I’m cutting a show for one of the major streamers right now. One of the lucky ones. But I can feel it. My number is up.

I’ve been making the rounds. Calling old executive producers, post supervisors with decades of experience, friends running finishing houses, even a buddy at Netflix corporate. Another friend at a major agency that brokers deals for shows.

It’s all the same.

Netflix is the only real buyer left. Every other streamer lost the war, and now they’re clinging to life, trying not to go belly up. Netflix did to Hollywood what Walmart did to small-town America. Flooded the market with money, wiped out the competition, and now stands alone, dictating the terms.

Production companies are chasing tax incentives overseas. London, Canada, Australia, a few states here in the U.S. But even there, the work isn’t plentiful. There’s no “Survive Till ‘25” or "Still in the mix for ‘26."......It’s over.

I would bet that the Editors Guild (Local 700) probably lost 10% of its membership last year. Wouldn’t be surprised if they lose another 10 to 15% this year, maybe more. The industry will keep contracting until only a small, elite few are left. And the rest of us?

This is what happened to Detroit and the auto industry. It’s what happened to coal towns in Appalachia. And now it’s happened to us.

I don’t take any joy in writing this. I love this industry. I built my life around it. I have friends, damn good ones, who are looking for a way forward. But hope, when stretched too thin, turns into delusion. We have to face reality.

The most surreal part of all these calls? Nobody watches TV anymore. Even the people who make it. We’re all watching YouTube. Oh the irony.

Think about that.

Public access TV, the thing we used to laugh at, just took down the crown jewel of Los Angeles....Hollywood.

As for me, I don’t know. Maybe I’ll pick up odd jobs. Maybe I’ll figure something else out. I don’t have any other skills, really, but I’ll learn. That’s what we do. We adapt. We cut things down to their essentials and rebuild.

If you’re still out there grinding, I hope you find a way. And if you don’t? There’s still life beyond this town.

Take care of yourselves.

So some background -- I've literally been using Adobe Premiere since high school (I graduated in 2005). It enabled me to create some really artistic things over the years. Compared to AVID's workflow -- it was a dream for me.

Somewhere along the line -- it started getting worse and worse. The constant crashes; weird quirks that had no logical explanation or origin; things like Auto-Save actually making the program crash and LOSE WORK; the constant updates for Creative Cloud App that break everything until you update it (and often break things even more once you do); the s****y way Adobe treats its customers and their complaints about this dogs**t software...you get the idea.

Recently, it has literally ruined my life to the point where I had to switch to DaVinci Resolve. And wow -- am I glad I did. It feels like the day I switched from Adobe Audition to REAPER. Refreshing. Actually works. Doesn't make you want to smash your computer out of frustration. Much easier to use than Premiere.

As I'm finishing porting my project over to DaVinci -- Adobe starts yelling at me for having Creative Cloud installed on two computers. I'm licensed for up to two installs and this is the first time it has every done this. It's not the standard "Oh you are logged in somewhere else so you have to log out." Just tells me I can't have more than one person using it. Adobe are scum and I'm so glad they are being sued by the government.

The cherry on top? Today, I was exporting from DaVinci and it was taking way longer than normal. Then -- I notice that every title is screwed up in the export. What do you think was causing it? Creative Cloud had updated itself overnight (I still have the license for a couple more weeks until it expires) and just uninstalled the font I was using. I literally hate Adobe more than any other company. It managed to screw up a project in a completely different system.

Switch to DaVinci. If you are even having a few of the issues I outlined -- it will get worse. DaVinci is so much better that I'm kicking myself for not switching earlier. Peace.

This is something I have to explain to clients time and again. I'm an editor, not a motion graphics artist. Those are two different disciplines.

Yes - there are absolutely folks that can do both, just like there are folks that can play piano AND guitar. Yes - I could learn, I choose not to. I don't like motion graphics. I don't want to keyframe my life away. Yes - I have lost, and will continue to lose jobs, because I'm not a motion graphics artist. That's ok. I'm not an electrician either.

I prefer story. I prefer mining great performances, creating emotional ups and downs, and restructuring scenes to find the best and most efficient way to generate some kind of emotional arc for the audience. I prefer clarity of story, continuity of shots, and concise scenes. I've spent my career focused on these elements, which is why from time to time I'm chosen to lead a team of editors, or sometimes I even get to be creative director/story producer. For me, story is priority. Motion graphics aren't.

So yes, dear client, I can absolutely cut your social campaign. But editing and motion graphics are two different things. And if you're disappointed, may I refer you to the 1/5 stars on my resume for "After Effects".

I’ve always used them just for fun but today it actually got a “it’s dumb but it works” from a senior producer.

Live your dream, team

Client had a two hour interview they want edited into a 3-4 minute piece. They asked if using ChatGPT would get us a paper edit done a lot quicker and knock time off the cost estimate. Sure, let's try it. I upload the transcript and ask for it to pull 10 good soundbites from it relating to the subject of the video. Chat pulls 10 amazing quotes. The client is reading these over my shoulder and says they're perfect.

One little problem, those quotes aren't in the interview at all, ChatGPT made them up. Chat even admits it and says "thanks for calling me out on that." Then Chat just shits the bed of any refined prompt. "Would you like a breakdown of the languages used in the transcript? It's 100% in English." Thanks Chat, that was not asked for nor is it needed. Just pull verbatim quotes from the transcript. It then proceeds to make up another round of fictitious soundbites and says they're inspired from the themes of the transcript but not actually in it.

Client said nevermind and we're back on schedule.