Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Painting by Numbers

Cross another one off the list. I just gave my one month's notice at work. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to this day. I think most people I work with would tell you I haven't been happy there for quite some time. Over the past few months the job has felt more and more like factory work. Less about creativity and more about repetition. Quantity over quality. All of us recognize that we aren't doing award-winning feature film production. It is direct marketing advertising after all. Make the phones ring, get those leads.

But along the way we've forgotten a little bit about what made the job enjoyable. In order to bring about greater consistency, new ideas often get dismissed instantly because someone didn't "get it." It was the old gung-ho attitude that often brought out the best of our creativity. Admittedly at times we may have had too much freedom. But whether or not an idea got used in a project, it often brought a spark to the team that might pave the way for more creative solutions and treatments down the road. I miss the days when we built on each other's ideas or tried to one-up the previous commercial. Frankly, we've been reduced to this one from James McMurtry:



That said, I'd be remiss if I didn't thank everyone for the opportunity I've had there. It doesn't seem all that long ago when I nearly lied my way into some freelance work with them. I learned an awful lot from two veteran editors who had seen it all before. They gave me the opportunity to learn the necessary skills while also letting me stretch out and do some some pretty fun creative work. I hope it isn't too long until you guys get to do what you want to do once again. I also want to thank the producers I've worked with over the years. Especially those that pushed and helped me come up some of our best work together. The best part of my job was always the collaboration between the producers and my fellow editors. To those calling the shots, ease up. Have some patience. Allow a little more independence and have some faith in what your production staff can do. You might be surprised.

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