5 Reasons Your Post-Production Is Taking So Long

In the world of video post-production, timing is everything, but sometimes, projects seem to stretch on indefinitely. If you've ever found yourself scratching your head, wondering why a project is taking longer than expected, you might want to consider the following reasons. 

Each of these points not only sheds light on common pitfalls but also offers a roadmap to smoother, more efficient post-production processes.

1. Hiring the Wrong Team

Hiring decisions can make or break your post-production timeline. Opting for a team because they're budget-friendly might seem like a good idea initially, but if they lack the necessary experience, you could end up paying for it in delays. 

Experience isn't just about knowing how to use the tools; it's about understanding the workflow, being able to anticipate problems, and knowing how to solve them quickly. Similarly, bringing on professionals with the wrong skill set can derail a project. 

Post-production is a symphony of talents—editors, colorists, sound engineers, and more. Hiring without a clear understanding of who does what in this stage is like trying to cook a gourmet meal without knowing what ingredients you need. 

The key takeaway? Invest time in understanding the roles you need to fill and prioritise experience and fit over cost-saving measures.

2. Poor Production Planning

"Fix it in post" has become a notorious phrase that echoes the halls of many a production company, often leading to a cascade of problems down the line. Skimping on essentials like using a tripod or planning shots with post-production in mind can exponentially increase the workload later. 

Every corner cut during filming becomes a mountain to climb in post-production, where "magic" is expected to happen. This magic, unfortunately, comes at the cost of time. Extensive colour correction, stabilising shaky footage, or re-creating poor audio are just a few examples where poor planning upfront leads to a marathon of fixes. 

The takeaway here is simple yet often ignored: investing more time and care during the production phase can save countless hours later.

3. Unrealistic Expectations

Managing expectations is an art, especially when it comes to post-production timelines. Often, projects take exactly as long as they should, but issues arise when overly optimistic deadlines are promised. 

This mismatch between reality and expectations can create unnecessary pressure on the post-production team, leading to a rush job that compromises quality. It's vital to have a clear understanding of the post-production process and to communicate realistic timelines to clients from the start. 

Remember, good work takes time, and post-production is where your project reaches its final, polished form. 

Rushing through this phase can detract from the overall quality of the finished product.

4. Outdated Equipment

Technology plays a pivotal role in post-production efficiency. Working with outdated equipment not only slows down the process due to longer rendering times but may also limit the team's ability to use the latest software updates and tools. 

This technological bottleneck can stifle creativity and efficiency, leading to delays and frustration. 

Upgrading equipment is an investment in your team's productivity and the quality of your final product. While it's true that a skilled editor can work wonders with less-than-ideal tools, there's no denying that modern, capable hardware can significantly speed up the post-production process.

5. Underestimating Your Team's Capabilities

The cornerstone of any successful post-production effort is a deep understanding of your team's capabilities. 

Dismissing concerns as excuses or not taking the time to truly engage with your team about their needs and limitations can lead to mismanaged projects. Open dialogue is essential.

By listening to your team, you can identify gaps in skills, equipment, or planning that need to be addressed. Trusting your team's feedback and acting on it not only streamlines the post-production process but also fosters a positive, productive working environment.

In summary, avoiding these pitfalls starts with thoughtful planning, clear communication, and a willingness to invest in both people and technology. By acknowledging and addressing these areas, you can set your post-production projects on a path to success, meeting deadlines without sacrificing quality.

7 Client Red Flags You Need to Know as a Freelancer

As a freelancer, there are certain signs that working with a client isn’t going to work out. Most of these make themselves apparent long before you start working with someone. If you notice them – run. 

Run, and never look back. 

Below is my personal list. It’s not exhaustive, but these are things I see often. They tell me that this working relationship isn’t going to be in my best interest. At least, it’s certainly not going to do anything for my mental health.

Yellow Flags

Before we get to the hard red flags, let’s start with some “yellow” flags.

If you’re just starting out in your career, you’ll see these fairly regularly. They’re not entirely unreasonable for a client to say or do, for reasons I’ll cover below. But as you progress in your career, that yellow will slowly – but surely – shift to full-on red.

Asking For Free Work Samples

Just starting out in your freelancing journey? Don’t have much of a portfolio put together?

Get ready to be asked to provide free samples.

A lot.

This is one of those annoying things that you sort of just have to deal with early on. You’re welcome to try to push back against it – and I encourage you to when you can. I used to like asking for a token payment – $10, $20, something very small. Clients who would balk at paying such a miniscule amount generally weren’t worth my time. 

But chances are while you’re building your portfolio, you’ll need to bite the bullet and shoot through a sample.

The key word here is sample. A sample of work, not a completed job. 

