We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Christa Philippeaux. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Christa below.
Christa, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Too often the media represents innovation as something magical that only high-flying tech billionaires and upstarts engage in – but the truth is almost every business owner has to regularly innovate in small and big ways in order for their businesses to survive and thrive. Can you share a story that highlights something innovative you’ve done over the course of your career?
More often than not, when people think of Hollywood productions they are thinking of large scale productions with big budgets. But the truth is most things start with a simple concept and when you are first starting out, there is barely a budget at all because you are working with the resources you already have. When I first got into video editing I had to start from scratch. There were no clients or money for software or fancy scout locations. I just had my T4i Rebel Canon camera, Final Cut Pro, and my laptop. So I would create small concepts with friends who were fashion forward or maybe they were a part of a small band and said, “Hey, do you all want to make a video or do a photoshop?”. The answer was almost always yes because why not! We were college kids with nothing else to do and nothing to loose.
I remember my first music video was for a local Philadelphia indie rock band with these kids fresh out of high school. My friend and I co-directed it together which was my first time directing anyone. We found a nearby park with a woodsy area and we just shot footage of them rocking out and I edited it together. Then a classmate who was an inspiring rapper saw that and he gathered up all his friends in for a BBQ in a neighbor’s backyard and we shot footage of him rapping amongst his friends while they just hung out, ate food, and played beer pong. It was very low key and the only funds spent was on food and liquor. I didn’t get paid back then but it was fun. I wanted to do it! We literally made something out of nothing.
It was no different once I landed on LA soil. I had my same $400 camera and I took it almost everywhere with me. I really wanted to get into fashion back then and met some amazing people who just happened to have killer sense of style and wasn’t shy in front of the camera. So we would go through their wardrobes and pick a spot in LA with vibrant vibes and we would have fashion photoshoots. I made sure to take both photos and videos so that it could be both still photography and moving pictures. I would cut together spec commercials as if I were hired for a clothing brand or pair it fun with funky music just to have something to show. There were no rules so some were 15 seconds, a minute and a half, black and white, over saturated. It was the most freedom I ever had and pure entertainment us.
I did that over and over and eventually moved onto short films and creating music videos for LA local indie artists. Soon enough I had myself a small portfolio that I posted publicly on my website. I always made sure I had a digital presence from day one. My work and innovation was born out of necessity to feed my creative hunger and eventually when major companies and artists were looking for an editor, I was ready to go.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
A lot of the fields in the entertainment industry don’t require a college degree to land a solid job, though it helps. You can quite literally leave that section off of your resume but I am one of those folks that my education paved the way and got me to LA. I’m really fortunate to had gone to a high school, community college and university that helped me figure out what it was I wanted to do and land a job doing that exact thing. My high school was pretty nice and offered both photography and media production classes so by the time I was 18, I knew I wanted to do something involving cameras and the arts. I was very lucky to live near a great college, Montgomery Community College, and I took broadcasting courses there for two years. My professors tried their best to put me in front of the camera but I had the worst stage fright and I just knew I wanted to be a part of the behind-the-scenes world. Temple University not only helped plant me in LA but it also introduced me to some of my closest friends out here who are just as talented and hungry as I am so it was a perfect match and we often collaborate on exciting projects together.
After graduation, I quit my sketchy salesperson job and a friend passed along my editor’s reel to another Temple alumni who was working as a casting producer and I landed my first industry job as a casting editor. I once heard someone say that luck is just opportunity meeting preparation at the right time. I was lucky to be at the right place at the right time when they were looking for an editor but I was also prepared and ready.
When it comes to creating content, there’s all sorts of problems to solve. My main job is to help take the concept off the page and onto a timeline. Some of the biggest challenges can come from how well the footage was shot and if you have enough of it. Maybe the continuity is off, or there isn’t enough b-roll, no external audio was recorded, the editing software is glitching, or the deadline is super tight so we have to work long days. Just to name a few common challenges that I constantly run into and must be able to solve and get the product out.
