Editing Your Career: A Conversation with Dustin Elkin

Host Tara Jabbari interviews editor Dustin Elkin who has worked in Los Angeles and Chicago for clients such as CBS, Mattel, Hallmark, and Bally’s. During their conversation, Dustin shares the importance of networking, his work ethic, and why he is a fan of utilizing AI for his work - including for his own podcast, The Video Editing Guru Podcast.

Connect with Dustin:
https://www.dustinelkin.com/

The Video Editing Guru Podcast: 
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-video-editing-guru/id1768209291

Podcraftr is what Dustin uses for his podcast. Here is an affiliate link in case you are interested: 
https://podcraftr.com/?linkId=lp_854324&sourceId=dustin-elkin&tenantId=podcraftr

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We on the Women in Film & Video (WIFV) Podcast Team work hard to make this show a great resource for our listeners, and we thank you for listening!

Transcript

VO
00:09 - 00:21
Welcome to Media Makers Spotlight from Women in Film and Video in Washington, D.C. We bring you conversations with industry professionals for behind-the-screens insight and inspiration. 

Tara Jabbari
00:24 - 01:11
On this episode, we have the video editor and self-described AI enthusiast, Dustin Elkin on. Welcome to Media Maker Spotlight. I am your host for this episode, Tara Jabari. Dustin has over 15 years of experience specializing in creating high-quality content and visual stories with skill sets in motion graphics, sound design, color grading, captioning, transcription, graphic design, and more. He's worked in the Los Angeles and Chicagoland area for companies like CBS, Mattel, and the Holmeck Channel. He also recently started the Video Editing Guru Podcast, where he covers best practices, creative techniques, and game-changing tips in the art of video editing for creators at any level. So welcome to the show. 

Dustin Elkin
01:12 - 01:21
Thank you, Tara, for having me. I know it's been a while since we spoke, and I'm excited that you're having me on and it's a pleasure. So thank you. 

Tara Jabbari
01:21 - 01:30
Yes. I was going to say, so we first met in college. We both went to Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. And do you remember my nickname for you? 

Dustin Elkin
01:33 - 01:35
I believe it was Vito. 

Tara Jabbari
01:35 - 01:38
Yeah. Right. And I was going to ask you, 

Dustin Elkin
01:38 - 01:45
I forgot that origin again. I was going to ask you where it came from. So you 

Tara Jabbari
01:45 - 01:47
were the year ahead of me 

Dustin Elkin
01:47 - 01:48
And we 

Tara Jabbari
01:48 - 02:13
studied, the degree was called like electronic media, which made us sound like engineers, which kind of helped. But we were studying media production, right? And we learned camera operating, audio production, producing all sorts of stuff. And then you also were working at, what was it, the production office. So all the students. 

Speaker 4
02:13 - 02:13
Correct. 

Tara Jabbari
02:14 - 02:32
So like if you were a junior and a senior, you were in the production office working. And then the freshmen and sophomores, if we had editing classes, for instance, mostly the editing classes, those would take the longest time. We had to sign up for the studio class. No, not class, but like a room. 

Dustin Elkin
02:34 - 02:37
Yes. And then you had. Editing bay. Editing bay. 

Tara Jabbari
02:38 - 03:07
And then you had to finish editing. But it was my first time and a lot of times it was the first time you were learning how to edit. We learned on Avid, but it would be the simplest things. You're like, how do you export? Ah, you're like, I cut, I was meant to cut, but I deleted. And how did I do that? And oh my God. So then you would always go and the person in the production office would be the one who would be like, calm down. We know what we're doing and we'll help you. 

Speaker 4
03:07 - 03:09
That's why we were there. Right. 

Tara Jabbari
03:09 - 03:19
And usually you were the one who was working when I had to use the editing day. And I always felt like I owed you a favor because you were always helping me. So 

Dustin Elkin
03:19 - 03:20
I called you Vito 

Tara Jabbari
03:20 - 03:23
because I like the godfather, Vito Corleone. 

