This story was originally published on Passionfruit.
We’re sitting down with leaders on the business side of the creator economy to get their best advice for creators looking to launch and develop their careers. This week, we spoke with four video editors who work behind the scenes with popular YouTube channels Jacksepticeye, Mike Shake, and Smosh.
The editors shared how they broke into the YouTube scene, the pros and cons of working for YouTube versus more traditional media, their tips for YouTubers hiring and working with editors, the challenges of adapting to a creator’s voice and style, the editing trends they’re paying attention to, and more.
Video editor Devin Robbins (@devinrobbins) told Passionfruit he comes from a film background, working for news television and reality television shows like Big Brother, Master Chef, and The Bachelor. Robbins said he was always interested in the YouTube world and broke into it after finding a Discord server for video editors run by people who work with YouTubers. He said he shared his demo reel on the server and was put in touch with Mike Shake (@mikeshakeTV), a YouTuber with over 2.3 million followers.
Robbins told Passionfruit one of the reasons he moved from traditional media to YouTube was to “participate in the success” of the content he helped create. He said when he was working for a news network, for example, he would not see any financial incentive for the videos he made that performed well.
“I’d make a video that would go viral on our own platform and get a million views and there’d be a bunch of ad revenue, and I would see none of it. And so when I transitioned into YouTube, one of my priorities was to participate in the success of the videos that I work on,” Robbins said.
