When I’m working as a film or video editor, most of the time I’m working my ass off for decent or not so decent pay. Yesterday, I worked on a corporate job with a team of editors mostly from out-of-town. I was called in through a reference as the team was behind in finishing the videos and showreels for an upcoming convention by a large corporation. The company had been very slow in getting material to the editing team. I spent half or most of my time waiting for footage. And then when I got the footage, it took no time at all to string or assemble the clips on a timeline. Hurry up & wait! I had worked on a team-building video before years ago. This was somewhat similar. This company was having their employees make their own videos. Ugh!

What was projected to be a two or three-day gig ended up only being one very long day, 14 hours to be exact. I got paid very well with some time and a half. So, no complaints. Well, except on! During the 14 hours, we were freezing our butts off. Apparently, the casino keeps the AC switched to NORTH POLE! One side of the room was slightly cold. I was in the frozen tundra! At least I got a really nice catered meal for lunch. And the view was not too shabby either! All in a day’s work.

This was the highest I had ever been paid in one day. With freelance work, some days are better than others.

My view from a catered lunch at the Convention Center