Dustin Elkin
03:23 - 03:29
Gotcha. Okay. As you were telling that story, I was like, okay, this is, this is reminding you of stuff. And then I, 

Tara Jabbari
03:29 - 03:45
and then I started working at the production office. You guys graduated and I would text you and be like, Dustin, now I'm the Vito. Because now I would see all these freshmen and sophomores and they're like, Tara, I'm freaking out. I'm so sorry to bother you again. And I'd be like, 

Dustin Elkin
03:46 - 03:46
it's fine. 

Tara Jabbari
03:46 - 03:49
And they're like, I owe you a big one. I'm like, I'm Tito. 

Dustin Elkin
03:50 - 03:53
I know. You're my replacement. 

Tara Jabbari
03:53 - 03:56
I know. Oh, my gosh. It's kind of fun 

Dustin Elkin
03:56 - 03:58
to see that come full circle. 

Tara Jabbari
03:58 - 04:09
I know. But that was like, we studied that. Did you know editing or was that also your first time learning really how to edit video or audio and all that at Bradley? 

Dustin Elkin
04:10 - 04:26
It was definitely my first time using like the big boy software, that being Avid. But before then is when, you know, I was picking up my mini DV Sony camera and filming and kind of editing on iMovie and Windows Movie Maker 

Speaker 4
04:26 - 04:27
at 

Dustin Elkin
04:27 - 04:37
home. So I knew about editing and how to do it, but obviously Bradley just took it to a whole new level and really, you know, launched my career in video editing. 

Tara Jabbari
04:37 - 04:55
I remember you did go pretty much after graduation to Los Angeles and you started not just solely in editing. You did other forms like camera operating and other stuff. How did you end up really focusing on video editing? Yeah, 

Dustin Elkin
04:55 - 05:49
so almost, it was really just a couple months after graduating in 2010, where I was like, I gotta give this a try. I gotta wing it. I'm like, bye family. Bye girlfriend. I gotta give this a try and see what happens. So my parents and I drove out there and obviously, you know, it was a, it's a rough start at first, you know, being at a younger age like that and not having a job or a place lined up to live. So we had a search for a place. So it was number one. And then number two was just getting my foot in the door somewhere. And that started as a production assistant on the bachelorette. I think Ashley was the bachelorette at the time. I don't know what number of season that was. But, yeah, it was really just myself working my way up the totem pole and, you know, worked a lot of PA jobs. And like you mentioned, some camera work as well, including Big Brother seasons. 

Tara Jabbari
05:49 - 05:49
Yeah. 

Dustin Elkin
05:50 - 05:52
14 or 13 and 14, I think. 

Tara Jabbari
05:53 - 05:59
Did you like doing those or were you more like, no, I still liked doing post more? 

Dustin Elkin
05:59 - 06:35
I enjoyed it. When you're out there working, they're long days, 12, 14, 15-hour days. And as a PA, you're running around and you're doing a lot. But at that time of my life and when you're a PA, you kind of know you got to work hard now at the beginning to get to where you want to go to. And also for me to kind of talk to the right people and just gather more experience on my end from the editing side of things. Like it's a great way to kind of learn the production industry as a whole and really just kind of set me up for success related down the line and what got me to where I'm at today. 

Tara Jabbari
06:36 - 06:48
When you really got more established in your like speciality and stuff, what became your favorite? And I also like asking your least favorite aspects of it. 

Dustin Elkin
06:49 - 08:06
It was definitely a couple of years into me living out there when I landed my first job as a editor, actually assistant editor on a couple of different shows. And for me, like that was just like a turning point in my life and my career, knowing that like I was a PA for a while and did some camera work, but it's not quite what I want to do. So landing that first job as an assistant editor, or AE for short, was really a game changer at the time. Although the fun part about it is that I get to sit at a computer finally and actually do some editing. I think it was Final Cut Pro at the time I was first using. And just knowing that I made that step up and I'm editing footage and I'm putting a story together, that's what I love to do. least favorite part is obviously sometimes as an assistant editor you kind of have to do the work so it's you have all this footage you got to line up you know cuts and create stories to hand off to the video editor or the lead editor really whoever's above you at the time so when you know like it's not worth that sometimes you don't want to do exactly because it's a lot a lot of prep there's a lot to do with the footage and the audio and the syncing of it and it takes a lot of time so it's not the most fun but it's necessary 

