Hi,

l am Guy from London, UK and I am 16 years old. Since the age of twelve l have had a passion for video editing. l have created many of my own short films. l have now gained a professional standard on a very standard program known as Ulead VideoStudio. l finished school back in June of this year, and l left with great GCSE results. l had not got any in front of me, like any college or sixth form. So l thought, I am sure I will get into some kind of Business, work from the bottom and eventually get to the top. l read that you do not need degrees and A Levels to become an Editor During my time working up l would get knowledge of professional software, Avid. It sounded like a great plan but so far, l have sent my C.Vs out to production companies last week, and no reply from any of them.

Okay, so there is my story. What do l do? Please help guys.

I am desperate; all l am doing these days is at home, looking at my e-mail while my life drifts away.

To see what kind of work l have produced, my site is http://guymannion.com

Hey Guy,

First up, congrats on the projects you've completed so far. l just took some time to have a look at ur website. Considering ur age, l think u r doing really well. l am an Aussie filmmaker who has been working in film & video production for almost 10 years.

So some thoughts on ur questions.

First up, do not despair. You mentioned that u only sent out CV is last week. Sometimes these people can be so busy it might take some time for them to get back to you. If u have not heard anything in a few more days, u could try a follow up call, just to ensure they received ur letter, & to introduce yourselves to them over the phone. This will highlight how keen u are. In the meantime, start looking for more companies u could contact.

Next up, maybe u could edit together a showreel (2-3mins) highlighting the best edited scenes from ur projects. You could send this out with ur CV in the future.

Find out if there r any film messageboards/forums based in London. See if people r making films & searching for crew. You might be able to find work this way, or see if u can land some work experience. When l was getting started, this is how l found most of my work, & met many wonderful contacts.

If it is ur dream to be an editor, find out what London based editors u really respect & admire. Track them down, & ask them if u could do an editor is attachment with them on their next project. This would be a wonderful way to gain experience, learn from the best, & make new contacts. If u hit it off with them, they may even ask u to work as an editor is assistant with them in the future.

Be willing to work for free, if that is what it takes to gain the experience & contacts. l still do some free jobs because of the crew or actors it will bring me into contact with.

l see you've been very proactive in creating ur own films, which is wonderful. Keep doing this. l also see ur videos r hosted on Vimeo. They have a great collaborative community there. Maybe post in the forums saying u r looking to edit people is films, or to meet people to collaborate & produce films together. Keep creating.

You could research ur local film schools, & see if they need volunteers for their student productions. In Australia, our top film school is always in desperate need of volunteers for their high end productions. Everything from grip assistants, to editor is assistants, camera assistants, script supervisors etc. It is a wonderful way to gain experience, & to learn loads. l also started out doing this, & have ended up being hired by the school numerous times to work as a continuity woman on their projects.

l am sure there is so much more l could say, but l guess it boils down to being proactive & keeping at it. If it is truly ur passion, then never stop learning, never stop creating, & never stop networking. Sometimes it requires some patience, but at the end of the day, film production is an incredibly rewarding career.

Best of luck, l have no doubt that u will be successful :)