Editors
I have people regularly contacting me who are considering a career in commercial film editing. I get lots of resumes, reels, and edits monthly. Chattanooga in particular could actually use some more good editors. When I’m giving advice for how to break in, I give the same advice, but to this point no one has ever listened.
When you are a young film professional exploring editorial as a career option, I don’t ever want to see your resume. I don’t give a shit what university you went to or what companies you’ve edited for. I want to see your editorial work. (with dialogue is an added bonus) I don’t want to see your college work that was shot on a DSLR, poorly lit, low sound quality, and bad acting.
That’s great for building a foundation in college. Now that you are looking for a professional career, you need professional tools. $100,000 Cinema grade footage is one of those tools. Easier said than done? I don’t think so.
You need to be contacting every company in your area who regularly or even occasionally films on something like Arri, RED, Sony Venice, etc. and ask them a couple of questions:
When was the last time you had a new show reel?
What footage do you have in the archives that you’ve always wanted to do something with but never have the time?
What categories would you like to expand on your website?
Do you need a director’s reel, do you want a DP reel?
Do you want some portfolio cutdowns from a recent project for your website?
What personal projects are you working on now that have no budget but still need to get done?
Can I bring you an SSD to load up? I will edit that footage free of charge in exchange for permission to use that footage ion my personal. If you don’t like what I create, you’re out of nothing!
Get free high quality footage, at low risk, and go nuts on it!
Send a v1 to your contact at that company, ask for brutal notes. Send a v2, ask for brutal notes, send a v3 ask for brutal notes. Work it until it’s something you or that company can present to the world, maybe if it’s good enough that company will pay for a Color Grade and proper Sound Mix.
Some young pros don’t own a computer that can handle multiple terrebytes of footage. Ask if you can work at the production companies station! Ask if the production company has a royalty free music subscription that you can use.
Second piece of advice; ask around town and find out who the top editors are.
Get in contact with them, ask if you can be their assistant for $10 an hour. Tell them you will help to organize files, lite editorial, make backups, whatever they need. Then ask if you can just sit for hours and observe their work flow. Even if you’ve been an editor for 10 years, if you watch another editor’s processes you’re bound to pick up a new trick you had never previously considered.
If you do these two things, you’ll have a major leg up on your competition. If you have more questions, feel free to reach out.