Tara Jabbari
08:06 - 08:13
and what advice do you have for people who might be interested in getting involved in this profession i 

Dustin Elkin
08:13 - 09:02
know like it's tough to find that first job whether it's a full-time job or freelance but you just need to like sign up for every account you know head to social apply apply apply whether it's linkedin which i've gotten a lot of jobs through Facebook. I've done a ton of jobs through. You'd be surprised. Join groups, interact, engage. And once you do land that first job, whether it's your dream job or not, you just have to work your butt off. And if it's a small job, if it's a big job, you have to just put all your effort into it and create the best content and story possible because all it takes is for one person to see it and be like, wow, this is awesome, Dustin. And that can just take you up to the next level and get you to where you want to go. 

Tara Jabbari
09:02 - 09:14
Yeah, it's true. I've heard it. They say this to actors, stage actors. They're like, you perform to the back of the row, whether it's a small theater where it only fits like 10 people 

Speaker 4
09:15 - 09:16
to sold 

Tara Jabbari
09:16 - 09:21
out Madison Square Garden or like musicians, right, in concerts and stuff. 

Speaker 4
09:22 - 09:22
It doesn't matter. 

Tara Jabbari
09:23 - 09:51
you give it your all. And it's true in all the aspects, in any profession, really. So if you're editing a small reel for somebody or if it's editing for the next Oscar contender, it doesn't matter if you really put your all into it. But you're right, it is boring when you're like, oh, I have to do that one little smudging thing. Those little things. I'm 

Dustin Elkin
09:51 - 09:55
not kind of curious with like pay too, because that's a big thing in the industry too. And that's 

Speaker 4
09:55 - 09:55
always changing. 

Dustin Elkin
09:56 - 10:23
But, you know, 10, 12 years ago when I was just trying to get my foot in the door, sometimes I had to take on a smaller editing project with maybe a really quick turnaround and not a lot of pay. But like you mentioned, like I didn't know at the time who was going to see that video or, you know, when I'm updating my website and demo reel on like a yearly basis. You know, obviously I've gotten jobs on people commenting on something they saw on my website. And 

Speaker 4
10:23 - 10:24
that sets up 

Dustin Elkin
10:24 - 10:39
an interview. And next thing you know, I get the job. So, yeah, in this profession, especially video editing, like so many people can see your content. And you just have to put all you have into it because you just, yeah, because you love doing it. And you never know who's going to see it. 

Tara Jabbari
10:40 - 10:50
Now, you did end up going back to Chicago where you're from. That girlfriend became your wife. I know people might be wondering. 

Speaker 4
10:50 - 10:53
Correct. It's 

Tara Jabbari
10:53 - 11:14
a happy ending. But you kind of went for more personal reasons, not necessarily professional reasons, and you're now more freelance. But you've worked with more companies and corporations like Mattel, and you've worked with CBS and things like that, and 

Speaker 4
11:14 - 11:15
Homework Channel. 

Tara Jabbari
11:15 - 11:34
Could you share the sort of pros and cons of working sort of like that steady, like, oh, I work with this company, I have these benefits, I have these things, and then working on your own, looking for jobs constantly on LinkedIn, on Facebook, all that stuff? 

Dustin Elkin
11:35 - 12:51
Yeah, it's definitely interesting. it's almost like two different worlds. You know, when you have a full-time job, whether it's a small business or a big corporation or studio, you kind of feel comfort and at ease knowing like, you know, the pay might be a little higher. You have the benefits. You have your 401k. Like you have all of that health insurance, which is really nice. And if you enjoy the job, you know, obviously stick it out as long as you can. My last job I was there for almost nine years. And so, you know, the team was great. The people were great. And like, I can't complain about anything until they let me go because of budget reasons. But working corporate, you know, I love doing. And then there's also the freelance side of things where it definitely, there's more flexibility in that. Currently I work from home. And basically you can set your own hours, take on the projects that you want to take on, set your own pay. But then from a benefit standpoint, you might not have all of that. So there's a mix of both. Obviously, a big thing of it is preference and what people want to do and how much flexibility they want to have in their work-life balance. I've enjoyed both throughout my career. I prefer, you know, full-time at the end 

Speaker 4
12:51 - 12:52
of the day. 

