2022 US Post Production Report
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The 2022 BCPC Industry Report is now available for download.
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My PDAP Adventure: NAB 2022 with Michael Johnson
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NAB was my first tech convention I ever went to. I did not know what to expect at such a large venue. The first day I was there I was super nervous, what to see first? Will I see everything I want to? I decided to take advantage of just exploring, see what NAB had to offer.
Read MorePandemic Response Program for Post Production Workers Struggling Financially
/Work in post production and need some financial help? We can give you a $100 Visa Gift Card. Apply on our Google Form. We aren’t asking questions. We just want to support the community.
Have you been working steadily and have some resources to help? Donate to BCPC on our fee-free FB fundraiser and 100% of it will go to post production people.
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A lot of people in the post production community are struggling right now. We have decided to put together a program to help anyone in need.
Our goal is to raise at least $2000 this week. If we raise $2000 we can help 20 of our colleagues in this difficult time. If we exceed the goal, we can help more people.
We will give $100 of donations from the BCPC community to any post professional (including interns and PAs) in the US who needs it. We will disburse via Visa gift cards, so folks can choose what they need to spend the money on. BCPC will absorb the activation fee for the cards. Facebook is not charging fees for fundraisers right now, so 100% of donations will go to this program.
Apply for help via this Google Form: https://forms.gle/GRmqFTUFCD3h1agE8. We won’t ask questions, we won’t require documentation. If you need help, we’ll take your word for it. This is a community where we know and trust each other, and are here to support one another. That’s what BCPC is all about at its core.
Things we can help you with:
Food insecurity - fill your fridge
Bills that need paying
Gas to get to essential work
Supplies for your home and/or family
If you have work right now, you can help someone in your community who does not. Thousands in our community are unemployed and struggling financially with no end in sight (link: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/below-line-hollywood-faces-sudden-unemployment-coronavirus-a-disaster-1285110). Our community is here to support each other.
The Blue Collar Post Collective is operated by a team of volunteers who have full-time day jobs in the post production industry. Your financial contributions will make a huge difference to the impact they can help bring to the community. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization: 100% of our donations go directly back to the community. Our EIN is 47-5586400.
http://www.bluecollarpostcollective.com/
My PDAP Adventure: Sight Sound and Story (Daniel Gross)
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The unemployment rate of people with autism is about 90 percent…pretty wild, right? For me, in being an aspiring film/TV editor with autism, that’s pretty heavy with obvious implications. Since my University of Southern California MFA graduation in 2013, I’ve made some herculean efforts to earn a living as a film/video editor back in my homeland of New England, which I maintain is the only all-encompassing career objective I’ve ever truly had. However, inconsistent success at this sometimes has me feeling like a human pinball, bouncing off rails with irrational energy, racking up occasional impressive points out of dumb luck...only to end up free-falling past the flippers every damn time, in need of someone to launch me back up again. To me, this pinball machine represents the film industry, and I am just one of its wide-eyed players, always in danger of losing the quarters that fuel such madness.
This is why the Blue Collar Post Collective group is so invaluable for ALL of us in the post-production community, especially those with my “dancing around the edges” career status, so to speak.
Read MoreBCPC Get Moving Interview with Evan Pease
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Evan wants the world to have more music, less traffic, extra queso, and no mosquitos. Ever. When he’s not writing in the third person, Evan keeps busy making award-winning short films and industry-recognized advertising, hosting workshops at SXSW and trivia nights at local pubs.
Evan’s moving has overall been concentrated to the east coast. First, in 2008 he moved from Buffalo to Washington, D.C. He stayed there for a few years until moving in 2010 from there to Winston-Salem, NC. After six years in Winston-Salem, he moved locally to Kernersville, NC in 2016 and continued living there for another 2 years. Then in January 2018, Evan moved from Kernersville, NC all the way north to Buffalo, NY which was his hometown where he’s currently living. In total, starting with DC, he moved and lived in 2 apartments (DC), a duplex (NC), then 3 different houses (2 NC, 1 NY). He has moved a lot for work.
Read MoreMy PDAP Story: Manhattan Edit Workshop
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I first heard about the Blue Collar Post Collective Facebook group from my editing instructor Cara Friez at Point Park University. I joined the BCPC group about two years into my education because I developed an interest in pursuing a post-production career after college. BCPC is a great resource for individuals wanting a career in post-production. The organization is extremely useful for making connections with others in various cities along with job posts, helpful knowledge, and supportive conversations. As you are beginning a career in the industry it can be challenging to understand how to find work. Organizations like BCPC can provide support and help you succeed with your career in the industry. Success is predominantly about having a strong network and developing new connections with other filmmakers.
