Demo reels for editors have always confounded me.

If you go to a forum and ask for advice, you’ll get 10 responses and they’ll all be contradictory.

What the eff, man?

Don’t do a montage! Do a montage! Don’t show clips! Just show some clips! Don’t do a reel, just link full samples! No one will look at samples, you need a reel!

I’ve struggled through editing a few reels in my time, and they always seem rather boring to me. The ultimate point of an editing reel is to show you can edit, so it’s not so much a reel anymore as it is a string of scenes that you edited. BORING. Why bother? I’m inclined to agree with the “don’t bother with a reel” people. Just put up samples.

But then the web video marketingy side of me says – I’m a product, why wouldn’t I have some kind of product video on myself that summarizes me?

So that’s the thought I arrived at with my latest reel which is not a reel. I call it my not-a-reel. I guess it’s more of a sizzle reel for myself. The point of a reel is a hook, and introduction and invitation to watch more. So that’s what I did. I haven’t seen a lot of videos like this out there, so hopefully it isn’t a huge turn off to anyone who might watch it. I like to think it’s the contrary – inviting, fun, and you get a sense for who I am. And then you see some pretty pictures from stuff I edited (and actually a lot of which I shot too) and you have a call to action to watch some of the featured videos on the side which then will lead you to watching more which then will lead you to emailing me! Right?

Thought so.