Dustin Elkin
12:53 - 13:00
But from time to time, you know, when a freelance gig comes up and I can take it on, it's kind of fun to do as well. So 

Tara Jabbari
13:00 - 13:28
my career, I've always been pretty much contract based and freelance. So I'm not used to working for a company, one person, let alone a corporation. Right. So I was always looking for the hustle and stuff. And that's not necessarily by choice, but I also was able to like, I'm also a nomad. I was working literally in Antarctica and all 

Speaker 4
13:28 - 13:29
sorts of stuff. 

Tara Jabbari
13:29 - 13:40
So, but when I talk to people who do have like full-time jobs, sometimes they're not allowed to work remotely. Sometimes they did and they're 

Speaker 4
13:40 - 13:40
like, they don't 

Tara Jabbari
13:40 - 14:11
need to know. And then they sometimes also would get freelance jobs, whether it's an editing job or a copywriting job and things like that. You don't have to admit if you've ever done it, but in your experience, how has that been? Do companies allow people to do side jobs? And if they don't, what has been your, what have you seen people do? 

Dustin Elkin
14:12 - 14:23
It depends on like where you're working and what's kind of like written in the details from like HR and like do not compete clause. Is that what it's called? 

Tara Jabbari
14:24 - 14:24
Yeah. So some 

Dustin Elkin
14:24 - 14:55
jobs will lay it out at the beginning during the onboarding and the paperwork that they're filling out. Like you cannot really take on any other projects or work that's unacceptable. You cannot do that. So obviously I don't do that. If I do take on a project, it might be for like personal reason. I don't need like a montage from an uncle's birthday that I'll do on a Saturday or Sunday. Something that's quick and easy. But otherwise, my full-time jobs have always kept me busy with work. And I don't really need or want to take on more work. 

Speaker 4
14:57 - 14:57
But 

Dustin Elkin
14:57 - 15:45
I mentioned earlier in the podcast that I was unfortunately let go from my last job. So obviously during that moment or time of unemployment, I picked up a bunch of freelancing gigs and kept busy up until when I did find another job at Bally's, you know, the casino and hotel. So I work on Bally's Interactive, which is a department. I'm really working and editing and dealing with all the media that goes into their Bally's live app. So it's like it's sports editing, which I love sports. So it's a great mix of like production and sports. And yeah, so I've been busy since then working full time again. So that's, again, what I prefer. So it's been a ride and it's been a lot of fun. 

Tara Jabbari
15:45 - 15:47
And do you get to still work from home? 

Dustin Elkin
15:47 - 15:48
I do, which is super nice. 

Tara Jabbari
15:49 - 15:50
That's the 

Dustin Elkin
15:50 - 16:08
family and the kids and, you know, my schedule. It just helps out with everything. So like you said, in this industry, you know, you'll have a full-time job. You'll have a contract job for three to four months, knowing when it ends. Or, you know, unfortunately, you know, things happen and you get let go and 

Speaker 4
16:08 - 16:09
you kind of have to find 

Dustin Elkin
16:09 - 16:16
your way and keep going, which I did luckily just for a few months until I, you know, landed the job at Bally's. 

Tara Jabbari
16:17 - 16:26
And I think when it goes back to what we were talking about when you were back as a PA and all that, it was you always put your best foot 

Speaker 4
16:26 - 16:27
forward because 

Tara Jabbari
16:27 - 16:28
they'll always remember 

Speaker 4
16:28 - 16:29
you. Because 

Tara Jabbari
16:29 - 16:47
if this doesn't work out, budget reasons and whatever, they'll keep you in mind and they're like, oh, but I know somebody who is looking or, you know, and then so because they always liked your, their experience with you. So as well as you did a good job, right? Yeah. Like it's 

Dustin Elkin
16:47 - 17:02
not just your experience and your skills and your talent, but it's also your work ethic. That's like the other half of it. Like I've had jobs in LA where I'll work a job for a few months, maybe as a PA, but they know I want to edit. And I've 

Speaker 4
17:02 - 17:02
expressed that and 

Dustin Elkin
17:02 - 17:22
I've created great relationships with other people. And it'll be a few months, maybe a year later, where I'll get like a random email from someone asking, you know, are you still editing? Blah, blah, blah. Basically, like, do you want a job or do you want to come in for an interview type of thing? So, yeah, you just never know. 