Read MoreMy First NAB Experience and 4 Lessons I Learned
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I’ve been working as an editor while also earning my MFA for the past three years in New York and had heard of NAB, but not had a chance to go until this year. A couple of some editing friends were going, but I don’t exactly have the funds to drop on a cross-country flight and trip unfortunately at the moment. I knew about the Blue Collar Post Collective’s PDAP program, but didn’t think I’d qualify. After doing some more research I decided to go for it and next thing I knew, I was flying to Las Vegas in April! I felt so lucky and grateful for the opportunity to get to attend NAB.
Read MoreBCPC Get Moving Interview with Ravi Kiran
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Ravi was born in NY, and when he was 2 or 3 years old, his family moved to Dallas, TX, where he grew up. Next, he moved to LA about two years ago. He’s currently an assistant editor, but also has one foot in the production world, and he enjoys going back and forth. Ravi is also a comedian, and says “Please don’t ask me to tell you a joke.”
Read MoreBCPC Get Moving Interview with Lyra Stewart
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Originally from a small city in the Philippines, Lyra grew up telling stories amidst blackouts and martial law. The richness of her childhood continues to inspire her as she weaves stories for a living. After finishing her undergrad at the University of the Philippines, Lyra went on to receive a scholarship for filmmaking in New York City. She was living in Hong Kong during the war in Afghanistan and couldn’t make sense of it all, so she decided to pursue a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University in New York with a focus on the intersection of media and human rights.
Travelling to work in other countries seemed implausible when Lyra was starting out in the mid-90’s. Taking that huge risk of uprooting herself from Manila has crafted a career trajectory she didn’t think was possible. A friend of Lyra’s once called her a nomad, and she was right. Her work has allowed her to live in New York, Hong Kong, Singapore, Manila, Egypt, New Zealand, Australia, and counting. As of now, she’s lived in seven countries and nine cities! Wow.
Her last big move was uprooting from New York City to Auckland nine years ago. However, Lyra is constantly “moving”, albeit briefly, for work. She returned from Australia cutting a series and is currently doing remote work for them, a business that she’s building.
Read MoreBCPC Get Moving Interview with Isabel Yanes
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Isabel has moved 4 times in her life, including her move to Los Angeles where she currently resides. She was 4 years old when she left Florida to live in Georgia. In 5th grade, she moved to another suburb in Georgia where life changed drastically. The community was primarily white, whereas the elementary school that she previously attended was mostly Black and Hispanic. She found it extremely difficult to assimilate, growing to hate her first language and culture, spending much of my youth wrestling with a split identity.
However, once she moved to Athens, GA at 18 and began classes at UGA, Isabel found others who had the same "double-life" experience: growing up in Hispanic households while living in white communities. These friendships really pushed her to embrace all the different parts of herself, including her aspiration of editing science fiction television. She lived in Athens for 4 years during my studies and moved a few months after graduation over to Los Angeles.
Although born into a huge Cuban family in Miami, Isabel was raised in Georgia and considers herself a true “Georgia peach.” She majored in Entertainment and Media Studies at the University of Georgia and LOVES watching the Dawgs play on Saturdays during football season! She has many passions that she pursues outside of work including: cooking and baking, mountain biking, nutrition and personal finance to name a few. Oh and READING! She wonders, “Any Sarah J Maas or Cassandra Clare fans out there??”
Read MoreBCPC Get Moving Interview with Michelle DeLateur
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Michelle moved to LA for college (Occidental College), then straight to NYC for grad school (NYU), and 10 years later, she moved back to Los Angeles. “As soon as you leave a place, your relationship to it changes. Suddenly, everything is new and it creates a new frame. I now take this lens with me.”
She is constantly evolving, experiencing, and learning how to live in the moment. She frequently takes notes and writes for future ideas and projects. Additionally, she is quite interested in the music and film landscapes.
Michelle, on moving: “ My lens shifted immediately, and for the better. In LA everything feels new. And that same mindset, and curiosity, has expanded to all areas of my life.” She currently resides in LA.
Read MoreBCPC Get Moving Interview with Matt Christensen
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When it comes to moving, Matt has made one major move so far. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska and lived there until he graduated high school. Then, right at 18, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue a degree in Film Production. However, also during his studies, he did have an entire semester abroad where he lived with a host family in Bonn, Germany. He’s been living in LA for about a decade, now.
Matt currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Theresa and their cat, Little Bit. He loves computers and the nitty gritty of post production technology. In Matt’s free time, you’ll find him either learning to write software or on a plane to somewhere new – he makes it a point to visit a minimum of one new country every year.
