Meet Hunter Bermudez

Today we’d like to introduce you to Hunter Bermudez.

Hunter, before we jump into specific questions about your work, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
When I was young I always made up stories. I didn’t know any other way to live. If I wasn’t reading a story, I was writing one or coming up with characters or world building. I have notebooks filled with fantasies I lived in as a kid. As a grew older, I found the same solace in music. I’ve played an instrument since I was three years old and owe my life to the music I listened to as an adolescent. Armed with these passions for storytelling and rhythm I became drawn to video editing, creating montages in windows movie maker with footage shot on my parents’ camcorder. After attending a summer film program at 15 and learning how to use Final Cut Pro I decided that film making was all I wanted to do. I applied to the University of Southern California and the rest is history. I now have a BA in Film and TV Production and have been living and working as a professional video editor in Los Angeles for five years. At USC and in my time in Los Angeles, I’ve met so many different creatives and people I love collaborating with time and again. I primarily edit music videos and love working within the narrative, both fiction and documentary. I have a lifelong commitment to learning and am interested in working towards skills in drawing and animation and finding new ways to weave existing mediums together and create a new kind of storytelling. I am focused on personal narrative and how we shape the world around us with the stories tell ourselves and others.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not always been a smooth road. I have been an independent editor for five years and anyone who has had that experience knows there are big ups and downs. When you work for yourself you and your collaborators are all you have. You have to be your manager, your accountant, your tech support and you have to be reliable and disciplined to make sure your clients can trust you. And when life gets in the way, which it does, everything gets even harder. I am lucky enough to have had a life partner to support me when I haven’t found jobs or when I my car stopped working even after I had paid over a thousand dollars to fix it. I’ve worked hard; overnights and over holidays to make sure I met deadlines and got paid. It’s hard when you have to go into survival mode, but I’ve found that hard work usually pays off and when the going gets tough and I begin to doubt my abilities I remind myself that doing this art has been my motivation to get through my darkest moments and I have to trust in that.

Please tell us about your work.
I work in post production. Right out of university, I ran a post-production company with a peer for over a year, but quickly learned the producer life wasn’t for me. Now I work as an independent contractor delivering edits, VFX, and occasionally sound design and graphics. I specialize in music videos and creative non-fiction (documentaries and video art). I am proud of my ability to create a tone or feeling with a set of images without necessarily needing a narrative.

When I cut music videos I make sure that the edits call attention to different parts of the song and that the videos build, always adding on the previous segment to keep viewers engaged. I’m meticulous with shot selection and sync and make sure I watch every bit of footage, even throw away shots, to make certain I’m making the best decision and using the best moments captured.

I’m also open to experimenting with footage, stepping away from the traditional ways of presenting video content and creating video art pieces that can communicate fragmented narratives or collages that require manipulation of time.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
This year a short film I edited called Skin (directed by Audrey Rosenberg) premiered at Outfest Los Angeles and was awarded a Jury Special Mention. The film meant a lot to me as a representation of a young trans person’s inner experience. As a man of trans experience myself, doing this work meant a lot more than offering my skills to help tell a story. I was helping to tell part of my own story, putting my voice into a piece and representing myself in my work. The film is being featured on Film Shortage (https://filmshortage.com/) so you can check it out online now!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.hunterbermudez.com
• Phone: 3052989449
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_hunter.mov/

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