Tara Jabbari
17:22 - 18:04
Thank you for sharing that kind of trajectory of your career. But one thing is that you also started a podcast recently, the Video Editing Guru, and it's AI-based. And, you know, we're connected on LinkedIn, and you were always sharing interesting things about AI's capabilities and stuff, and you're kind of a fan of it, while a lot of people are worried about it and things. Can we sort of talk about AI? What is it that you're intrigued by and not so scared of? And those discussions that you might have had with people who are like, are you crazy, Dustin? They're taking our jobs kind of thing. 

Dustin Elkin
18:05 - 19:31
Of course, in the back of my mind, I'm always worried about that. Like when AI gets that advanced, will it take away my job? But for the time being, you know, I like to research and implement and kind of just test out different AI tools. And from a video editing standpoint, I like to use them because they enhanced the content that I work with and improved the workflows tremendously to the point where normally it would take hours, if not days, to render out upscale footage so it looks like 4K. No, I can do it within minutes and it'll be ready. So for me, I've been fascinated with the different tools that are out there from basically every tech company and video production company is coming out with their own tools now. But for me to be able to implement, you know, editing audio a certain way and video a certain way and transitions and effects to a degree where it's like it can be done in seconds. It just helps me out as a video editor and the quality of work that I provide people and also just like at the speed of which I can edit to. So it's been it's been great. And then when it comes to the podcast, I've always wanted to do that and kind of just express my knowledge and experience and opinions to others, whether they listen to it or not. But I've always just wanted to get it onto my computer and just out into the world. And in this program called Podcrafter, 

Speaker 4
19:31 - 19:32
it basically 

Dustin Elkin
19:32 - 19:45
uses AI to create podcasts, transitions, music within minutes as well, and scripts. I'm able to produce you know I do about a podcast a week 

Speaker 4
19:45 - 19:46
I 

Dustin Elkin
19:46 - 20:00
can literally produce it edit it and send it out um within maybe five to ten minutes so it's super quick and it's it's interesting to explain it to people because I clone my voice but 

Tara Jabbari
20:00 - 20:04
I was gonna ask it's not you yeah 

Dustin Elkin
20:04 - 20:07
yeah it's not me saying in those words but 

Tara Jabbari
20:07 - 20:09
it's my voice 

Dustin Elkin
20:09 - 20:14
it's i tried explaining it to my parents one time and it's over that 

Tara Jabbari
20:14 - 20:18
well the first couple episodes is not your voice at all and then 

Dustin Elkin
20:18 - 20:18
it became 

Tara Jabbari
20:18 - 20:20
your voice and i was like oh 

Dustin Elkin
20:20 - 20:20
he's really good 

Tara Jabbari
20:20 - 20:25
at reading it wait that's probably not him yeah that was me just testing 

Dustin Elkin
20:25 - 20:28
the waters um using like an ai voice clone 

Tara Jabbari
20:28 - 20:30
that they provided 

Dustin Elkin
20:30 - 20:37
and i was like wait a I should just clone my own voice and use that. So that would be more personal. No, and I think it helps because you're 

Tara Jabbari
20:37 - 20:48
the one. And like, for instance, I liked some of the episodes I listened to that I found really useful is the storage. Where can you, what kind of 

Speaker 4
20:48 - 20:49
cloud 

Tara Jabbari
20:49 - 20:56
-based storage is recommended? Dropbox versus Google Drive versus a couple of other 

Speaker 4
20:56 - 20:56
things 

Tara Jabbari
20:57 - 21:09
and the different price points. I don't edit as much anymore, but all these photographs and videos that we are so easily being able to do with our phones and, you know, with babies and with trips and all that stuff. 

Speaker 4
21:10 - 21:10
And we're like, 

Tara Jabbari
21:10 - 21:27
what if something happens to my phone? You want it backed up somewhere, but where is the best place? So I was like, I didn't mean to do that. And then I was researching for this as well. And I'm like, oh, Tim, he has an episode on this. So that 

Dustin Elkin
21:27 - 21:27
was useful. 