Read MoreBCPC Get Moving Interview with Yoni Rusnak
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BCPC LA Member Yoni Rusnak has seven years of television post-production experience. He has worked in Sydney, Australia, New York and Los Angeles as an assistant editor in both reality and scripted television. Shows he has worked on include The Voice Australia, Master Chef Australia, Black Ink Crew, Caribbean Life, Major Crimes and Love Is__, a show that premiered on OWN in 2018. He is a volunteer with The Soldiers Project, where he uses video to brings awareness to veterans’ struggles with mental health. He has lived on three continents and four cities, from Sydney to Tel Aviv. He currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife and one-eyed Puerto Rican rescue dog who is also the subject of his half-sleeve tattoo.
Read MoreBCPC Get Moving Interview with Kylee Peña
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I started this “Get Moving” interview series in what feels like a long overdue fashion. After having many approach me about my own moving blog and how helpful it was to have another experience to read about or relate to, it sparked me to interview others in our industry who have made a move somewhere for their own work.
My first story is from Kylee Peña, who was born and raised in Indiana. She currently works in Creative Technologies at Netflix. Before that, she worked in dailies and workflow across broadcast and streaming media including shows like Scorpion and Jane the Virgin.
Read MoreBCPC: Now Over 10,000 Strong
/On November 14, 2018, BCPC officially hit 10,000 members on Facebook, bringing our worldwide membership officially into 5 digits. Katie Hinsen shared an oral history of BCPC’s origins.
“In early 2014, I started a new job at a post house in New York. This idea had been brewing for some time... I wanted the younger people, the machine room operators, the assistants, the online editors and interns from different facilities to meet each other, because I knew they had a lot in common but never a chance to meet.
James Reyes started the same week as me, so I asked him to invite his old colleagues, I'd invite my old colleagues, and we'd invite our new team to drinks at a bar pretty equidistant to all the post houses.
When drafting the email, I called it "Blue Collar Post Alliance". Blue collar refers to the fact that these people in particular are usually not invited to other events, nor do they have opportunities to professionally network. The so-called Blue Collar workers are those who get it done and aren't fancy, often overlooked for their contribution. That original name is why this facebook group's URL is BCPANY.
The first meetup of 12 people was a huge hit. People knew folks at other facilities they wanted to invite. Soon we did it again, and the email invite was forwarded on. We had over 40 people at the second meetup. The email chain went all over town by the third one, and when almost 100 people showed up, we decided to try and manage this thing beyond the people we knew.
I set up a Facebook group so people could hear about the meetups without knowing me or James or the original few people personally. We put together a little committee of Michael Hernandez, James Reyes, Janis Vogel, Pat Gerrity, Matt Levy and myself. Matt saw one of my tattoos and suggested it would make a cool logo...
After an article about this rapidly-growing, underground club of young post professionals ran in POST MAGAZINE, we had some challenges. We were getting big, and wildly successful, and that meant we were seen as a threat to some groups. This forced us to change our name to Blue Collar Post Collective, formalize our structure to be above board and legally sound, and dig our heels in with a strong determination to not be scared off doing something we truly believed in. I'll never forget Thanksgiving weekend 2014, being so upset and angry and fiercely determined to let nobody take this away and nothing stand in the way of this wonderful thing we had going. For a while though, it was really hard. Most of the original committee were unable to remain officially involved because being part of BCPC made you a target of industry bullies.
Me and Janis Vogel pushed on, and we officially launched as a formal organization in February 2015.
Shortly after, one of our members, Alex Etienne, was invited to present a technical paper he wrote to the SMPTE conference in Los Angeles. What nobody there knew was that he was an intern in New York, and couldn't afford to go to the conference. Missing out on what could have been a career-making opportunity because of the barrier of cost alone was something I never wanted to happen to anyone ever again. I wanted to start raising money to send people like Alex to every damn conference to change the face of "experts". To do that I had to go through the process of making BCPC a 501c3 non-profit, which was a long and difficult legal process that we had to do ourselves as we had no money for legal help. With the help of Grace Ryan I quickly became a bit of an expert on tax and non-profit law! That work allowed us to begin the PDAP program.
BCPC has since grown exponentially, and under the leaderships of Janis Vogel, Kylee Peña, Chris Visser, Siân Fever, Chelsea Taylor - our board and various committees, we are now on the ground in New York, Los Angeles and London. We have members worldwide on every continent (including those who have worked in Antarctica). BCPC facilitates over 20 programs to make the industry more accessible and inclusive, and from 12 people in a bar in Manhattan, we now have 10,000 members in our Facebook group.
The thing I'm most proud of about Blue Collar Post Collective is that it's started a movement of making our industry more open, kind, generous and friendly. This movement has inspired companies and organizations across our industry to think about diversity, including folks from a wider range of backgrounds and valuing those who are younger, older, and otherwise traditionally overlooked.
I had this idea to start a thing. What it has become is beyond what I ever dreamed it could be. The community has inspired and contributed, and BCPC is 100% the product of what its members have made it. It's a really amazing thing, it's the love of my life, the greatest thing I've ever done and I love sitting back these days, watching it grow and do so much good in our little world.”
