How post-production engineer Pasquale upskilled to stay up to date during the pandemic

At age 47, Pasquale Vadalà, a post producer of cinema advertising campaigns, signed up for a Data Analytics course as part of the Google Career Certificates program to update his skills during the pandemic.

Music was his first love, “I was a little more than a child”. It was noise first then experimental music, and then jazz and the twelve-tone technique. “Listening to music is fundamental for me, it gives me an inner equilibrium, it’s almost a way of expanding my awareness”. Pasquale Vadalà loves talking about his passion. The one that got him into the movie industry.

“I studied at Dams in Rome and then I did a course for sound engineers to make a profession out of music”. Actually, he has broadened his interests over the years: “It suddenly hit me that movies were a way of melting the best of image and sound”. This is what got him into post production: “I have been creating formats for various advertising platforms for 20 years now, and I also check and adapt color and sound”. It’s a job that involves a great deal of responsibility and always keeping up to date with the latest developments.

New technologies are important in this process. “Digital technology is a huge opportunity and also a great challenge right now. On the one hand there are more creative opportunities and higher quality products, on the other hand you need to stay updated, studying new recording software and formats”.

So, for Pasquale the pandemic turned a problem into an opportunity. “After a few days of smart working, I realized it was important to make the most of the free time I had. So, I started attending training courses on digital technologies”. Thanks to UPA, I discovered the Google Career Certificates program and the Data Analytics certificate. “Six months spent studying the theory which was clearly explained and lots of practicing what I had just learned. I found it extremely useful”.

After the courses, these new skills became part of his daily life. “At work, I was able to put my data analysis skills into practice right away, especially SQL and Spreadsheet, which is what enabled me to make that big quality stride forward,“ Pasquale continues to explain. “What matters in the long run is not your age or starting point but wanting to do your job with the best tools and Google was the right choice for me at the right moment”.