Tara Jabbari
21:28 - 21:29
um but 

Dustin Elkin
21:29 - 21:31
even like an energy of two yeah 

Tara Jabbari
21:31 - 21:31
and 

Dustin Elkin
21:31 - 21:32
then i 

Tara Jabbari
21:32 - 21:37
always have the hard drive but it's always harder because you actually have to do it physically 

Speaker 4
21:37 - 21:40
um yeah but 

Tara Jabbari
21:40 - 21:46
um uh the last time i actually did a physical hard drive was during lockdown uh in 

Speaker 4
21:46 - 21:48
2020 because we had nothing 

Tara Jabbari
21:48 - 21:55
else to do and i got to nicely organize it and i was like this is may 2019 june 2019 you know and all And 

Dustin Elkin
21:55 - 21:56
I'm like, nope, 

Tara Jabbari
21:56 - 21:56
don't have time for that. 

Dustin Elkin
21:57 - 21:59
I have time to organize everything. With 

Tara Jabbari
21:59 - 22:12
all of those, is it also helpful for you or did you have those ideas of like, okay, I'll do storage. I'll do this is the best way for licensing. This is, you know, all that stuff. 

Dustin Elkin
22:12 - 22:32
The topics, no. It's just me kind of having ideas in the back of my mind for a long time on like what I wanted to share. But also I'll kind of, you know, hop on Google and research some more like trending topics. And then I'll just see a word or two or something that just crossed in my mind. I'm like, oh, wait a minute. Like the audience should know about storage 

Speaker 4
22:32 - 22:33
or storytelling 

Dustin Elkin
22:33 - 22:42
or audio editing. So there's so much that can be talked about in the post world that I assume that I can probably do this for a little while longer until I'm like 

Tara Jabbari
22:42 - 22:50
out of ideas. And I like it really is about five minutes kind of spelled out. Yeah, 

Dustin Elkin
22:50 - 23:00
they're pretty short compared to a lot of other podcasts. So I don't want to bore anybody with like all these. No, but it was useful because there's 

Tara Jabbari
23:00 - 23:07
lots of podcasts like we do. This is a traditional more like two conversation based one, which I 

Speaker 4
23:07 - 23:08
really enjoy. 

Tara Jabbari
23:08 - 23:16
But if you did want to be like, where can I find this and this? It's sort of, you know, just go to the video editing group. 

Dustin Elkin
23:17 - 23:21
Yeah, I just like to let people know what's going on. I 

Tara Jabbari
23:21 - 23:28
have one other question. So you've worked with like Valleys and then you've worked, which is more of 

Dustin Elkin
23:28 - 23:31
like a company. Riley is another one. Riley Education Services. 

Tara Jabbari
23:33 - 23:35
That you worked with? That was my last job. Yeah, 

Dustin Elkin
23:35 - 23:36
that was my last full-time job. 

Tara Jabbari
23:36 - 23:41
So it was like, but you have the corporate companies that you don't think of. And 

Speaker 4
23:41 - 23:41
you're 

Unknown Speaker
23:41 - 23:42
like, oh yeah, they do 

Tara Jabbari
23:42 - 23:43
need video. editing 

Speaker 4
23:43 - 23:44
and they need 

Tara Jabbari
23:44 - 23:44
video 

Speaker 4
23:44 - 23:46
for apps 

Tara Jabbari
23:46 - 23:48
or for their online material. Then 

Speaker 4
23:48 - 23:50
you've worked on 

Tara Jabbari
23:50 - 24:20
social media for Hallmark Channel and for Big Brother and Bachelorette and stuff, which is the more traditional things that we think of. But you also worked with influencers and we've spoken with some influencers. Just social media in general, what we've also started doing for this podcast is making smaller clips because it's another way of promoting you know like 60 second clips um highlighting stuff and like teasers and stuff two parts to this actually 

Speaker 4
24:20 - 24:21
one thing is because i 

Tara Jabbari
24:21 - 24:36
was trained by the best you veto um and our teachers and stuff but also i can't stand trying to edit within a social media platform whether it's tech talk or instagram they 

Dustin Elkin
24:36 - 24:40
want you to edit yeah use their software and all that. 

