We're recording. We're ready.
Did I just define it in the most succinct way, like?
When your subject matter is drawn from your own life,
the audience then is able to build a relationship with you.
Hi, I'm Mandy Celine.
I'm a cinematographer, editor,
and I run my own post-production house for digital media.
I'm Hallease, a digital storyteller and video producer,
and I also run my own creative production company, StumbleWell.
My name is Valentina Vee.
I'm a content director, cinematographer, and editor, living
in Los Angeles, California.
I am so excited to meet the mentees this week.
We have six mentees coming in,
and we're going to teach them all about how to create an engaging
one-minute video to highlight their artist statements
or where they're trying to go in their creative careers.
I'm really jazzed to just see where everyone is at
and to show them that it really is not as hard as they may think
to get into the creative spirit and just try something new.
So I can't wait to meet them.
And of course, I'm excited to learn from the other two mentors as well.
You never stop learning.
I would say that my area of expertize is that
I am a multi-hyphenate.
A lot of people, especially in the film industry,
they try to put you in a box, and I think that
that's based on the union system,
like if you want to be a union cinematographer or a DGA director.
But in this new sort of adventure that we call social
media and digital content, we can be whatever we want to be.
I would say for me, I started off wanting to do post-production
only, but fun fact, which I'm sure both of you will agree,
a lot of video editors make really great directors.
So that's how I got into directing.
And then it turns out a lot of video editors
make really good producers.
So that's how I got into producing.
So yeah, I started off in video editing,
editing for different clients, more traditional work.
So I think editing is what my strength is.
I'm the fastest at that.
But similarly, I know everything.
Very similar, multi-hyphenate, but I'm really good at social media.
I have helped several YouTubers around the world.
I run a post-production house for that, and that's how it got started.
And then it moved into brands
as they tried to understand digital more.
So that's where I am,
and I'm expanding my horizons generally,
and I truly believe you can do whatever you like from, like -
social media is the ground work now these days - and move into,
like, TV and film as well because I've done that as well.
I started by editing for YouTubers cause they -
I was really good at it. I've been editing since I was seven years old.
And then I started taking on other clients and telling them,
"Yeah, I will edit this, but only if I can direct it."
And because I was so good at editing, they like -
they let me direct it.
And after a while you start building up clients
that keep coming to you for certain things,
and then you grow out of those clients,
and you get bigger clients, and you get bigger clients. And yeah.
I don't do freelance as much now,
but I used to do it a lot.
Like, what is your best way to, like, stay organized?
Like, motivate yourself and, like,
keep on task, because you're your own boss?
Like, that was the hardest thing for me - was like
being my own boss.
I don't know.
I have a hard time
with, with that question more because it's like,
I like living and eating indoors so if I don't do
the work, then I don't get paid, and I need to pay my rent.
But aside from that,
usually it's more about if its client work,
then I want the freedom to have time to do the passion project
that maybe has no budget or something like that.
So the faster I get done with the client thing
and the last invoice gets sent and all that kind of stuff,
then I can go back to this random, abstract, avant-garde documentary,
looking-to-the-left thing I've got going on,
that's just kind of fun.
So I see it more as like a means to an end to stay productive, for sure.
When you guys
first started off, when down the line
did you, like, get intentional about getting a mentor?
I think a good place to start is like bosses or even just people -
Don't necessarily think about a mentor
as someone who's, like, way ahead of you.
Don't be afraid to, like, collaborate across with people a lot.
Maybe someone who's only a year ahead of you or two years
ahead of you.
Or maybe it's a friend who got a client or a gig that
you would have really wanted to get
and just having that, like, quick meeting with them and being like,
"How did that happen? What did you do?
How did you position yourself?"
If you can see someone who's maybe a year or two ahead of you
and see what value you can maybe bring to them as well,
that can be really helpful. Thinking in that way,
like what value can you bring to somebody
and then they can in turn
want to give you something back, can be really good.
I find a lot, I guess, of the mentor things of my peers -
The amount of times I DM this one like,
"What do you think is a good rate on this?"
"Am I doing enough?"
"Yes." "More." "Less." Like -
You're nice and blunt, and
concise, but, like, I find it in, like, especially my peers,
and I tend to navigate towards women just naturally for me.
Yeah, this one gets a lot of it, unfortunately.
My question was kind of like,
"How has working in the creative space changed your character?"
It took me a really long time
to actually value myself, and it was my boyfriend years ago,
was like, "You need to charge more."
And I was like, "I have not valued my skill set for years."
And I was - I was - I had people trick me into lower rates.
I think it's changed me in that, like, I know what my limit is now.
I have a lot of hard boundaries
with - not even just industry, but with family, with friends.
I just have a lot of hard boundaries of what I know I can give
and what I know I can give
at the level that I want to make sure it's done well.
So, um -
as you're all kind of telling your stories,
and this is something that I, whenever I, like, listen to podcasts,
there's - there's the part of the story that's like,
"I took this leap, I was really struggling, I was so scared,
and now I'm successful."
And I'm really interested in what happens in that middle part.
Like, I always joke, like, I've been an emerging creator for ten years.
So, like, what - can you tell me a little bit
about that mid-point in your career where maybe work's coming,
but not enough to be choosy or to live off of, and, like,
what made it tip into the point where you could start, you know,
being a little bit more in charge of what you wanted to do?
Regular clients. Like people that come back to you.
It was a big one. But honestly, I - You never feel finished.
I was about to say, yeah. Never do.
Yeah.
I feel like I'm still at the midpoint,
and you have these, like, milestones which are like, oh, OK,
my first commercial, my
first music video, my first TV show, my first Emmy nomination.
But you never really look back.
It's always like, "What's next?" You know?
Yeah, you don't appreciate it until like I -
we - I had this phone conversation,
and they're like, "You're doing so well. You're so successful."
I was like, "It doesn't feel that way."
And that's the sad truth.
I think you never feel quite there.
In your project this week,
what you're going to make is a 60-second video
where you are selling yourself. You are the product.
So think of this -
Your audience is going to be people who may want to hire you
in the future.
So potential employers, potential brands
that you want to work with, people who open up your page
or open up your website, and they want to know,
"Who is this person?" Right?
So you just have to figure out the rest.
I think that this 60-second video is not only a good exercise for
our mentees, but it's also good for you. If you are a creative,
it always helps to have a video on your website, on your Instagram
that describes who you are,
sets a clear mission statement, and looks really good.