I’ve been using Final Cut Pro (FCP) since its inception and what a great thing. It just so happened that the buzz of FCP got the attention of all the film students that graduated and had no work in this industry. I was one of them. The year before FCP hit the shelves I just graduated UNCG’s film program. One of the problems I had with the school was it did not have a non-linear editing suite. We learned to cut of videos on SVHS editing bays. A great way to learn how to put a story together but it held no merit to any production house.

This is how I will recall my college experience. Forgive me ladies if this sounds chauvinistic. It was if I was in sex ed back in high school and then went to a nudie bar to get a lap dance but could never get the real deal. I had all the tools and the mindset to go into the world and rock it. Then boom no one would hire me without any experience. So I went into “the field” and got some experience off the bat. I worked on many Independent films as a grip or a Production Assistant (PA) for about 4 months.

The first film was the best one and should’ve been the last. I left my comfy corporate job as a traffic coordinator at Westwood One in NYC to work as a Grip/PA for “deferred payment” on “Killing Cinderella”. The great thing about the work was I met some great people that I still keep in touch with. OK, I kept in touch with one person from that shoot and it has nothing to do with the fact of getting more work or any of that. Nolfo is just a cool chica that has a mind that constantly thinks about producing a story in so may incredible ways that it boggles my mind. A brief note on “Defered Payment”… That is the industry way of saying you won’t get paid. Unless you are working for Steven Spielberg or any well known producer, stay away. Unless you don’t want to get paid.

I worked on these films for about 3-4 months and made no money and to cap it off I lived with my parents. I lived on my own for 6 years in NC then I graduate and end up with my folks in Long Branch, NJ, what happened? I was extremely depressed, not making any money, living with my folks and not moving forward in my career doing grunt work. So I moved back to Greensboro, NC to finish a project I started in college. This is how I was introduced to FCP and the beginning of my professional career. I edited my documentary “Greensboro’s Child,” on a G4 400 MHz to start it off. Once I got the rough cut done and the production company I was a part of went belly up. I finished my documentary on an iMac DV+ which was a G3 and 450MHz. My oh my did those render times kill me. But the iMac did it for me and only 3 years later I can finally put the project to rest and feel great about it. My god how FCP has grown since then and thank you Steve Jobs and Apple for upgrading the Mac to what it is today and I am anxiously awaiting to see what the new Intel Power Macs will do.

There was no chance of me ever getting the opportunity to edit and put together an award winning documentary without FCP and apple. I’m now six years in and loving every second of it. Apple just lowered their FX software Shake to $499 so anyone that has the patience and skill can do movie magic. I know I have the skill, I just hope my patience will bear it.

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