factual that year, I knew what I wanted to do.

How did you land your first “real” job in the industry, and what was the most valuable lesson you learned in those early days?

I sent out a lot of applications after finishing my degree and was offered a trial month as a runner at a post house in London. I was over the moon when my trial was cut short and I was offered my first ‘real’ job there. I was just running errands, helping out, painting walls at times and making a lot of teas and coffees. However, it was the best way to get to know the facility, part of how the industry worked and making relationships with colleagues, other facilities and editors. I’ve always been quiet but being kind, attentive, hard working and interested go a very long way. I remember one editor who always had a strong cup of coffee in the morning and years later we met again in another facility and she did remember me. It’s the little things that can really stand out.

Beyond the technical skills, what soft skills do you think are most essential for your role?

Being able to read a room is the most important skill. Know when you need to speak up but also when it’s good to hold your thought so others can think. Everybody has a different background with different experiences and if they all come together in a collaborative way where everybody can express them and discuss equally, you’ll get the best outcome.

What part of your role gives you the most satisfaction?

There are different aspects of my job that make me happy. In QC it is to know I’ve done everything I can to make the programme as best as it can be. In Finishing it is creating something beautiful and meaningful. And it’s also watching stories and learning new things with every programme that I might otherwise never have come across. The diversity in the job itself with all the different nuances, directions, the technical and yet creative aspects all together keep my role interesting and challenging.

What was it about The Finish Line’s reputation or ethos that made you want to join the team?

It’s the collaboration within the whole company and its transparency. Everybody works together and we all support each other. We learn together, we help each other, we are happy for each others’ successes and we also care about and support each other. Having worked in several different facilities over the years I felt like a cog in a machine in the end.

Now, having a family and two children to look after, I still feel supported by the company. As a working mum, I didn’t have to change careers to be able to stay in the industry, I don’t have to work crazy hours which would be impossible with young children. The company supports my work-life balance and still encourages progress and that makes me better and happier at my job.

How do you find the experience of collaborating with a distributed team?

I love working in a distributed team. There are also times when I miss being in an office environment but because of the way the company works everybody still feels very connected and present. Living in Scotland, it also allows me to live where I want to live and raise my children in a quieter part of the country while still working on amazing projects with the latest kit. It’s a great team where everybody is just a click away and always happy to chat whether it being to catch up or to help out.

Where do you see your role or the industry evolving over the next few years?

This is a very tricky question because nobody knows what AI will bring to the table and with technology developing so rapidly — but I’d like to think that even though it’s a very technical role, it’s also creative and in the end you can tell if somebody poured their heart into a programme and delivered it with a personal touch or if it’s just a machine churning it out. I’d like to think that AI will be able to support us creating great programmes but that we will still have a say in the how.

When the systems are off, how do you hit the reset button?

My absolute ‘reset’ buttons are crafting and hiking. There’s nothing better than to create something with your own hands and using your brain in a different way, or to go out into the hills, working out your body and enjoying nature.

What are you currently watching, listening to, or reading that’s getting your creative gears turning?

From time to time family and friends ask me to create something for them, whether it’s for a birthday, travel or just something they are interested in. My creative gears start turning when they have a rough idea but leave me to it completely because they don’t know the process. Then I can decide how to put it together and create something that they might cherish personally for many years to come. It’s a blank slate with endless possibilities.

If you could give one piece of advice to someone trying to break into the industry today, what would it be?

Be open minded and humble. There are lots of people trying to break into the industry thinking they know exactly what they want and that they are already good at it. Every company works differently, every role is different, there are lots of ever-evolving pieces of software. The industry might be small but the possibilities are endless. Stay open-minded and take everything in, stay humble and connect with people for kindness goes a very long way.