If a client asks you to produce a completed piece of content for them for free – even if they’re saying they won’t use the content – it’s a hard no, regardless of where you are in your career.

A single sample piece with a watermark?

Fine.

A fully edited video, a completed SEO’d blogpost, a logo and branding kit ready to go?

No.

Not Wanting to Pay a Deposit

I list this as a yellow flag for the same reason as the above – you might be just starting out and the client might be unsure about paying sight unseen for work.

However.

The response to this is to offer the free sample, not to complete the full work in good faith the client will pay.

When the client has already seen a sample of work, or if you are an established professional with work that a client can already see and judge, then this becomes a red flag. Inexperienced or not, if they want you to produce the work, they can pay for it.

It’s especially a hard red flag when a client tries to tell you that paying a deposit is unusual or not the done thing. Trust me: it absolutely is, and the client is trying to gaslight you (see below).

Red Flags

And now for the red flags. These are those actions and requests that just scream to me it’s better to leave the money on the table than to move forward with a project.

Unrealistic Expectations

I mostly see this with my motion graphics work:

A client has just seen the latest amazing piece of marketing from Apple, and now they want someone to reproduce the video but tailored to their business.

And they want it next week.

And their budget is $100USD.

Sometimes these clients are simply misinformed. They’re lead to believe that video production is a simple job these days, where the tools do most of the work and the editor just pushes a few buttons.

Sometimes, these clients can be educated. You can offer them alternatives that suit their time and budget restrictions. You can work out something that works well for everyone involved, and it’s a great time.

More often, in my experience, you get either gaslit or insulted, and mercifully walk away with your sanity in check.

Gaslighting and Negging

“It’s not that difficult.”

“It shouldn’t take that long.”

“That’s not how it’s supposed to be done.”

“That’s too expensive for what this is.”

“You’re not good enough to charge this rate.”

Clients who want to belittle you before you even begin, or make you question your knowledge, experience and expertise, are not worth your time.

The second a client starts to doubt you – even if you’re new, even if you’re just beginning – walk away. You absolutely do not need to humour that sort of working relationship, and it will never end well.

Payment Issues

Money is the cause of, and solution to, just about every freelancer’s problems.

It’s natural, and even good practice, to try to negotiate fees and rates. This is to be expected, and generally shouldn’t be taken personally.

But when payment discussions with a client amount to little more than them questioning the rate, trying to negotiate payment terms that are unfavourable to you, or ignoring follow-ups when they don’t pay – walk away.

Well, get paid first if you’ve done the work.

Then walk away.

Uncooperative Clients

I’ve been doing what I do for a while. I like to believe I’m fairly good at it. My repeat clients would certainly suggest that.

But there are few things I hate more than when a client dumps a project on me and refuses to offer any further help. 

“What sort of style would you like? Who’s the target audience?”

“You’re the expert,” they say. “You tell me.”

Or,

“Can you help me find this incredibly niche piece of information/resource you’ve specifically requested I use but haven’t provided in the brief?”

“Are you going to refund me for doing your job for you?”

And so on.

You don’t want to work with these people. You certainly don’t need to work with these people.

When I’ve worked with a client for many years, it becomes fairly natural for them to dump projects on me and for me to go do things on my own. That’s because we’ve built up a solid working relationship where I know what they want and they know what to expect from me.

But when you’re starting to build a relationship, or working with a client for the first time, there needs to be collaboration to make it work.

Any client who treats you poorly for that isn’t worth your time or mental health.

The Ultimate Red Flag: Asking For Favours in Exchange for the Promise of More Work

“Do this one cheap/for free, and I’ll give you lots of work.”

No, they will not.

No, they will never.

The best, the absolute best you can hope to get out of any client that says that is more cut-rate work.

When you start to refuse to do the cheap jobs and insist on your full pricing, they will absolutely ghost you and find the next poor sucker willing to do their work for cheap.

I have not, in ten years of freelancing, had a client come back to me with substantial, full-price after doing them a favour on the first gig. 

Moreover, I’ve never met a freelancer who did manage to get ongoing, full-price work out of a client after doing the same.

It doesn’t happen. It never happens.

The kind of client who wants you to do the first job for free or for cheap is telling you clearly, in no uncertain terms, that they do not respect your work. If you do the job, you are telling them that your price is negotiable, and they will negotiate. 

They will resort to gaslighting and negging. 

They will argue about every cent you charge.

Run for the hills. Don’t even worry about leaving money on the table – there is no money. 

There is no table. 

There are only empty promises and exploitation to be had here.

