How I Started a $10k / Month Freelance Editing Business in LA

Hi, I am August and I moved to LA after college to work as a screenwriter, only to discover how hard the job market is for an aspiring writer.

One of my first gigs was a Production Assistant with some editing work at a startup company.

I’ve always been techy and did some editing work in college, so it clicked for me and I’ve been cutting ever since. I like to tell people that editing is the same art form as writing just from a different direction.

When you’re writing it’s like you’re working with clay, starting with nothing and forming the shape of a story. Editing is like working with stone – chipping away at unnecessary elements to shape that same story.

Who or what inspired you to become an editor / writer?

There are some wonderful films that I loved growing up, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Indiana Jones… but there’s no one thing I can point to. I just love storytelling and wanted to be a part of it. As a shy introverted kid writing or editing seemed much less stressful than say, directing or acting.

How did you land your first client as a freelancer?

I actually landed a few of my first gigs as a freelancer through a Facebook job board. At the start of my career I figured that since I didn’t have a ton of experience and couldn’t be competitive on my resume, I could be competitive on speed. So I set up a notification on my phone to pop up every time a gig was posted and had an email with attached resume ready to go. The goal was to apply for a gig within a minute of it being posted. This strategy landed me my first couple gigs and the rest is history.

What’s your editing process once you have the files?

Before I even open the edit I try to gather as much information about the project as possible. What am I making, how long is the final piece, where is it being distributed, etc. I find with some clients asking “What is this video trying to accomplish” is a great question and brings out a lot of valuable information.

What is this video trying to accomplish?

The specifics vary project to project, and I get to skip steps if I’m working with an assistant or a story producer, as well as which software I’m working in, but generally I organize the footage, project, and multicams and get everything on timelines. Sometimes one big timeline with all the footage, other times I’ll have timelines for each scene or group of BROLL, it just depends on what the project needs.

Then I watch through all the footage and do what I call “cutting out the bull$#%!”, removing all production chatter and stuff that wouldn’t ever go in the edit. It forces me to watch the content actively and turns everything into clips that are easy to work with. Next I throw my scene sequences into the source monitor and use them to assemble a radio cut.

From there I watch the cut and look for opportunities to do something interesting or creative editorially, tweaking and polishing throughout. Next is sound design and graphics, and then I finish by scoring with music. That gets me to the rough cut which I share with producers/directors and we go from there.

Which platforms & tools do you use?

I don’t use anything for contracting, just sign whatever the client asks for more or less.

Editing	Writing	Storage	Sound & music
AVID	Google Docs	Dropbox	Epidemic Sound
Premiere	Microsoft Office	LTO storage
DaVinci Resolve		Nexis
Final Cut Pro		Unity
After Effects
Adobe Media Encoder
Photoshop
Illustrator

Which project or video are you most proud of?

Phone Swap for sure. It was one of my first gigs as an assistant, and I became fast friends with Michael, the editor on the project.

Scan the QR code above in the SnapChat app to check out Phone Swap

Michael pushed for me to be given the opportunity to cut an episode in season one, and with his creative support my first ever credit snagged 10 million views in 2 days. That project launched my career and it’s still going, Phone Swap is now one of the biggest shows on Snapchat. We’re on something like season 15, and I try to make time to cut at least one episode every season.

Are you available for any new projects?

Absolutely, feel free to get in touch at [email protected]

Do you have any advice for freelance editors moving to LA?

Read Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People. It’s basically a guide to being charming.

Being personable and easy to work with has gotten me so much farther in this business than my technical or even creative abilities. Be thoughtful about your time and energy. I look at potential gigs in terms of money, work/life balance, and career opportunity. If a project isn’t giving me at least 2 out of 3 I generally don’t take the project.

How are you doing today and what does the future look like?

Last year was my best year freelancing yet. I’m really sad it’s looking like we’re going back to offices because working from home has allowed me to take on more work *and* have a healthier work life balance. This year my goal is to start moving into more narrative work. Picking up editing or even assisting work on a scripted series is my main short term career goal.