BCPC Get Moving Interview with Andy Young
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I started this “Get Moving” interview series in what feels like a long overdue fashion. After having many approach me about my own moving blog and how helpful it was to have another experience to read about or relate to, it sparked me to interview others in our industry who have made a move somewhere for their own work.
My first story is from Andy Young, a director and video editor, primarily working in comedy. He’s 27 years old and moved from Austin, TX to Los Angeles, CA back in 2016.
Read MoreBCPC Member Highlight: Quincy Ledbetter ( New York City)
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Meet filmmaker Quincy Ledbetter of #NYC. Quincy has made documentaries about ageism and climate change, Islamaphobia, suicide amongs LGBTQ youth and tiny homes - the list goes on and so does the list of his roles. Check out his journey from artist on-the-side, to being the current Video Director & Senior Video Editor at HuffPost.
Give a brief summary of your trajectory into film in New York City.
This is a very long story, but I'll try to keep it as concise as possible.
I was living in Northern Virginia working normal 9-to-5 jobs and doing photography and music on the side trying to pursue my dreams full time. I started to feel like I had peaked in the DC Metro area as a musician and I realized that I couldn't go much further if I stayed in my hometown. The problem was I was too afraid to leave.
One day I was at work and thought about the place where I was the most afraid to live and that was New York City, so I decided that I would move there at the top of the next year. 6 months later I was gone.
Read MoreBCPC Member Highlight: Rachael Knudsen (New York)
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10 years ago I was a producer on the show 16 & Pregnant and so was Rachael Knudsen. We had desks facing each other and became fast friends. As we both grew professionally, I really wanted to continue working with her, but if we were both producers that wouldn't happen. I was drawn to editing and the bonus of my career switch was that I could be a team with my best friend crafting stories together. And that's exactly what happened. So, now I have the pleasure of sharing her experience as a producer over the past decade with all of you!
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Give a brief summary of your trajectory into post in New York City...
I've worked as a producer in television for over a decade in NYC, both producing and directing in field and in post. But one of the first jobs I got after college was an associate producer gig on a weekly Food Network web series, where I was on a two-person team developing, producing, shooting, and editing short behind-the-scenes spots for the network every week. I'm still not sure how or why I got this job, but it truly was a great bootcamp. I had taken some Final Cut editing classes in college, however Food Network was Avid based. And I remember thinking, "Avid can't be that different from Final Cut, right? I'll just say I have 'some' experience with Avid and figure it out." I basically spent the next year, pulling all-nighters learning how to stumble my way through the software. I don't know how much I'd promote fibbing on your resume to get ahead, but I was willing to put in the extra hours and never delivered anything short of what I promised, so in this case, my "fake it until you make it" worked out. Over the next ten years, I produced shows for MTV, Lifetime, LMN, Animal Planet, (mostly docu-series) and now, I'm currently producing at Viceland.
Read MoreBCPC Member Highlight: Ann Collins (New York)
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I met Ann Collins at Sight, Sound & Story this year. She discussed the art of documentary storytelling on a panel and I was very inspired by her description of the patience she exercises in allowing a story to unfold. A great way to approach many hours of footage. I will never forget that advice and wanted to share her wisdom with all of you. Of course it helps that she is incredibly talented in winding a tale - her latest film is Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold. She has recently joined the BCPC - let's give her a big welcome!
- Give a brief summary of your trajectory into post in New York City...
I went to film school at NYU as an undergraduate. I kind of stumbled into the program; I wasn’t a student who passionately went in wanting to direct feature films, I was just curious about what they were doing in film school, and I must admit, I was a bit lost. Everyone wanted to be directors or cinematographers. I really enjoyed screenwriting classes and cinema studies classes, but I wasn’t sure what was going to happen to me once I graduated, how I was going to find a foothold in the film industry based on the fact that I liked writing dialogue and watching movies. In my senior year, Ian Maitland, a professor who taught a senior level production class, came up the aisle to where I was sitting in a very large theater-style classroom to hand me back a paper I had written for him. “You know, Ann,” he said, “I think you are an editor. You’re such a nice person, and you have all these ideas about story, and that’s what an editor is. I know – because I’m an editor, and editors are always the nicest people.”
Read MoreLuck: A True Hollywood Story | BCPC Member Story
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“It’s all about who you know.” It’s the phrase anyone who’s ever expressed interest in working in show biz has heard. But what if you don't know anyone? What if you dream of making it in Hollywood and don’t have anyone in your extended network who can help you meet the right people to make that dream come true? Sounds like a situation that is totally out of your control, right? Not exactly. There’s a formula for breaking into the business that everyone can use. I used it to secure a job in one of the most competitive industries on the planet.
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