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OT-ish: Sooooo….how’s business?
NLE and other technical stuff aside, how’s your 2014 shaping up? How are you feeling about it?
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18 Replies
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VERY busy. If it’s as solid as last year, I’ll be working solid with only a few weeks off. I’m at a production company that stays busy, always has shows in the wings that pick up right after another finishes…but most often overlaps. Just two weeks ago I kept bouncing between a historical reality show, and historical doc series.
And a few side gigs as well…onlining a show here and there. Eating it up while I can.
Shane
Little Frog Post
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
[Tim Wilson] ” how’s your 2014 shaping up? How are you feeling about it?”
same as it ever was, same as it ever was …
Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions
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nothin’ attached to nothin’
“Deciding the spine is the process of editing” F. Bieberkopf -
2014 looks promising.
We are a small company and already we have a full order book to take us right into the Summer. That is a relief because the last 6 months have been difficult. I know that with the recent FCPX upgrade the work should go a lot more smoothly than last year and ten times more smoothly than the year before that when FCPX was really sticky and awkward to use.
There are 2 of us working full time in the business, a producer and camera/editor (me!) and being in good health is really important, last Autumn I broke my ankle out walking and suddenly we were in the situation of having to hire in camera operators and an editor and that was really not good for the cash flow or profitability of the business. 4 months on and I’m back to normal although still going to the hospital for physiotherapy once a week.
In more general terms I often wonder how healthy a job this is. Out filming is pretty good, some days you get lots of exercise carrying gear and walking a lot, other days are more static. But editing is basically sitting at a desk for long periods of time, so taking a break to go for a walk or ride on the bike is pretty important.
An aspect of this business that has changed dramatically over the last ten years is the social interaction side of it. I figure that a lot of people now work the way I do. That means one person fulfilling the roles previously carried out by a bunch of people. I now operate a camera, produce graphics and edit video through to final delivery. Working like this is the new norm and ultimately pretty antisocial which is why forums like this are important to get a feel for what other people are getting up to and here of new developments. It’s also good to get out to trade shows and talk to people.
So that’s a good new year resolution, go to more shows and trade events and participate in more forums.
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Interesting post for the FCP-X The Debate forum ! Talk about OT.
My answer – very busy January, but I do not have a great long term outlook for 2014 – no promise of “big jobs coming up”. The business continues to change – the complete demise of “the facility” and the complete integration of production and post production into the production company, or ad agency itself. Translation – the client is buying their own stuff, and doing it in house. Cheaper than ever, and easier to find “kids” to do it – more than ever before.
The reality that great equipment is cheaper than ever is upon us, and those that feel that their “great talent” will separate them from “the pack” is only going to apply to hi end clients, that can appreciate that value. Just my opinion. One thing for sure (except for the elite feature market) – today, you have to know EVERYTHING to be able to have value to a company. The days of “Im just an editor, I don’t do – audio – graphics – encoding – streaming – delivery – etc.” are over.
Bob Zelin
Bob Zelin
Rescue 1, Inc.
maxavid@cfl.rr.com -
[Bob Zelin] “One thing for sure (except for the elite feature market) – today, you have to know EVERYTHING to be able to have value to a company. The days of “Im just an editor, I don’t do – audio – graphics – encoding – streaming – delivery – etc.” are over.”
And not just in the editing world. I have a still photographer friend who was complaining that he had to learn video because his clients (lots of wedding stuff) are now expecting it.
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So far so good. I’m working on some doc/unscripted projects that I started late last year and I have a few possible irons in the fire but like Bob I don’t have a big project looming so I’ll have to keep up with the grind.
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[Shane Ross] “Are you editing now Andrew? I hope so…”
Yes, been cutting since November (doc web series plus a feature doc on the side). Last year it was probably a 60/40 split between editing and AEing this year I’m of course aiming for 100% editing. Just hard to make ‘the jump’ into consistent, well paying editing gigs. Just gonna keep choppin’ wood until I’ll get there.
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One thing for sure (except for the elite feature market) – today, you have to know EVERYTHING to be able to have value to a company. The days of “Im just an editor, I don’t do – audio – graphics – encoding – streaming – delivery – etc.” are over.
Couldn’t agree more. I’m fortunate that I’m hooked up with a small agency where the owner/creative director is also a DP/Designer. His strengths are my weaknesses and my strengths are his weaknesses. So things are rolling right along. His letter of introduction to me opened with the line, “Hoping you can tell me that I never have to edit again.” Yeah, it’s a good fit.
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Hopefully’14 will be better than’13 which was a lousy year. Since we are a small shop and have to get every job ourselves, there is the ongoing effect of the “talking head” or “animation stick figure” videos which are out there and sometimes the client wants for little or nothing.
2014 seems to be a bit better with us doing some crowd funding videos and since we do a lot of political work, 14 is looking like a good year for candidates and measures.
Now if I could only get my Mac Pro delivered…
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