3 answers
Computer
Student
Canton, Georgia
5
Questions
Updated
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Are you able to make lots of money by being a film and video editor.
Please elaborate on the question.
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3 answers
Kathy Chan
Videographer/Photographer
22
Answers
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Updated
Kathy’s Answer
Hi,
The answer to your question is solely determined by how much you may mean by "a lot of money", but generally I will say: it depends! I have many friends who solely focus on freelancing (video editing/sfx) and they make way more money with those commissions/projects than they do in their 9-5 jobs. Other friends have the opposite experience, where they make so much at their 9-5s that they just freelance for fun!
The amount you get paid is based off of a number of things, but the following are huge factors:
The project's/client's budge - If your client is a non-profit or small-business owner, the pay may be lower
The scale of the production - Typically, the smaller the project, the smaller the budget and vise-versa
Are you freelancing or working full-time as a video editor? - Freelance projects are not constant income as a full-time job would be, and therefore may not pay you as much in comparison. In other situations, a full-time position, salaried, may be less than what you make as a freelancer due to the differences in hourly rate.
Your amount of experience and your skill level - Entry-level positions/gigs tend to give you less than professional gigs/editing positions, the more years you spend honing in on your craft, the more money you can ultimately make.
I'll suggest the following steps that you may want to consider if you want to grow in the industry as a video editor:
- Learn all of the different video editing software (Premiere Pro, Avid, Final Cut Pro, and more)
- Learn motion graphics, basic animation & special effects (After Effects, Premiere Pro, Animator, etc. )
- Edit a variety of content (short films, commercials, interviews, youtube videos, and more) to add to your portfolio
- Network, make friends with folks who know more people, get your work out there!
- Always continue honing your craft and learning more about editing, and keep watching movies and videos!
The answer to your question is solely determined by how much you may mean by "a lot of money", but generally I will say: it depends! I have many friends who solely focus on freelancing (video editing/sfx) and they make way more money with those commissions/projects than they do in their 9-5 jobs. Other friends have the opposite experience, where they make so much at their 9-5s that they just freelance for fun!
The amount you get paid is based off of a number of things, but the following are huge factors:
The project's/client's budge - If your client is a non-profit or small-business owner, the pay may be lower
The scale of the production - Typically, the smaller the project, the smaller the budget and vise-versa
Are you freelancing or working full-time as a video editor? - Freelance projects are not constant income as a full-time job would be, and therefore may not pay you as much in comparison. In other situations, a full-time position, salaried, may be less than what you make as a freelancer due to the differences in hourly rate.
Your amount of experience and your skill level - Entry-level positions/gigs tend to give you less than professional gigs/editing positions, the more years you spend honing in on your craft, the more money you can ultimately make.
I'll suggest the following steps that you may want to consider if you want to grow in the industry as a video editor:
- Learn all of the different video editing software (Premiere Pro, Avid, Final Cut Pro, and more)
- Learn motion graphics, basic animation & special effects (After Effects, Premiere Pro, Animator, etc. )
- Edit a variety of content (short films, commercials, interviews, youtube videos, and more) to add to your portfolio
- Network, make friends with folks who know more people, get your work out there!
- Always continue honing your craft and learning more about editing, and keep watching movies and videos!
Ethan Erickson
Video editor
2
Answers
Seattle, Washington
Updated
Ethan’s Answer
You can make a good amount of money depending on which avenue you go. Freelance work is how you start. If you know whatever program you use pretty well and have a good sense of timing and pace you can get freelance jobs from linked in and a lot of other websites.
A good starting hourly rate is around 25-40$ an hour. Most projects are around a week long.
Once you establish yourself and get repeat clients you can begin to charge more. Some editors charge up to 90-100$ an hour.
If you have other skills like after effects, photoshop and videography you can make more.
If you get a full-time editing job you can make from 65k-120k a year.
A good starting hourly rate is around 25-40$ an hour. Most projects are around a week long.
Once you establish yourself and get repeat clients you can begin to charge more. Some editors charge up to 90-100$ an hour.
If you have other skills like after effects, photoshop and videography you can make more.
If you get a full-time editing job you can make from 65k-120k a year.
Thanks for the help.
Computer
I am really grateful you took the time to answer this question.
antonio
Also, once you have completed some projects, having a website portfolio and a reel is how you can get some more higher end work.
Ethan Erickson
Haolong Jia
Journalism Video Editor
18
Answers
Miami, Florida
Updated
Haolong’s Answer
It is depends on what company. The bigger company will give you more. Usually it's 20-35/ hour.
It you want to make more money, you have to learn more skills, like motion graphic. Add this part to the video, it will make your video better.
The best way is when you editing video and become popular in this industry. You can open your own company to make documentary or shoot promotional video for some company
Hope this can help you.
It you want to make more money, you have to learn more skills, like motion graphic. Add this part to the video, it will make your video better.
The best way is when you editing video and become popular in this industry. You can open your own company to make documentary or shoot promotional video for some company
Hope this can help you.