***

Like I said, this is my personal list of red flags when it comes to dealing with clients. It’s not an exhaustive list, but these are the ones that always seem to rear their head. I’ve got a lot better at identifying them and protecting myself over the years. 

While it can seem hairy turning down work, it’s ultimately for the best to avoid these clients.

They were probably going to pay late anyway.

Pricing Yourself as a Freelancer

I’ve been working as a freelance video editor for over a decade now. Without fail, the most common discussion I have with people is “why does it cost so much?”

It’s a fair question, especially in my line of work. The gig economy gutted prices. Mobile editing apps tell everyone they can totally create a fully edited video with the press of a button. Surely it’s quick, easy work – why would it cost so much?

This leads many freelancers, especially those just starting out, to undervalue themselves. After all, maybe a job does only take them half an hour – they can’t charge much for that, right?

Absolutely you can, and for reasons that stretch far beyond greed.

This is what goes into pricing yourself as a freelancer:

Freelancers Are Small Businesses

As a freelancer, you are not just a free-floating employee looking for someone to engage them for a project. You are a small business, engaging with other businesses, to provide a service.

And what do small businesses have?

Business expenses.

Employees definitely have some work-related expenses, and these can be considerable depending on the industry. But freelancers have all of those, plus regular business expenses. Things like:

• Equipment costs

• Marketing and advertising

• Product licenses

• Insurances

• Office supplies

And there are costs you might not even expect that are fairly unique to being a freelancer.

In today’s online working environment, businesses love using freelancing platforms to source workers. I, personally, have made great use of fiverr.com over the last 6 years – in fact, I’ve made around $100,000 USD on the platform since starting in mid-2016.

But Fiverr takes 20%.

The other week I completed a gig for $400USD. Fiverr’s cut was $80 – I paid Fiverr $80 to get $320 (not to mention the transaction fee the buyer was charged!)

That means since starting on the platform, I’ve paid almost $20,000 USD to be there.

I’d argue it’s been worth it. Being on the site certainly helped me survive 2020 – but I need to factor that commission into my pricing.

Don’t Forget Holiday and Sick Pay

I live in Australia. Employers are obligated to provide a certain amount of holiday and personal pay each year. 

Came down with the flu? Stay home for a few days, still get paid. 

Go away for a week on a holiday? Still get paid.

Freelancers don’t get this luxury. If they don’t work, they don’t get paid.

Certainly, there is some flexibility to have working holidays, or God forbid, work while you’re sick. But sometimes you need to rest and recharge. Sometimes you’re laid up in hospital. 

Sometimes – shock horror – work needs to take a backseat.

Freelancers need to factor this into their pricing structure. They need to have some money they can set aside to cover them when they’re incapable of working. 

Whether it’s illness or just taking the time to recharge, freelancers need to be able to have periods of no productivity where they aren’t starving to death.

Freelancers Need to Set Aside for Retirement

In Australia, an employer is obligated to pay at least 10.5% of an employee’s salary as “superannuation” – a kind of retirement fund – on top of their salary.

So if you earn $100,000, your employer pays $10,500 a year into your retirement fund.

This is, again, something freelancers don’t usually get. Some industries actually do stipulate that contract workers should be paid super, and some freelance employers simply offer it as a bonus. But this is not the case for most jobs a freelancer will do through the year.

As a freelancer, you need to account for this. You need to have a small amount of money you can put aside each job for retirement. 

This isn’t your personal savings, this isn’t your business expenses; this is for when you’re no longer working and want to enjoy the last few decades of your life.

Job Insecurity Surcharge

One of the most attractive aspects of using freelancers is that it’s as-needed. A company finds a freelancer for a project, engages them for the length of the project, and then has the option of going their separate ways. 

There are no long term obligations, no payroll taxes, no laws around terminations and severance pay.

But that convenience comes at a cost. 

The freelancer needs to factor job insecurity into their price. Above and beyond their holiday and sick pay, they need “waiting for the next job to come along” pay.

So businesses pay a premium to get access to top talent for just as long as they need, and then say goodbye when the project is over.

That’s why many freelancers – not all – are more than happy to discuss a reduced rate for ongoing or some sort of guaranteed work. Retainers, for example, are a great way for businesses to secure freelancers at a fixed price, and freelancers to know with some certainty what their income will be.

In Conclusion: Freelance Rates Are Not Employee Rates

When you price yourself as a freelancer, you can’t just price yourself as if you were a typical permanent employee. You’re a small business providing a service to other businesses.

So on top of the money you actually need to have to pay bills, eat, and save — y’know, live — you need to factor in the expenses of being a small business.

Yes, your prices will rise — and I’ll write about dealing with that in another blog — but you’ll be better positioned to have financial security and actually be able to live as a freelancer.