Open letter to all FCP X users

Hi Everyone

I am writing this as an open and honest from the heart letter, and if I am banned, flamed or removed, then that is what is going to happen, I simply do not care. For a very long time I have been trying to find work, and it is impossible, it would be easier for me to take a piss on the moon, than it is to find work as a video editor.

It seems no one is prepared to help, you all have excuses, some valid, some far from valid, and you all want the 23 year old hotshot that has all the experience in the world, has loads of time, free from wage expectations and so on.

I am 39 years old, I have never held a full time job, through circumstance, something I regret, as it makes my resume/CV useless, who is going to hire someone almost 40 years old, with only tape based editing experience?

I live in a city, in a country that is battling with internal race politics, skin color determines who works and who is unemployed, I am of the lighter skin, and not really wanted here, hence the 12 years freelancing, it was all that I could do. That and I am trans, male to female, and no one wants anything to do with me, I am just too damn ugly in a dress, cost me my career as a video editor.

I loved, and I still love video editing, all I have done is news, nothing else, I miss it, more than I would my right hand, I have tried everyone and everything to get noticed, and sorry you do not meet the requirements, etc...

It is very very simple, out there on this 3rd rock, someone can help, someone with some clout, or connections, or has a friend of a friend, can step in and help. I have a retina macbook pro, 13 inches, with 8GB RAM, and the 246 SSD, along with FCP X 10.1.1. I am at this point trying to stay same, hard when you have not worked professionally since 2009, and that was a direct result of going to work as a female. If that is a problem, then get a cream for it...

I have emailed and typed hundreds of letters, sent my resume out to every one of the alphabet soup broadcasters, the CNN's BBC, ABC, CBS, been on forums, hundreds of other places, and nothing, all full of lame excuses.

Video editing to me is like a guild, it has people that do things differently, I know someone can hear me, help me, the biggest stumbling block is experience, I have nothing in non linear, and as time marches on, the months becomes years, and this hole in my resume stands out I can no longer cover it with a lame excuse.

I wish I did not have to do this, write this lame open letter, pleading on open forum, should I carry on with trying to learn FCP X, or just pack it in, and find something else...I cannot think of anything I would rather do, I loved editing too much, and every day I am not editing is a punishment I am finding it harder and harder to endure, I am almost at snapping point.

I do not have the answers, you have the answers, so do not try and make lame suggestions, if this letter is offensive, then report me, ban me, forget about me...

I thank you for you time, enjoy your careers!!
Justine-Paula Robilliard

Broadcasters want to see a demo reel. When you're new, you go write your own script, or find someone who can do it for you, shoot your own shorts for fun, and for practice. Use those edits for your demo reel. There is no magic "get me hired" trick to do at all. It is simply doing the footwork yourself. Shoot as much as you can on your own, put some short projects together, start showing them around, get a demo reel put together, and apply everywhere you can, over and over and over and over. This is a tough business everywhere. Rejection is a huge part of it. You need a thick skin, or you won't survive, and a ton of self-motivation.

Find wedding & event videographers and work for them part-time/contract. Find someone doing an indie film and work for them. Do your own indie shorts. You have to make the opportunities, they won't make themselves.

I've been professionally teaching post-production for over a decade now. I can't get my students work. They have to do that on their own. I can only teach some technical stuff, explain how tough this world is, and pack them off to fend for themselves. Nothing short of a lot of blood, sweat, and tears will bring success. And no one will do it for you, you have to do it yourself.

What Ben said.

In addition: There are meanwhile plenty of eLance sites. Most of them have free registration, and you only pay a fee if you got a job. Get your reel together and try it there. You won't get rich, but I have made a few bucks with smaller projects there already.

Hope this wasn't too lame a suggestion.

You know I never thought of that, I must be so stupid, everyone from Africa is stupid, without the capacity to form thought.

99.99% of all "jobs" are not advertised, this is something I am aware of, I had my start in broadcasting through a friend knows someone looking, the rest wrote itself. So no I do not accept that the above is the only way, it is what is referred to as a "fob-off", a way to feel as if you posted useful information, but about as useful as a PDF for painting toenails of unicorns!!!

For legal reasons, I am unable to produce a demo tape/dvd/mov file of my work. Being that I only "worked", work is a legal term in the USA, which I found out when I came to the USA in 2013, won't make that mistake.

Hell, just to chat with someone, not typing, using voice, would help, to spend time, AT MY EXPENSE, learning, observing, doing, and having it checked, you know like an informal internship, you would do it for you r next door neighbor 13 year old daughter...Why not me??

Couple of points:

1 - Taking a piss on the moon is quite easy. It's getting to the moon that's a bit tricky.

2 - If you have a URL for that unicorn toenail painting PDF, please share.

