Today we’d like to introduce you to Camille Getz.
Hi Camille, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I grew up in Sacramento, CA, where my hobbies and career aspirations were originally based in music. When I was four years old, I begged my parents for violin lessons after seeing a violin sitting in the backseat of a friend’s car, and my love of music really just exploded from there. I had always made little videos with my friends on my family’s camcorder as a kid, but it wasn’t until I was about 13 years old and went to a video production summer camp that I first tried editing in any serious capacity. At the risk of sounding overdramatic, it was honestly a revelatory experience: there was so much inherent rhythm and musicality in editing, and it really just felt like the perfect amalgamation of all of my passions and interests (music, movies, organization, being alone in front of a computer for extended periods of time, etc…). From that point on, editing was really all I ever wanted to do. I attended film school at NYU, which was life-changing for me for a number of reasons, and worked as an assistant editor and then editor in New York for several years before finally making the move to Los Angeles in 2018. Nowadays, I work from my home office on all sorts of video content ranging from commercial work to music videos and documentaries, and I truly love every second of it.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Despite editing and post-production (and much of filmmaking in general) being a total boy’s club, the trajectory of my career has honestly panned out pretty smoothly thus far. I’ve worked very hard, but I’ve also benefitted from tremendous amounts of financial and social privilege along the way, and that alone has cleared many of the obstacles that are typically in the way of one’s dreams. The biggest obstacle I’ve faced, frankly, has been learning to navigate my own anxieties and insecurities and reassuring myself that I am supposed to be here. I was a profoundly anxious child (like had-to-be-medicated-and-sent-to-a-hypnotist anxious) and while I’ve gotten a handle on the worst of it for the most part, it’s still something I deal with every single day. A doctor once encouraged me to try to view some of my neuroses as superpowers–abilities that would actually help me to achieve greatness rather than weigh me down–and as I’ve gotten older, I’ve really tried to adopt that mindset. Sure, I may be totally compulsive and it’s easy for me to get completely caught up in minutia, but it’s those same obsessive thought patterns that make me such a thorough and meticulous editor, and my work wouldn’t be the same without them.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a film and video editor specializing in commercial, music video, and short-form narrative and documentary content, though I’d love to start branching out into more long-form narrative content, as well. I especially love working with anything involving music, as my background was originally in music performance and it’s really fun for me to still be able to express that side of myself through my editing. I work quickly and efficiently, and I take a huge amount of pride in my work!
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
There will always be some degree of luck involved in this sort of a career path, but it’s also possible to make your own luck. Be reliable, follow through on promises and deadlines—make yourself into somebody a client or a coworker would feel confident recommending to another colleague for future work. So much of this industry’s hiring process is done via word of mouth, and I think you’ll find that a surprising amount of your work can come from fellow creatives having to turn work down and recommending you instead. Reach out to people you’d like to work with and introduce yourself. Show them what you bring to the table and why they should want to collaborate with you. If you can prove to enough people that you are not only talented and dependable but also personable, the work will follow.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.camillegetz.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/camillegetz/
Image Credits
Michael Brian
