Nick Divers

gokngo asked: How'd you get started editing professionally? I'm trying to break into the industry but all I've done is weddings and music videos.

When I got out of school, I had a decent amount of technical skills but not a ton of direction. I was doing website design and coding, designing DVD menus, doing some photo stuff, and doing on-set digitizing for film shoots and stuff. Granted, I was doing all only moderately well. I didn’t sit still at anything for too long, just wanted to bounce around I felt something stuck.

I landed a job as Droga5’s in-house editor kinda accidentally, but decided I needed a full-time job and the money and security that came with it. Plus, they were a great shop that did great work and I figured I could learn a lot from them. Sitting in the same desk and working in the same program every day really taught me how to develop a skill, though, not just dabble it. By the time I had worked two years there, I considered myself an editor and really enjoyed it.

By the time I started considering a move to an edit house, a bunch of nice people that I had worked with over the years were interested in helping me find a place that was right for me. That was nice, realizing that even the internships I had done in college were going to pay off, and they did. I am at a great place right now and I’ve very thankful for that.

To answer your question more pointedly, though, and to stop talking about my damn self, it all comes down to relationships that you build with people and the humility to take small jobs at nice places. It’s better to be interning somewhere with a good reputation and meeting people than it is to be trying to build your reel. If you have time to build a reel in your own time, that’s great, but it’s always better to position yourself with people you may want to be working with for a long time. Editing is about 50% craft and 50% having relationships. Craft will come eventually and on it’s own but relationships don’t always build themselves.