Hi Justine-Paula Robilliard

It is not easy. No body ever said it would be.

Three things occur to me in no particular order:

Do not wait for some one to help/fix/give you a break. You need to make your opportunities as you go.

The story of Bruce and the spider:
www.storiestogrowby.com/stories/bruce_and_spider_body.html

And last but no means least. Never forget, if you argue for your limitations then they are yours...

best

Paul

I doubt it is illegal to create a demo reel of stuff you write, shoot, edit, produce yourself. It would be 100% your work, no one could say anything.

Get out and go to any and every event you can find that has videographers, editors, filmmakers, actors, broadcasters, etc, and make as many friends as you can, get your face and name in front of as many folks as possible.

Simple leg work, nothing else to it. Like my fitness coach says, "It's very simply, it's just not easy."

It's hard to break into the industry, especially at the ABC, CBS, CNBC, NBC, and others. A lot of people get those jobs by doing internships or having people they know help them in. I was never able to break into that, so I had to find a different path. I had come to a point where I knew everything about the video editing programs that I needed more to learn (thus i went to motion graphics, sound design, and Color correction). I say this because not only could I say I edit video...but I then could say I can do graphic work(making me stand out past another 50 that only knew how to edit). I would suggest trying to do freelance if you can. Companies like freelance editors because they don't have to pay your taxes, or healthcare. And if they had to get rid of you..they could just say bye bye, which they don't tend to do unless they hate your guts. And echoing what other says: the only way to break into this industry besides having friends is a REEL. You need to get your hands on the ability to make a reel, whatever it takes because that can really help. Needless to say, I have found 2 jobs by just saying I use Final Cut on forums like Creative Cow and Craigslist. It's weird..but sometimes you just get lucky. None of those 2 even looked at my reel...they somehow just trusted me. Other places did look at my reel though.

MsJustine wrote: ... like an informal internship, you would do it for you r next door neighbor 13 year old daughter...Why not me??

Chemistry.

You haven't worked as an editor for +5 years = you're a beginner. So, an internship is a very smart idea.

I worked for about 20y in the ad-industry - same story here: Why is he a 'copy writer', not him, why is she AD, not her? There is no 'impartial qualification' in these creative businesses - it's just about chemistry. Do you 'fit' in the team? Do I want to spend with you 10h a day in a small, dark room, starring onto a monitor, making hundreds of paramount decisions based upon 'guts'?

... take into considerations your -30 kharma at the fcp.co-boards ...
It's about attitude, appearance, collegaiality ... = 'chemistry'.

... as a start, you cannot 'demand' a job.
and wether you're LGBT or whatever doesn't matter in 'editing' - so, why do you start talking about it?

Actually I have been in broadcasting almost 20 years, not in non linear video editing, that is recent, do I fit into the team, it depends, do you want teams mates or the job done right, NO I might not be a team player, I do not play games, I am a professional, and will treat work as such, I do not think that being team mates is healthy, you need a certain level of creative distance, in other words, I want as a the video editor, the space and confidence to express myself without fear of unemployment...

Some places do not believe in this philosophy, maybe why in a tiny market as is the case here, I am seen as incompatible, as I am not a teamplayer, guess maybe due to the autism, I know that if you want a trustworthy, reliable, honest, caring, capable creative, you will not find anyone better than ME!!

So instead of attacking and finding excuses and giving really lame reasons as to why you are not prepared to help, let's be honest here, there are as many reasons to help as to hinder, and why not help, why not see what happens? This industry is very informal, it is not the law profession, or bean-counters, that have to be a certain way, we as creatives are mavericks, we like to do things differently.

I have been open and honest, I might say the wrong thing, not cause I am stupid, I am very intelligent, my brain is wired a tad differently, I am a very capable creative, working freelance in the news department for a national broadcaster is no minor thing. I know how to cut a story, what I can and cannot use, I know the rules of broadcasting, I can cut, I can direct, do the audio.

I have a mild walking disability, that prevents "running/gunning" in the busy news environment, I cannot tell you how much I love news broadcasting, and I would love to do it again, for a number of reasons this is not possible here in South Africa.

Look I am not wealthy, but with time and care, I know that not only will it be a good thing, you will be amazed, so really now honestly, how hard can it be to help..

SO here it is, yes, an internship would boost my career 100 fold, it will give me the space to grow, and I can find the funds to help fund this, not 100% of the costs, but most of it, I simply do not work enough, not enough work here...

SO why not instead of berating me for my lack of this or that, I have the mac laptop, I have FCP X, all I need is time and stuff to edit, to build up my skills and confidence, spending time with someone, would help so so much, and I know some of you have contacts, that would not mind doing a small favour for someone that really just needs a lift up, NOT A HANDOUT!!! We can do this together!!!

