Right before the new year, Corey from Round Table Companies (RTC) sent me a suspiciously polite e-mail, asking if I’d be interested in editing videos for RTC’s community website. I say “suspiciously polite” because most potential clients are very matter-of-fact, hard-line and borderline demanding. Corey approached me like a person to work with, not a service to purchase.
We started with a project that was pretty standard for my clients: uninspired footage leading me to an uninspired edit that technically satisfied the job requirements. Only, for the first time, we both realized that neither of us were happy. Corey pushed, I pushed back. I complained, Corey listened. This lead us not to part ways, but to start fresh with a new project. A better project; an amazing project. A project about Carmen.
As an avowed news junkie, I had heard Carmen Tartleton’s story. If you’re unfamiliar, The New York Times’ story is a great overview: For Victim of Ghastly Crime, a New Face, a New Beginning.
RTC sent a videographer & photographer to interview Carmen and shoot the cover of her book (Overcome: Burned, Blinded, and Blessed) in 2012. Corey handed over this footage and allowed me to create with very little oversight. Through Carmen’s interview I discovered a story line that hadn’t really been published before. Specific quotes jumped out at me, begging to heard; it seemed completely obvious.
After a year of freelancing for clients who are happy with what I consider to be mediocre-at-best video, I felt refreshed, alive, creative.
View We Can Overcome Completely – Unseen Video Footage From Before Carmen’s Face Transplant on RTC’s site.
After I completed the video, Corey asked me to spend a week in Joshua Tree, CA on an Adventure Trip with RTC. I said no. He pushed, I pushed back, and in March I’ll be shooting quite a lot of footage to edit for RTC this year. Wait for it… this is going to be good.