Because my wedding videography business is going very well now, I have had to look for a freelance editor to help with finishing some of them. As many know, when you are a photographer or videographer, the editing room can eat up your time (and profit per hour)
I posted an ad in Craigslist to see what kind of response I would get. The ad was very specific and outlined what exactly I was looking for. Here is the ad:
I am looking for an editor who uses either Premiere Pro or Final Cut to edit weddings that I film. Here are the criteria:
*You must have your own editing computer and editing software
*You must have an external hard drive you could bring to me to load the video files. (each video needs about 60 Gigs of free space)
*You must have the ability to finish videos within 2 weeks.
*You must be able to edit video in MY style
*You must be able to handle criticism and fix any and all issues within the two week time frame.
*You must be able to author the DVD Menu with selectable chapters.
*You must be EXTREMELY reliable.Here is the time line to see if you can handle it.
1. I give you the video files, audio files and notes concerning the wedding.
2. You complete a working draft of the video within one week of #1 above.
3. I critique the video and note where changes must be made.
4. You complete all changes and deliver 2nd draft within 4 days.
5. Final critique of changes that must be made
6. You make final changes and deliver completed DVD within 3 more days (two weeks after you received files)
7. I review final DVD, approve it, and cut check for your effort.I can complete a video within 10-15 hours, thus a good editor should be able to finish in a similar amount of time making this a very lucrative job. ($25-30 per hour) If it takes you twice the time, then the job still pays $12,5-$15 per hour) The faster you are, without sacrificing quality, the more you make per hour. his job is piece rate. You get paid when the video is complete and approved. f this sounds to tough, then please don’t waste my time or yours by emailing me. If you have never edited before, then don’t email me. If you are not extremely computer savvy, then don’t email me. This is for someone who knows what they are doing.
So, as you can see, I was very clear with the time line and requirements.
Several requests came in and I chose two of the people who contacted me to work. They both sounded intelligent, etc. I gave two separate projects to them. One to each. The first guy, we will call Dave, took the project on a Friday. The second, Bob, took his project on the following Tuesday.
From Bob, I got a first draft on the following Friday, just three days after giving him the raw footage. From Dave, nothing. Actually I did get some excuses about how his Mini Mac (later I would find out that he doesn’t even have a DVD burner) was freezing up on him.
I reviewed Bob’s work and returned it to him on Saturday. I then had a second draft by the following Tuesday (1 week folks). From Dave; nada.
I cut a check to Bob yesterday - one week and two days after I gave him the footage. FANTASTIC work by the way.
From Dave, after pulling some teeth, I got 5 minutes of shoddy editing severely compressed so that I could download it from the web. Not a full draft, not on DVD. Hmmmmmm?
What is the point?
The point is….what would make someone even say that they could do something if they knew from the get go that they cannot? Dave knew that he did not meet the criteria. He did not have a DVD burner on his mini-mac. (Mac’s cute commercials that rag on us PC users don’t mention the fact that they don’t even include a DVD burner)
My point is that two days after getting the footage, Dave should have said to me, “I can’t do it with my current computer. Here is your footage back.” Or Dave should have invested some money into a new computer. What is it gonna cost? My last PC that I use to edit cost about $750. Add an editing software like Premiere Elements and you have $850 in it. Not much money at all.
Where is the pride/work ethic?!?
P.s. I am sticking with Bob for my edits. I like his work.
Posted on August 24th, 2007 by Bill
Filed under: Self-employment rants