Rebecca Hudson: Freelancer of the Month
May’s Freelancer of the Month is the fabulous Rebecca Hudson, who is a talented Editor on our books. Rebecca has stood out for her phenomenal work recently and excellent feedback. We had the pleasure to sit down with Rebecca and chat about her time in the industry, from the first spark of passion to recent projects.
The Spark:
For many of us, we spend the early years of our lives looking up to our parents; this is no different for Rebecca. Introduced to the world of photography and video editing by her Father, combined with her passion being furthered when she reached education – Rebecca knew from a young age a career in the editing sphere was for her.
Rebecca’s passion was furthered in 2015 heading to the University of Suffolk to study Digital Film Production. Although this was not Rebecca’s first choice when looking to develop her editing skills, it was this course that allowed for training in editing and introduced Rebecca to her first clients.
Entrepreneurial Spirit:
After leaving university, Rebecca found her first in-house job in 2020 after briefly freelancing for the business. Using this time to develop skills and advance her knowledge, Rebecca spent a year with Amplify Life. However, after spending a year with the company, Rebecca decided to step away from employment and start her own business.
During this process, Rebecca would remind herself of how far she had come since graduating and used drive this to create a highly successful business.
Wings (2020), Client/Director:Jamie Weston
Business Owner:
Rebecca’s time working as a freelancer has seen her take on numerous exciting projects – reminiscing about some of these favourite jobs, we chatted about the work that has stood out during her time in the industry.
” I loved working for Skillshare. Being interested in education for a while now, editing their classes scratched that itch! I also love working with their team in New York. A friend and colleague of mine, Ben from Belysa productions, introduced me to them and films most of the UK classes.”
Another project Rebecca had the chance to work on involved her working for Channel 4’s True Stories. Working as an Edit Assistant, Rebecca was able to achieve a lifelong dream of working on a channel 4 project.
“I was ecstatic and I believe it will go down as one of my favourite projects, ten years from now I believe I will feel the same way!”
The Freelance Life:
As many freelancers will attest, freelancing is not an easy life, it requires hard work, dedication and true grit. This is no different for Rebecca, but with hard work comes many rewards: freelancing brings freedom and variety. Rebecca has found that it has allowed the expansion of her portfolio in a much more diverse and unique way than having worked in-house would have done.
With advantages come pitfalls, Rebecca had some advice on how a freelancer may be able to avoid these: “I think it’s a good idea to have a financial safety net by saving some money. This means you can work on projects that you want to work on and can take time off work when it’s needed.”
Women In The Industry:
Editing in prior years has been a very much male dominated role, however, in recent years at TCC we have been pleased to see this drastically shifting. Rebecca spoke about how she thinks her role has been affected working as a woman in the industry.
“When I initially got into filmmaking in my teens, I thought being a woman would be a challenge, but almost everyone I’ve worked with regardless of gender has been fantastic. There have been the odd few, but I chose to focus my time on people that appreciate me as I appreciate them. In a way, it has its advantages as a lot of people think it’s interesting when I tell them what I do for a living.”
Advice For Aspiring Editors and Filmmakers:
We ask all of our freelancers for their top tips on how to enter the industry, it is their experience that helps shape the future of the industry. Rebecca had some excellent points for those looking to make it as an editor:
“Talk with other editors and filmmakers! I can’t stress enough how many people have elevated me, given me confidence, and helped me pursue my dreams. I’m grateful to all of them and I hope to repay them and help others in the future.
Join filmmaking social media groups as they’re great for freelance roles and networking. Talking to people already established in the industry helped me determine what my pay rate should be. I’d advise you to use day and half-day rates rather than hourly as it helps you plan your workdays better. Word of mouth is essential for helping secure work, but also make sure you have an online presence such as a website, LinkedIn, or Instagram to show off your work. Recruitment agencies are fantastic; TCC has been extremely helpful to me.”
- The Silver Arts Award:
Many aspiring editors in their teenage years are unsure of how best to progress their career, one way to do this in Rebecca’s opinion is to take part in the Silver Arts Award. A course run by the BFI, the Silver Arts Award is a 12-week course designed to develop filmmaking skills for anyone aged between 16-19.
Rio Ferdinand Mental Health Q&A (2020), Client: Amplify Life, Production Company: Dog Eat Dog
Stepping Out From Behind The Desk:
Although freelancers are known for their dedication and hard work, Rebecca, like all of us, has her downtime. An avid fan of gaming you will find Rebecca spending her spare time on The Sims or Minecraft, blasting 90’s music. Rebecca also loves spending as much time with her loved ones as she can.
Working with TCC:
Rebecca joined The Crewing Company only recently, and we chatted about her time with us so far.
“My friend, James Battrick, recommended TCC to me. He’s an editor himself and he told me about TCC when I left my full-time job to start my business. I feel like TCC cares about my growth and I’m not just a number in their books. Everyone I’ve spoken to has been so helpful and friendly and I couldn’t recommend them enough to any freelancer.”
Wrapping Up:
Thank you for chatting with us Rebecca and sharing stories from your incredible experiences. We can’t wait to see where your talents will take you next!
Check out Rebecca’s Instagram Here.