Tara Jabbari
24:41 - 24:45
I can't stand it. But they want you to because they say it's, or ChapCut even, 

Dustin Elkin
24:46 - 24:48
and all that stuff. It's a very popular one. 

Tara Jabbari
24:49 - 25:00
But it's, so your experience of that, because they get the licensing of music. So if you wanted to try and fit the music perfectly, if you want a Harry Styles song, you're going to have to do it in their app. 

Speaker 4
25:01 - 25:01
So annoying. 

Tara Jabbari
25:02 - 25:04
So I wanted to vent with you about that. 

Speaker 4
25:04 - 25:05
But also, 

Tara Jabbari
25:05 - 25:24
too, with working with people on social media and people who solely do things like influencers with social media, where do you see this trend? Is it a trend or is it something that's here to stay or what are your thoughts on that? 

Dustin Elkin
25:24 - 25:40
Yeah, I think when it comes to social media videos, you know, a lot of companies will hire an editor, but like they're still kind of green, which means they don't have a ton of experience. So they'll have them use, like you said, CapCut or edit within, you know, TikTok 

Speaker 4
25:40 - 25:41
or Facebook. 

Dustin Elkin
25:41 - 27:10
But for me, like quality wise, it's not just it's not the same for me. like having an actual video editor use, maybe Avid or Premiere like myself, to really fine-tune the details and use all the effects and all that to make the content look its best. I think it's the way to go. When it comes to that, that's what I believe in. For the second part, social media videos are not going away anytime soon. There's constantly new trends and ways of shooting things and all that that's just ever-growing. Like I'm constantly scrolling through TikTok and all that just to look for specific styles. And I noticed certain things. And yeah, it's so big right now because the 60-second to two-minute videos are super popular. And people's attention spans aren't very long these days. So everyone scrolls, I think, on social. So engaging content that sticks out with maybe not a lot of text captions most likely is huge right now. And being able to tell a story within, let's say, that 30 to 60 second time frame is also not an easy task. So that's something where a video editor really can come into play and make some content shine. Because, yeah, you're representing your brand and your company. And thousands, if not millions of people could be seeing it, depending on how you're advertising it. 

Tara Jabbari
27:10 - 27:20
Well said. Well put. Is there anything else that you wanted to kind of share or thoughts on this profession that we haven't really touched on? 

Dustin Elkin
27:21 - 28:13
Again, I'm always one to like lend a hand in my experience and help others because back in the day, you know, so many people helped me get to where I'm at today. So I'm grateful for that. So if you're just starting out, just, you know, try to get as much experience and practice as you can, even if that's just, you know, filming some footage. around your house or with family members just learning the platform that you want to edit on and research watch youtube videos because i still do that and i learn i learn a lot on youtube as well search youtube everything's there and um yeah just work hard and you know if you're just getting out of college or in college you know just try to gather as much experience as possible and be proactive and listen and just, you know, your, your, your skills and, and everything will kind of improve from there. 

Tara Jabbari
28:13 - 28:23
Well, thank you, Dustin. I'll have it in the show notes, your, your website, your video editing group podcast. Um, and yeah, so 

Dustin Elkin
28:23 - 28:27
sounds good. Thank you. Well, thank you so much for having me again. I appreciate it. 

Tara Jabbari
28:28 - 28:37
Yeah. And, uh, yeah, everyone. So consider really looking into proper editing and none of that nonsense with the apps. Yeah. 

VO
28:39 - 29:08
Thanks for listening to Media Maker Spotlight from Women in Film and Video. To learn more about WIF, visit wif as in Frank, v as in Victor.org. This podcast is created by Sandra Abrams, Candice Block, Brandon Ferry, Tara Jabari, and Jerry Reinhardt. and edited by Michelle Kim and Inez Perez, with audio production and mix by Steve Lack Audio. Subscribe to 

VO
29:08 - 29:15
continue learning from more amazing media makers. Please visit mediamakerspotlight.com for more information. 

Unknown Speaker
29:17 - 29:17
That's a wrap!