The filmmaking job I’m trying to fire myself from

When Being Good = Being Trapped

If you’re reading this newsletter, you’re probably somebody who’s made some films before, or hopes to make some in the near future. And if so, there are probably certain jobs you’ve discovered you’re pretty good at.

Maybe you’re a strong editor. Maybe you’re great with cameras. Maybe you have a good eye for production design, or you’re unusually organized and always end up producing everything.

And when you’re starting out, that’s great. You’re going to end up doing those jobs constantly, and you’ll get even better at them.

But eventually, being good at something can become a trap. Because the better you get at one of those jobs, the harder it becomes to stop doing it.

Most filmmakers I know ultimately want to write & direct their own films. They don’t necessarily dream of spending the rest of their lives as an AD, grip, production designer, or whatever other job they happened to become good at along the way.

Stick with it long enough and eventually you get good enough at one of those jobs that people start paying you to do it.

For me, that job was editing.

Story Time

Early in my filmmaking career, I did basically everything. But I got especially good at editing.

I was already a computer nerd, so iMovie and Adobe Premiere were interesting to learn, and I had no problem sitting in front of a screen for absurd amounts of time moving clips around until something worked.

It took a long time for me to realize it, but that was a particularly valuable skill I’d built. It definitely improved my films, and when I was stuck waiting tables in Los Angeles it helped me transition into paid editing work. And of course with an actual career under my belt, I was better able to fund my own projects.

Then I started making educational videos on YouTube, and editing helped me once again. Early on, I wasn’t great on camera, but I could fix a lot in the edit and lean on that skill to make the video stronger.

Being good at editing had helped me over and over again… until finally it started getting in the way.

For years, I would write and shoot a YouTube video in 2-3 days, then spend 1-2 weeks editing it!

Clearly, I’d found my bottleneck.

So eventually I hired an editor, but I was such a control freak that I never fully fired myself. I just demoted myself to part-time. Once my old editor had finished several rounds of edits on a video, I’d still open Premiere and spend a full day at least polishing it, because parts weren’t exactly how I would have done it.

And that went on for years. At times I wasn’t even sure if it was saving me that much time vs editing the whole thing myself.

Now I’m finally trying to actually fire myself. My goal is simple: I don’t want to open Adobe Premiere for YouTube videos anymore. I’m taking the same approach with the admin side of my channel too.

And something happened this morning that made me think I might finally be getting there.

My most recent YouTube video is about how professional editors build systems to make editing easier, and the workflows and habits nobody really teaches you. (You should check it out btw, lots of nuggets of gold in there!)

After I uploaded it to YouTube, I told my virtual assistant Noemi to take it across the finish line. Handle all the details and publish it.

Then I intentionally stopped paying attention.

This morning I woke up and was shocked to see the video was live… I didn’t even know it was going live today!

My first reaction was panic.

I started mentally running through everything I hadn’t personally checked. Video description, sponsor emails, video chapters, end screen — everything I usually feel compelled to double and triple check.

So I pulled up the video… and it was fine.

Everything was handled. Nothing had exploded.

And it was weirdly hard to process, because I had just saved myself hours of tedious work by simply not insisting on being involved. Apparently this is how you’re supposed to run a business (who knew!).

But it also made something click for me about filmmaking.

Firing yourself from a job is really about promoting you back to the job you were actually supposed to be doing in the first place.

If you’re the director, your job isn’t to be in the weeds, it’s to see the whole movie in your head, and know what matters and why.

And that gets a lot harder when your head is buried in the weeds.

Context Over Control

Filmmaking is one of the most collaborative art forms there is, and if you try to personally control every detail, you’re going to have a bad time. More importantly, you’ll spend energy doing jobs that someone else could do better.

The wiser approach is to stop trying to control people and start giving them context.

Pick people you trust and make sure they understand and share your goal. Give them the vision, explain what matters and why, and then simply let them do their jobs.

You still give notes, steer the ship, and correct course when things drift. But you don’t need your hands on the wheel all day and night.

Clint Eastwood is a good example of this. He’s known for working quickly, hiring experienced people, and trusting them to do their jobs. That’s why he only does 1-2 takes and moves on to the next shot. He trusts his team.

Doesn’t mean it’s the best way to make movies, everyone has to find their own balance. But indie filmmakers in particular tend to struggle here.

We start out doing everything ourselves, because we have to. No money, no crew, no choice. Then one day, we finally have people who can take some of those jobs off our plate… And we don’t let them.

Because we’re actually pretty good at those jobs now! That means we know exactly how we like things done. Truly letting go feels very risky all the sudden.

But the skills that got you there aren’t the same skills that may take you where you want to go.

So I think it’s worth ripping that Band-Aid off. Pick one job you probably shouldn’t be doing anymore and actually fire yourself from it. Don’t half-fire yourself like I did for years.

Give someone else the context they need, let them do it, and see if the sky falls.

It probably won’t.

And if everything indeed turns out fine but you still feel anxious about it, that might tell you something important.

Maybe you’re just more comfortable with the stress of control than the stress of trust.

Let’s make some movies.

-Kent