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Current state of the Video Editing industry
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[Mike Cohen] “I am a video editor as one of my job duties, sure, but also a project manager, manager … etc. The “etc” is a catch-all for whatever comes along that needs doing.”
Interesting thread, but I think we tend to look at this through the wrong end of the telescope. We’re discussing how EDITORS increasingly have to be able to do other things. I think the reality is that people doing OTHER THINGS are adding editing to their skill sets.
The tv reporters who edit their own segments are only the most obvious examples.
I just received my third request in three months to send old video assets to a client so that they could have one of their employees do some repurposing. These employees were not hired as editors, but as something more corporate, perhaps “communications specialists.”
Of course I can’t tell for sure, but I suspect that many of the people posting questions on the COW’s editing forums are making their living as something besides editing.
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Post houses use to be able to rape ad agencies with rates and billing multiple rooms per hour. Nobody had a choice at the time so the price was paid. Now that the son of the guy who wants a video has an HD camera and FCP, folks have to justify their rates. Post houses alone just can’t do that today. If you can’t produce a great turn-key production for one flat price today, you are not competing. Time schange fatser than old paost houses… hence the closing of so many.
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You wanna see the current state of the video editing industry?
read this post from the FCP forum:https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/8/1100921
So is the industry heading in the same direction as local record shops, newspapers and movie rental stores?
You have to wonder, when a guy thinks he can break into the biz and quits his day job because he has a Flip cam and imovie.
If this was April 1st, I would think I was getting punked, reading that post.As far as this actual post.
I’m on the fence about posting a response to this guy, since I don’t feel I can say anything that won’t be snarky, or dripping with sarcasm. Maybe “don’t quit your day dob”.
Oh…wait…never mind, you already did.Scott Sheriff
Director
SST Digital Media
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com -
Scott- Maybe I misread his intent in that thread, but he didn’t sound like someone who quit his day job to pursue a profession in video editing. It sounded like he is a piano teacher who wants to provide a leaning tool for his students and has decided to do it himself.
How much would you charge him to provide the same video? If he and his students can live with the sub-par quality and it is a useful learning tool, what’s wrong with him doing it himself? Kudos to him for taking the initiative and time to figure it out himself.
Let me put your mind at ease; you don’t need to worry about losing market share to a guy making movies with a flip cam and iMovie.
Chris Dolan
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Chris,
Here is what he said:“Now I’m working on doing my own video production. I’ve recently quit my job (as a public school teacher) to do this. I want to be able to create quality videos and edit them myself.”
Chris-How much would you charge him to provide the same video? If he and his students can live with the sub-par quality and it is a useful learning tool, what’s wrong with him doing it himself? Kudos to him for taking the initiative and time to figure it out himself.
Well he said he wanted to “create quality videos and edit them myself.”, and “Ultimately, I guess I just need an excellent video quality for my students.”
I think the real question is what would I charge to teach him how to edit, not what would I charge to do the videos. I’m not against new folks in the biz. I just want them to get in the back of the line.Whats wrong with this guys post? IMHO, Everything. Being so naive. Quitting your day job to get into a business you know nothing about. Not having a business plan. Especially in this economy. How about expecting working professionals to tutor you for free? This guys post is more than a simple question, a lot more. To me, this is far beyond helping a colleague, because you would first have to be an editor to be a colleague, and this guy is not.
I wonder how many free piano lessons this guy gives out?Chris-Let me put your mind at ease; you don’t need to worry about losing market share to a guy making movies with a flip cam and iMovie.
I have to admit I am bitter and angry, when I see posts like this.
Maybe unintentional on his part, but completely disrespectful.
Hey, it’s a ‘no-brainer’, just buy imovie, and some POS camera, ask few questions on the web, and your an instant DP, and an editor.
So you have yet another guy that thinks he can come crashing into a profession overnight, that many, including myself, have spent years, if not decades learning.
So I’m not worried about this guy taking work from me, or anyone.
I’m not worried, I’m just tired of it. I’m sick of people trying to cut in front of the line. And then when they are having a melt down, they expect those they cut in front of, to bail them out. And we see it all the time, it’s not just this guy.So to me, this is the ‘Current state of the Video Editing industry’.
OK, I’m done ranting…Scott Sheriff
Director
SST Digital Media
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com -
I, on the other hand, love folks who help me justify my rates. Second best sales dudes I have.
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If the market you make your living in in competes directly with people who could simple replace it with a flip cam and imovie, you need to learn and offer more.
I believe the basic shoot + edit packages are drying up.. it’s accessible and children are learning how to do these things in 3rd grade, if not sooner. Give it 7 years and that market will be a professional wasteland.
What if he needed motion graphics? 3d? color grade? HDCAM SR master? compositing?
There are still things that customers need specialists and professionals for, it’s our job to figure out what those things are.
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Rick Turners: I believe the basic shoot + edit packages are drying up.. it’s accessible and children are learning how to do these things in 3rd grade, if not sooner. Give it 7 years and that market will be a professional wasteland.
Regardless of when kids are learning how to use video cameras or editing applications…there is a HUGE difference in the quality of what I would provide as a basic shooter/editor (with 25 years experience), vs. even a recent college graduate. Heck…there’s a huge difference in what I would provide vs. someone with 10 years of experience!
Some of those differences would be speed, reliability, quick decision making, experience from over 2500 shoots, from one-man band type deals to shoots with 25 person crews, the added benefit that I’ve worked as a producer and writer…I could go on for another paragraph or two.
People who want “effective” videos that teach, inspire and sell…hire professionals. People that want cheap videos that please the boss do it on themselves. There are dozens, hell hundreds of reasons why much of the industry is struggling right now. It drives me crazy to read all the posts from people who have these surefire reasons why the industry is going to do this or that. Let’s be honest. NOBODY knows what the industry is going to do or what the industry will be in 2 years or five years or ten years. It’s darn near impossible to predict what the industry is going to be doing in six months.
There will always be a place for high-quality production. The key is finding the clients who still want it and are willing to pay for it. Since it seems there are many companies deciding they no longer can afford…or for some reason don’t want quality production, the competition for those that do is going to be fierce.
I’m not sure I believe that doing production “differently” will necessarily result in more clients. I DO believe production professionals have to figure out how their skills transfer to other industries, like video encoding for the web, assisting web design companies with getting video onto their sites, even moving into web design since it’s much more similar to television graphic design than print design.
But there is STILL market for talented, experienced people in this business.
Chris Blair
Magnetic Image, Inc.
Evansville, IN
http://www.videomi.com
Read our blog http://www.videomi.com/blog -
My 2 cents: it’s becoming a challenge to educate clients (potential clients) about the value of professional work.
I recently had a bid from a business out of state who wanted me to make a series of TV ads (15 sec, 30 sec, through a 2.5 min web ad). We talked logistics: they needed shots of vehicles driving on the road, they needed dozens of actors on screen, they needed several versions of a script to be developed, etc. When I inquired about their budget, I was thinking that I’d bid around $10,000. They had $1000 available, including my travel expenses.
What do you do with a client like that? Sure, we write them off and hope that they’ll find some high school student to make it and get a shoddy product, but what if he finds a desperate, out-of-work seasoned pro who’s just trying to stay busy and pay the mortgage?
The bottom line is that this industry is suffering from economic depression, and professionals, amateurs and consumers are all developing lots of bad habits that are going to take some unlearning if/when things get better again.
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