We were lucky to catch up with Chris Butler recently and have shared our conversation below.

Chris, appreciate you joining us today. Can you share a customer success story with us?

At Lionstar Films, we had a client hosting a massive conference in Vegas, and they needed show graphics and videos for 50-foot screens of unusual dimensions. We wanted the screens to be dynamically connected for a seamless experience. After some trial and error, we pulled off an amazing show with interactive motion graphics that synced perfectly with the event. It felt like being at a concert in a stadium, and seeing the live audience react to our work was an unforgettable experience. It’s not every day that editors get that kind of immediate feedback!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Chris Butler hence “The Film Butler” for my brand. I started making videos as a hobby early on in middle school and high school. What started out as a little fun hobby became really fascinating for me to pursue and by the end of high school, I made up my mind… I wanted to be a video editor. After attending film school, I got a job making automotive commercials for a large agency. We pumped out those commercials like crazy and I always called it my After Effects bootcamp. That’s where I really learned and masted the craft of efficiency and motion graphics. I had some great mentors there and co-workers I could really lean into. From there I continued onto automotive for a while doing 360 degree virtual car tours. After that I moved to Atlanta to create some interesting 360 virtual reality car commercials and now I’m currently at a studio in Atlanta called Lionstar doing live show graphics and corporate commercials for some major brands.

Throughout the years, my experience has made me very well-versed in a variety of situations, from corporate work to concert visuals and everything in between. It’s been a great journey so far and I’m only getting started.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

It started a long time ago when I lost my job and was looking for something new. In the meantime, I went on Upwork and started pitching myself to freelance clients. After landing a couple large consistent work clients, I started freelancing full-time for a bit. After a while I did find a full-time job creating 360 virtual reality car commercials but in my free time I still kept in touch with those clients. To this day one of the best ways to find remote-work / freelance opportunity is by being a friendly editor. References from other clients have a huge importance and keeping a healthy relationship with those clients goes a long way. It’s easier to keep a client than it is to find a new one.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I think some of the most rewarding aspects of being a creative is seeing the final product come alive. Sometimes we are given challenges or client requests that seem impossible, but as an editor we need to figure out how to make it happen. Some of my favorite things to do is add or remove things from a shot and present it to the client and they don’t even realize it was edited. Another cool thing that happens is when I do live show visuals, getting a chance to see my work on an enormous LED screen for a stadium of people is such a great feeling. A live reaction is always worth the work.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thefilmbutler.com
• Instagram: @thefilmbutler.com