Editing is one of those professions where there’s no such thing as knowing it all because there’s always new problems being born everyday. I’m definitely not the most tech savvy person out there so I rely on teamwork a lot and I’m not shy about that. Being a team player is one of my strengths and what can set me apart from other editors. I don’t usually have an ego when it comes to the cutting room or edit bay. I don’t mind co-editing when necessary or following suit to what the client’s vision is. For me, I’m just having fun and getting paid to make some really cool art so that allows me to be able to listen to others’ ideas and passions. That’s not to say I don’t offer my opinion and style. I always speak my mind and will put my own spin on things but I also had to learn how to pick my battles and make the client happy. As an editor, it’s important to know how to juggle the many different personalities here in Hollywood which is a skill on its own.
The thing I’m most proud of is staying true to the kinds of content I like to create. Most people in this industry gravitate towards wanting to work in the narrative world of TV or film but I always wanted to do commercials and music videos from the jump. There’s something extra special about creating a piece that’s under 5 minutes because you are challenged with the task of telling a story, selling a product, and provoking emotion in a very short amount of time. I love that extra pressure! And on top of that, short-form allows me to work on many different kinds of projects within a span of a year. I’m constantly meeting new directors and producers who belong to various communities and they shine a light on those voices that are underrepresented. I work a lot with of queer content, female empowerment, BIPOC, etc., and I’m able to hop around frequently because most projects are about a month long. It’s truly wonderful and educational but it did take me some time to figure it out and therefore I felt isolated because, at first, everyone around me had more of a long-form narrative driven mindset. At times I did question being different and going against the grain and I would think to myself, “am I doing this all wrong?” I really had to push myself to switch gears and find the rooms that I belonged in and I’ve never been happier.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
When I first started working in post production, I was in documentaries. It was fulfilling at first and I learned a ton but after a few years went by, I started craving more upbeat and flashier kinds of content. I was longing for an editorial style of work but I didn’t know how to cross over into that world. I remembered hearing that while you are networking, it’s important to tell everyone you meet what it is that you want to do. And so that’s what I did for a while until one day a peer told me about a workshop being held for commercial directors. Though I had no interest in directing, I wanted to be in the same room as people who help sell the product.
The workshop provided me with a list of commercial agencies and post houses and I started cold emailing them. Eventually I got a couple of responses and landed me a 3 week gig but it required me to leave my long-term job of 4 years. The jump was incredibly intimidating because I would give up everything I had worked for at that company. So I turned it down.
A month later the same company offered me a similar deal and that’s when I realized I had to make the risky decision of going after the career I longed for and made the switch to become a full-time freelancer. I had to trust that there was enough hustle in me to find consistent work and I quickly adapted to the stop and go work life. It was amazing and I have zero regrets. Sometimes you just have to take that leap of faith.
How did you build your audience on social media?
Building my audience is something that I’m still working on and I don’t really have an end goal other than to gain more business. Nowadays I treat my Instagram page like my resume so I always have to keep it up-to-date and eye-catching. I also follow the post houses, editors, and directors who I admire and want to gain their attention from. When they post content, I make sure to press the like button and/or comment and look through the credits to find the team who put it together and follow them as well. Not only has this method gained me additional followers in my direct field but it also keeps me up to date with new modern projects and editing styles that are popular. Now scrolling through social media is like doing rewarding homework. Whenever a trending music video drops or the Super Bowl commercials get ranked, I treat it like a scavenger hunt to find those who created it.
Luckily for me, I’ve never been too shy about social media and I’ve gotten used to sharing both my work and life events with essentially strangers. I’ve learned that the more interesting you make your life appear and consistently share big and small wins and new projects, the more people engage. My biggest advice is to not be shy about posting online. People are on these apps to watch what others are doing so don’t be afraid to post or don’t feel like you’re oversharing. Give the people what they want, which is entertainment! You can keep it to just work related content but also people love to know what you are doing in your everyday life too. I think during this era social media visibility is crucial to landing new clients so get comfy with it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://christaphilippeaux.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/phiiipoe
