The blogging lately has been tough to keep up with. After my last posting I came down with the Flu. Luckily I was already on the antibiotics from a sinus infection, so the fix was quick. During that sick period I was given an opportunity to advance my career forward as an editor. I never really saw myself as an editor to be honest. I am somewhat self taught in non-linear editing. When I graduated school the old way of editing from machine to machine was pretty much gone. So as I entered the workforce I had to learn this new thing called The Avid. Now what is the Avid you ask? It's an editing system, but a non-linear one. In school we used one of these things in my last semester, after the previous semesters of learning the old linear way with both film and video. Now, I have been editing ever since I was 13 and figured out how to do it with two VCR's tied together. But it was always so time consuming and frustrating once you finished something that you couldn't go back and re-edit a new idea you had. So I stuck with writing, cause you could always use the word processor to change your ideas quickly. Then I answered a job in the paper for a position as a graphic designer for a company called Marketing Management Inc. (MMI) Graphic design was part of my major, and they liked my portfolio. They took me on a tour of the building and told me they were beginning a video/multimedia department. Bingo. They had even bought an Avid and had a commercial produced on it that in all honesty was lame. I told them I would take the position but that I wanted that Avid. I wrote a whole new script and shot a bunch of new footage and learned the Avid inside and out. And it was on that commercial that for the first time I actually enjoyed the process of editing. In fact I loved it. It was a new way for me to communicate a story without words. I was hooked. Sure I went upstairs and designed when there was nothing to cut, but I couldn't wait to get back down there and slice something up into a story.
MMI is where I met pretty much everything that's in my life today. I met my beautiful fiance, Amy there. I met all these amazing artists including Kevin Flach, a guy who taught me things I use every day in my job. I brought my college buddy, Shawn Kelly in to start the internet division of MMI. I even designed the logo and came up with the name Immotion Studios for our multimedia department. We were young and determined to make a splash in the DFW area. We had all the talent and all the resources of MMI. But more than anything we had the support of The Pease family who owned MMI and Herb Pease Sr. was a guy who built the business from the trunk of his car door to door. I admired that to no end. I could only hope to be as successful as he was. As time wore on in the late 90's to 2000, things were pretty good. We had new bosses, and we even separated into two groups. One Internet and one Multimedia. Then we got a new boss, then another, and another. It was getting ridiculous. And after a while I was starting to realize that maybe I was in a rut creatively and so I decided to turn back to art. I finished a short film that Shawn and I had never finished in college. Then this awesome thing happened. Final Cut Pro. Changed my life. Now I could edit at home and cheaply. I started making short films again and editing them at home after hours. I premiered them at work and on the internet. I was in a zone cranking these little comedies out. Then the bottom fell out.
9/11. I walked into work after just finishing a new short film, and saw the crowd around the TV near my edit suite. That one morning really changed the course of everyone's lives in my department. Management panicked and begin laying off people. But then there was a ray of hope. My shorts began to generate some heat around the office as I started selling a compilation of them to raise some money for 9/11. This all got back to Herb Pease Sr. and he asked me how can you make money on these things and I said well you really can't unless you make a feature film. And from that a little script called Seventy-8 was born. I think maybe Herb saw some of himself in me as I did of myself in him. As Seventy-8 grew closer I began to get more and more involved with Amy and my life was taking a turn both emotionally and creatively. It was a rollercoster of emotions. Then just before Seventy-8 was about to roll, MMI layed off even more people. And Kevin was among them. I was fucking pissed. I was told by my now 8th boss that I was seen as the future and that Kevin was not. How nice. Now I was very conflicted at this point. I mean I was so enamored with Sr. for trusting me with this film, but I was also angry that they would let Kevin go. If they only knew what he could do and accomplish. Sure I was the 'golden boy' at the moment, but I wasn't the glue guy. When I helped Kevin take his things out to his car I felt as if my heart was ripped out of my chest. I was clearly divided but dedicated to making this movie. Kevin even told me to forget about it and go make my dream. It hurt but I marched on.
After the movie was shot I moved back to my day job and juggled editing a feature film and commercials quite nicely. Now that Kevin was gone I worked with this amazing lady named Lesha. We bonded quickly and established a great one-two punch. We did great for over a year, then Lesha left for greener pastures. When she left I felt totally alone. Who would sell my services now? As the move kept rolling along, we finished. Did the festival thing and all that. And again I settled back into my job as a video producer/editor. Then Marija came into the fold and at first I was skeptical of her I must say. I was real fond of Lesh and I didn't know if she could pick up where she left off. I was wrong. She fit in great and after a few shaky first projects we worked great together. Then Shawn left for a new place and then Amy left. And the way she was treated by boss number whatever was evil and uncalled for. I took it very personally and it felt even worse than Kevin leaving. But I was happy for Amy, and we soon got engaged over the holidays.
Then at the beginning of this year we got another new boss and were dislocated from Creative Services to be a team of two. Which was fine really. But I have to say I was skeptical of where we were headed for the future and really tired of re-explaining what we do again. We had a great year for just two people, but I don't think anyone really sat down and saw that. I could be wrong, but we made money. I am and always will be 100 percent dedicated to where I work. But the halls of MMI were getting lonely. Herb Sr. was rarely around anymore and it just seemed cold to me. The energy was gone, and it was starting to affect my spirits. Then I got a call and opportunity knocked for me at a new place called VNR1 Communications in Arlington. It is a chance for me to find myself again and to again work with others like Kevin that do and think like I do. For the past 2 years its been me in a room talking to myself. Sure I discovered new things and all that but I was missing the communication with others in my field. My learning was beginning to become stunted. VNR has asked me to come in and teach them new things and also learn from them. I'm excited and looking forward to working with new people and sharing new ideas. Something I've lacked for several years now.
I am now no longer with MMI, but the parting was good, and the hope is I can continue to work with them on a contract basis with several clients. I will continue my business with Herb on the film "Seventy-8" to its completion. I have no hard feelings toward MMI, and I left with a sense of sadness and a sense of wonder of where my future lies. I owe much of my life to MMI, and will always be greatful and sad that things could not have turned out better than they did.