“I know how to cut a story, what I can and cannot use, I know the rules of broadcasting, I can cut, I can direct, do the audio.”

- You have to have a demo reel to show people who don’t know you that you can in fact do these things.


“…and I know some of you have contacts, that would not mind doing a small favour for someone that really just needs a lift up, NOT A HANDOUT!!!”

You “know” we have contacts that can help you? Do you know many of us, even in the business for a long time, still work our ass off to get jobs? No, many of us do not have the magical contacts you “know” we have.


“We can do this together!!!”

- Well, you stated you’re not a team player, and if you’re not, this is not the business you’ll survive in. There is no "we can do this together" if you're not a serious team player. Fact of life. Non-team player means non-post production job, plain and simple. Seriously, and not berating you, but you do have a very negative rating here, and that reflects you're lack of communication and people skills. This is a serious, very deeply personal communication based industry in post-production, and we are very much team players. Best of luck.


P.S. I work with a few autistic/Aspergers folks here locally, and they are all great communicators, and serious team players.

…This is a serious, very deeply personal communication based industry in post-production, and we are very much team players. Best of luck.… 

Hear, hear!
Well said, Ben.

... and not only 'post production' - most/any business is based upon communication skills.-

-bye-

I don't want to be seen as piling on, but now, more than ever, someone's ability to go out a produce something on their own (in your case, a reel) is really within reach.

I've worked plenty of corporate, sports and broadcast gigs, but my latest full-time job was gotten based almost solely on a personal project I made the summer before. Five minutes long, a few days to shoot and a week to finish. I just rented a few cameras outside of the DSLR I owned.

I don't know anything about your physical capabilities, but to take my example to the extreme, I just watched a doc on PBS the other night about a young man with MS. The amazing thing is he captured and edited the film himself as the disease progressed and shut-down his body. Hands painfully curled around a mouse, he sat for hours everyday cutting a feature-length doc. An interview with him: www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/06/23/3248...les-his-life-with-ms

It sounds like you may have a story to tell, whether its personal or something editorial concerning your country, industry, etc.

Don't doubt yourself. Don't rely on anyone. Don't make excuses. Just make.

Hi timfo

Great film tip thanks. I,love that kind of stuff.

"Don't doubt yourself. Don't rely on anyone. Don't make excuses. Just make. "

Is pretty much what was saying too

Do not want to be a nit picker but

“The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.”

― Bertrand Russell

I would suggest doubt, well and good but move past your doubts

:whistle:

timfo wrote: ..."Don't make excuses. Just make."

I love this quote!

It is simple pimple, I am a video editor, I say it again, video editor, slowly v i d e o e d i t o r... I am not a cameraman/woman, scriptwriter, producer or lighting expert.

If you need something edited, leave it with me, have coffee, come back job done, you are not all 1 man bands, so do not make out like you are..Treat me with respect.

If you're not a PrEditor, well, I'm not sure what to say. It is rare to find an editor who can't shoot or do graphics. Every job I've seen open here locally in the past few years are looking for PrEditors. I don't know many pure "editors" who only do editing. Especially in broadcast.

MsJustine wrote: If you need something edited, leave it with me, have coffee, come back job done, you are not all 1 man bands, so do not make out like you are..Treat me with respect.

Every hobbyist who bought FCPX would probably like that too.... so you only have about a million competitors, and they'll likely be willing to undercut you most of the time too.

It seems to me that right now you're hoping to find some one who knows how to press record / stop but can't edit.

There's not too many of those people around since most of the 'good shooters' I know are good because they learned 'how' to edit, thus also learned to shoot 'for' the edit. This is one of the major hurdles new shooters have to overcome.

Failing that you're looking for some one who is too busy shooting to edit, or knows how to edit but doesn't want to do it. Well, there may be a few around, but unless they are local to you [which means we're less likely to be able to help you] then you're unlikely to pick up that work.

[Trying to be constructive here] Maybe what you need to do is learn how to shoot with all the spare time you have while you're not editing. Instead of waiting for work to come to you, go make some work for yourself. Even if you can't sell it it, you can put together a show reel for both shooting and editing and you'll stand a much better chance.

Your kidding yourself if you think you can get by on just editing alone. The only people that can do that are film editors that have been in the industry for years with several films under their belt. In the tape world and further back...sure an editor was all you needed to be...but thats because it took a lot of crap to be able to do all of it and it wasn't expensive. It's not the moving of in and outs that made a editor, but having the expensive equipment and and the knowledge on how to use it. Today, all you need is a computer with an SD card. Everyone can be an editor...and thats one reason Apple made FCPX just a little less confusing because they knew video editing wasn't as hard to do as it use to be.