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Did I choose the wrong career?
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As everyone else has said, it’s a hard time to be in this business, and even harder to get in.
This probably won’t help you, but it may help others who read this thread, to learn that you don’t need your own editing set-up as soon as you leave school. (I’ve been editing for more than 30 years and still don’t own one).
Two years out of school, I’m afraid, is virtually nothing, you’ve a heck of a lot to learn before anyone will let you edit for them for a decent pay-check.One of the things you will learn (If you don’t, you’ve no chance at all) is the right attitude to every one and everybody. Hopefully you’re not like this during the contacts to get interviews, but in this thread you come over as someone who is bullish and spoilt, and it’s not surprising that you get no further.
WHAT THE F&^K!!!!!! FOR A PA JOB!!!! AT ENTRY LEVEL!!!! I HAVE A GOD DAMN BACHELORS DEGREE!!!! DOES THAT NOT MEAN NOTHING!! I’m 30,000 dollars in debt to student loans I have yet to pay off I invested in a 8k Editing system! Am I doing something wrong? I don’t understand…
As Shane said, your degree means zilch, but don’t give up, and I agree, don’t work for free, sometime, something will turn up.
Juris
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juris,
Thank you for the advice,please understand that I am just venting my anger. all my friends aka “contacts” moved back to the midwest after college, so I dont really have anyone to talk to about this kind of stuff. I’m very professinal when it comes to clients, gigs, paid editing work and interviews. I just needed to scream at the top of my lungs to get it out of my system. I feel better now after having people telling me (andrew and Shane :)) that I need to hang in there and keep pushing. Please understand that at this point in my life I am confused and afraid, I’m just looking for a FULL time job doing something related to Post-Production it doesnt have to be editing.And a espically thank Mr.Ross who has always given me good advice since I joined the cow.
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Greg,
Keep your chin up and avoid posting any more frustrated posts on forums. Potential employers will google you, Facebook you and linkedin you. You are on Linkedin, right? Complaining won’t get you hired.When I graduated with a 4 year degree in mass comm, there was no internet, so I wrote about 150 letters, got a few responses and one job offer duping tapes. 15 years later I work for the same company in a managerial capacity, but still cut some cool projects. Did I get to where I am because of my degree? Not really. My training helped me get a foot in the door, and it helped me get that first entry level editing job, but the rest of what I know is from on the job experience.
College did teach me the basics of aesthetics and the seeds of craft, some engineering, and most importantly critical thinking, responsibility and gave me some professional experiences in the industry.So take what you think you learned in college and make a list of what you really know, and how you might apply these bits of knowledge to a career. In other words, don’t think “this post house should give me a job because I need one.”
Rather you need to think “this post house needs me, because X Y and Z. I don’t need a job at a post house, I want the job because it is my passion.”Most of my classmates did not get jobs straight out of college, but most are working in the industry today in various capacities. But they all started at the bottom and worked for it. It can take a decade or more to get the job you really want. I think back to my dad. When I was a kid, he moved us across the country and back so that by the time he was 40 he actually had a great career as a sales manager and could afford to send us to college.
Regarding your website – the demo reels don’t seem to show any editing ability. For example, your features reel shows shots from different scenes, rather than a segment from an edited scene. As it is now it is promoting the actors and the cinematographer, not the editor. The promos show your promo editing ability. But then you have Batman animation supervisor – what does that have to do with post? Finally, I don’t like hearing mainstream popular music in reels. Find some inspiring yet obscure music, either from creative commons, royalty free or whatever. I hear music from Batman Begins and I don’t watch your reel, I think “hey did he work on Batman Begins?” same goes for OK Go – that song has been played so much it should be illegal, and it has little to do with your reel.
Anecdotally I will agree that LA might be part of the problem. Looks like you have had some good gigs for the cable networks, but you may need to diversify. Adding a good design sense and editing style to corporate training could get you some work, you just need to know where to look.
Good luck.
Mike Cohen
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Potential employers will google you,
I agree, I just googled myself (just my name and state) and a Creative Cow post came up 3rd! My resume that is posted on Media-match was #4. My LinkedIn profile came up #5 and #6, as did my company web site at #7. A good idea that I am going to pursue now that I know what is coming up is to look at the description text that comes up on Google or Bing and then go to those site profiles and tweak the text to your advantage, i.e. experience, qualifications etc. You might be surprised. I have been amazed what has come my way for work, INCLUDING post production of a national 13 show reality series from a cold email, once they saw my work samples on my site.
As for work samples, I don’t use “sizzle reels” unless I am specifically wanting to show potential clients my shooting style, then I think they work, but specifically for editing, I believe it is more important that you show them actual projects so they can get a sense of your story telling ability. Any one can do flashy edits cut to a popular song but unless you can show potential clients that you tell a good narrative story well, with straight cuts, smart music selection subtle sfx and pacing that will drive the story and evoke an emotional response from the viewer it may be a futile exercise.By looking at your reel, I know you can edit!… but what I would want to see, looking at it from a potential employer perspective, is your story telling skills. A good story teller is pure GOLD… to me anyway.
Hang in there, when something isn’t working, adjust your approach, tweak it until it DOES work, and with patience, good attitude, passion and hard work you will get there.
Good Luck!
Richard Cooper
FrostLine Productions, LLC
Anchorage, AlaskaEveryone has a story to tell.
https://www.FrostLineProductions.com -
There are 208 other markets besides LA and NYC. Take you skill set to other markets.
https://www.tvjobs.com/cgi-bin/markets/market2.cgi
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Maybe you did. Turning over stones should be more challenging than frustrating. I’d probably stop drerssing up so much. Like you said, it’s just an entry level gig and it’s in the video industry. You’ll hear over and over to just dress like the guy you are talking to and, as you’ve noticed, they are not all dressed up like they are late for church.
Keep cold-calling. Take what’s offered. Everyone wants free/cheap labor. You want a foot n the door. Know that’s a match going into it. Make sure you don’t refer to your degree as if that entitles you to something. Just list it and answer if asked. Also, make sure you are working on a current project. Should this question come up, you don’t want to say no to this one.
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Greg I know exactly what you are going through. I myself got an MFA from Chapman last year in directing, with hopes of moving to LA to land entry level gigs while developing a feature script, but finances dictated otherwise.
Now I’m back in my hometown of Portland, Oregon. I’m setting up as an event videographer, but even this is an uphill battle.
Looking at your website I think you have a lot of good things going. I hope you can stay the course and make some stuff happen. It is true what these other guys are saying though…the business is about people and whether or not they like you. Which can be a depressing thought if you are like me and tend to be more introspective and not so into the “selling yourself” part…
In any case, best of luck.
John Baldino
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