Hey John-- Thank you for your post, and I wanted to let you know that I did not feel that you accused me of anything, but I appreciate the gesture you put forward. Your point is well taken in that the audience of the Avid-L is not typical of other editor forums where some posts seem to have an underlying intent to get something for nothing. You and I do share common interests in protecting and defending copyrights, and I hold your experience as an editor-- on this topic-- in high regard.
I think you hit upon two key words-- "traditional" and "portfolio." In the "linear epoch," building and distributing what was then accurately termed a "demo reel" were a PIA. I think you will agree that securing rights permissions, gathering material, updating and distribution of one's reel were all time consuming and somewhat costly to the individual editor marketing their services. When non-linear systems came around, updating the demo became easier, but not perfect, as rights clearances and distribution issues (now via DVD?) still footwork needing to be addressed; but the process was starting to streamline. We were, indeed, repackaging copyrighted material for our own use, whether permitted or not. This was part of the environment of the so-called 500 channel universe. (I think it was Springsteen: "500 channels and nothing on," right?)
My position is that we are now in the 1000+ channel universe, and one can easily drown in this ocean of content (if they already haven't before) in terms of proper attribution of the creative ground troops. The internet provides a means-- with all legal concerns acknowledged and addressed-- to easily provide editors a culled pipeline to offer samples of their work. I think your idea is great-- that we should now really rename "demo reels" to "portfolios," representing more of a guide as to "where to find our work." When being considered for a job, in my experience, it is rare that interviewing producers are aware of all the excellent "second tier" work that you and I and our colleagues have worked on. There is simply just too much stuff out there for a hiring source to "have seen everything." I think its easier, cheaper and faster for anyone's demo reel-- er-- I mean portfolio-- to provide an index of their work, rather than re-inventing the wheel by actually cutting something new from this material. I think we both concur that the "traditional demo reel" has been dead and buried for a while, thank goodness!
I truly appreciate your constructive dialog on this topic. Best regards--
Posted by: evan.wright@me.com
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