Command Edit

We all seem to be spinning too many plates or juggling too many balls in the air when it comes to work. This episode talks about the ways you can help improve your multitasking skills and prioritizing your tasks. From the macro (organizing larger feature projects into manageable steps) to the micro (prioritizing the minutes of your day), we could all afford to become better masters of multitasking to avoid being buried in work. 8K video hath arrived to YouTube! Actually the ability to upload 8K video has been there for a while but it seems there's someone with the ability to shoot and upload a short doc called "Ghost Towns" in full 8K resolution. Test out your internet streaming speed and press play on it. Do you notice a huge difference in the clarity of the image? (https://youtu.be/sLprVF6d7Ug) We discuss a few noteworthy points from the big Apple update at WWDC 2015. There were only a couple of interesting points for post-production folk. Nick is excited that humanity is a step closer towards having a pers

They are the holy trinity of networking tools for any post-production minion: the business card, the demo reel and the CV. There are those who swear by them and label them as must-haves. Others think differently and choose to not use them at all. Which camp are you in? Every editor means to get around to updating his/her CV or reel but it seems to only become a priority when you receive an email from a producer asking for them before they can hire you. Nick and Josh discuss the benefits to using each to score your next job, and how you can use them more efficiently. Plus we explain why and when we don't bother using them at all. Does the concept of an editing demo reel even make sense? Are business cards a good investment or is there a better way to give your info that costs you less? Should you create a CV or is it okay to just link to your IMDB page? Follow us on Twitter and tweet us if you use any of these tools to nail down jobs.

Nowadays it seems like you can throw a stone and hit 5 editors. The industry has exploded over the past decade and in the struggle to get noticed and hired some have taken different approaches. Some treat other editors strictly as competition and work hard at improving their own skills and marketing themselves. Some treat other editors as collaborators, brothers-in-arms to team up with and support one another in their careers. It may seem that taking the competitive approach is a negative one, but there are some advantages to it. As well, there are times when collaborating and building a team can help further everyone in attaining a booming career. Somehow Nick manages to squeeze in Nash's Equilibrium theory and a strategy for getting laid into his explanation on how to decide whether to compete or collaborate. Not everyone is looking for someone to collaborate with (or be a mentor to) and you can expect some to not react well to a proposition to work together for experience. Listen at the [30:28] mark for a

We start out with a couple of shout-outs to some of our loyal listeners and retweeters so far. Jaclyn Rogers, Michael Cardilio and Rachel Bogan have been some of our top contributors this past week. Thanks for tweeting us and for sharing our episodes. The Shameless Plugs of the Week: Nick is back from the set of Bed of the Dead, the latest horror feature from Black Fawn Films that he was editing on-set while they were filming. Internet fans were abuzz with opinions on the Supergirl 6-minute "trailer" for the TV series premiering in the fall. It was described by some as "The Devil Wears Prada mixed with that SNL Black Widow parody trailer. Some editors have taken it upon themselves to re-edit the trailer by slimming it down considerably and amping up the action while ditching a lot of the "ditzy, urban girl problems" material. Nick has started cutting his own version, too. How do you set up your editing suite and office so that you can better concentrate and do your best work? Some editors have personal touche

This episode marks the first of our podcast that has an official sponsor. Screenlight saves you time on your editing projects and makes you look like a pro in the eyes of your client. Upload your videos to a customizable gallery with ease and allow your clients to easily offer frame-accurate feedback. It’s a great service that gets projects to delivery quickly, which is a win for everyone. Both Josh and Nick have used it for both commercial and feature-length productions and it has proven to be an incredibly valuable tool. The best part is it’s 100% free for you to start using right now. Head over to Screenlight and sign up to use it for your projects now. For shameless plugs this week: Nick hosts another podcast called Limited Release that features reviews of web series and insightful interviews with filmmakers. Check it out to hear all about how web series are produced and which ones are worth watching. Josh has started one-on-one coaching for those who look to improve their editing game. Whether they want

It's incredibly easy and all too common for a career in post-production to take over your life. There's the high demand of time from your employers, there's the passion that we all feel about our work that pulls us deeper into it, and when we're not actively working we are training or searching for opportunities. Not all of our family and friends understand the commitment we must put into our careers. As we progress in our careers, the rest of our lives can take a backseat. Our passion to be successful at work can come with the risk of losing relationships, our health, or any other priorities we may have in our lives. Not to mention that lately it's become obvious to many that an unhealthy balance between our personal lives and our work lives can ultimately cause a detriment in the quality of our work. So how do we maintain a healthy balance between our lives at our desk and our lives away from it? Josh and I discuss some tips on how we tackle that challenge, and how you can approach it, too. Let us know how

Once you've got your edit suite pimped out and are open for business, how do you then find work? In this episode we discuss how we each market ourselves and pursue all of the prospective jobs out there. Those who believe "If you build it, they will come" will find themselves out of work very quickly. The jobs are out there and waiting for you to go after them. Here are some ways that Josh and I chase those editing gigs and set yourself up to receive repeat work from clients. Do you consider yourself a generalist or a specialist? These are two different schools of thought on how to successfully position yourself in the market and be poised for the maximum number of opportunities. Would you rather be a one-stop-shop who can take on any type of editing job or be known as an expert in one particular niche market? There are obviously pros and cons to both, so let's talk about what those are and how to decide which one is right for you. This podcast is a two-way street, folks. We want to hear from you so tweet us a

"What program do you use to edit with?" It's that damn question that every editor gets asked all of the time. And those who are just starting out in the industry also obsess over it. So we set the record straight for each of us, explaining which programs we use and why (Avid and Premiere respectively for Josh and Nick). And then we talk about why it's not nearly as important a question as you may think. The first steps in starting a project can really influence how smoothly it will go for you. Each of us has their own way of beginning a project. We give some of our own habits and techniques that we follow and how they can help you in starting your edit. Got some tips to keeping your projects organized from the start? Share them with us. Josh wrote an article for Screenlight's blog, Success Tips from Five Experienced Editors. It's a good read and Nick even got a couple of words featured in there somewhere. There are some good tips in here for anyone looking to get ahead as an editor. Tweet us at @CommandEdit o

In each episode Josh and I will be fighting the urge to talk endlessly about our own personal projects, but we will include a short "Shameless Plug" segment at the beginning to briefly promote a project we're working on. What are you working on? Tweet us with your Shameless Plug for whatever you're working on. In this business you've got to keep coming up with new ideas all of the time. But how do you deal with that feeling of being outside of your comfort zone (or trying to get a client outside of their's)? Nick's segment comes from a documentary editing workshop he attended recently, which isn't his usual type of work but learning new skills can be beneficial to your current work. You have a goal you want to achieve? How do you take that first step towards getting there? Josh's segment is about how to find the determination to take that first step out the door to start a large project, take your business in a new direction or run a marathon. You have a list of things you'd like to do in your lifetime, so de

Once upon a time there were two editors who yearned for a podcast that discussed topics on post-production. Not just post at the desk, but post BEYOND the desk as well. When these two editors met, the Command+Edit Podcast was borne. Welcome to the inaugural episode of the Command+Edit Podcast. Find out what's going on in the post-production industry, editing workflow tips and other resources to help you understand editing better. But also we'll ways to improve your lifestyle away from the desk: keeping yourself physically and mentally fit, balancing work commitments with personal ones, and improving your business skills while pursuing your career in post. Get introduced to Nick and Josh in this first episode. Find out how we set out to make a podcast on post that's different from the rest. First up, how to keep the creative juices pumpin' each day while moving from timeline-to-timeline. And how taking a bit of time each day to keep yourself fit can really give your work a boost.