[Lauren Brenner]

You’re 15 year old cousin must be on the ball, because in my experience good assistants aren’t that easy to find. Ask any producer hiring and they’ll tell you getting competent staff isn’t exactly a delight. The amount of people I’ve worked with that can’t export a simple posting or DVD out of Avid MC correctly is really surprising, especially in the office I work where we’re working with top agencies and directors that expect things to happen timely while they’re in session. Not the best time to be explaining things to people.

I think you’re underestimating an assistant’s skill set. Being able to organize data correctly (something you can’t explain to someone in 25 seconds) and protecting media and projects is invaluable. Green assistants punch in tape numbers wrong, which can cost a company thousands right from the beginning. Green assistants send DVDs out with interlacing problems. Something that can really hurt a company’s reputation. And I’m sorry if I’m being critical with this comment, but most editors I come across do some serious damage to projects if they’re not being monitored. Importing to the wrong drives, misnaming media, etc. It’s not a crack about the editor, but that’s not their job. They cut, we keep their shit looking clean. And in a world where projects are passed on to new editors pretty frequently, knowing how to keep media together is very important. Because I know I’m not happy when I receive a messy FCP project, with badly converted files.

And don’t get me started on new editors and assistants coming from a Final Cut world. I’m an FCP before an Avid, but FCP projects are a nightmare compared to Avid. It’s so easy to set yourself up for failure early on, which most people seem to do . Maybe it’s easy to get by on little DVCPRO HD, but in a project with multiple formats that require professional finishing, I think your 15 year old cousin might have some small issues prepping. Especially under time constraints.

[Lauren Brenner]

Really? That low? I’ve seen a lot of people who say they editors or assistants, but tend to not have any real experience in arenas that matter. Anybody can add a couple of edits and click a few buttons. But what about the people who know what to do when an Avid isn’t functioning properly, or how to encode discs without producing horrific interlacing issues. Or the more obvious things like properly prepping for telecines and color timing sessions, or prepping for VFX work and mixes.

I mean, tons of people are coming out of the woodwork, but hiring a bad assistant makes the company look bad. That must count for something.

[Lauren Brenner]

Thanks everyone, this is extremely helpful. Best advice I’ve gotten so far. I’ve definitely built a reel while being here, and I’ve taken advantage of the access to equipment. If I end up leaving, I’ll miss all that the most.

I think this really put lots of things into perspective.

[Lauren Brenner]

Right now I’m living in Los Angeles. Obviously this is probably another important factor.

Richard, what are you referring to when you say that I should be open to other markets?

[Lauren Brenner]

Yeah, I understand how important one is to the company is an enormous factor in how much one should be paid. But I was just looking for a ballpark figure. Something to put things in perspective. Basically, I’ll be going in to ask for a raise soon (3rd year here, recession petering out). Right now I’m only making around 650.00 a week, which seems low to me. I assist both Avid and Final Cut (very well I might add). I’m technically savvy when it comes to how our systems and network are run, I know every professional workflow available right now (film to HD to 4k), and my problem solving skills are top notch when technical bugs arise. Not to mention I’m fast as hell doing all the assistant work.