Amex GBT - Difference Makers

Sometimes I get jobs where I’m flown in to edit on location. These are my Jason Borne-style jobs. Over the years I’ve honed my skills to the point where I can edit, polish, and deliver videos faster than most of my peers. Most editors hit a wall at about 80% of an edit. I’ve hit that wall for years. I broke that wall a few years ago and now I no longer spend time thinking about how I should edit something, I just do it instinctually. This has made me an asset to production teams that need to shoot, edit, and deliver a video on a tight deadline under immense pressure.

In 2022, I took a job in Cancun, Mexico for the annual Pacesetters Conference; it’s a gathering of leaders and professionals in the global travel industry. Located on a luxury beach resort, the conference was a place for white-collar types to mingle, go on excursions during the day, and return to presentations and ceremonies held in a massive ballroom at night, followed by an after-party on the beach with lasers and a corporate DJ.

I flew in on a Friday night. I met with the production team on Saturday morning and got my first assignment. I had to edit the visuals for an LED background during a live quartet performance for American Airlines later that night. The aspect ratio was incredibly wide and thin, as the screen wrapped around the room. While I was editing this project, Haleigh Purvis, a producer, shot 4 interviews for AMEX GBT (Global Business Travel). Each interview was a profile piece on someone who was nominated for an award for doing something charitable. These 4 deliverables were due on Sunday at noon to make rehearsal. I finished the American Airlines edit at around the same time Haleigh finished shooting her last interview. I turned in the American Airlines job and immediately began working on the Amex job.

The tricky part of the Amex videos was cutting them down to a minute while still telling a cohesive story. Each interview was about 30 minutes long, all of them with touching emotional moments. I identified the most emotional moment in each video and worked around it. I struggled for a bit trying to figure out how to introduce the characters until I realized I could just overlay some biographic info while they were speaking about their work to save time. I worked late through the night and into the morning to finish the videos. The deliverables were sent on time and played for a live audience; each person was introduced to the stage where they were surprised with rewards for their charitable deeds.

Then I caught COVID and I had to quarantine inside my room for 3 days. It felt like I was in a Scandinavian prison.