Jeremy Smolik

I work with various clients around the country and globally, editing remotely from my home studio on a fast workstation, and turn around projects quickly and efficiently. As a director, I can help streamline projects from conception to completion. One of my projects from last year won a Webby (People's Voice Award), I put pride into every project I work on, big or small.

Lead and/or supporting editor on various branded videos for GQ, Vanity Fair, Wired, Glamour, Ars Technica, Teen Vogue, and more. My videos have broken numerous records for the brands, been nominated for a Webby, and are currently being used company-wide as an example for non-narrative story/tone structure. Much of that work can be viewed on my YouTube page: www.youtube.com/rabidartists

Helped the writer during development with script coverage & rewrites, setup casting notices, booking casting locations & other casting dir. responsibilities, typical director responsibilities as well as AD responsibilities including script breakdowns, DOODs, shot lists, storyboards, shooting schedule, previz boards, location scouting, UPM responsibilities with finding crew & interviews, as well as post production editing & sound design.

Created assets for all of the animated sections of the show, including pulling source images from Getty & other online sources, cutting them out for crude animations in the style of Monty Python, yet blending them & painting extensions so that each element looked like it belonged in the original source painting/etching/drawing/mural from 200+ years ago. I used methods like crosshatching, halftone dot patterns, and realistic effects such as ink/paint bleeds on paper, texture & paint falloff on canvas, and heavy oil-paint strokes to further disguise a modern element in an old artistic setting. Each scene was like a moving painting, and consisted of approx 3-5 elements per scene. I built over 300 scenes, while someone else animated most of them, I did animate one of the episodes as well.

Went on the road with the producers/hosts of the show to different restaurants so they could try food and shoot their footage. After their shoots they'd give all of the footage to me, I'd DIT & organize the footage, pulling selects overnight and then sleeping during the day. After 2-3 episodes I'd go back to the office and assemble the cuts, cutting together 30-minute roughs which ultimately got trimmed down to ~12 minute episodes. Worked with the producers to get their input on the cuts, made revisions, and kept the general "feel" of the show from previous seasons while introducing some new fun callbacks & jokes within the edits.

Throughout my 4 years at Waterproof Pictures, I went on more and more shoots as a camera operator or to support our DP as his best boy. However as our DP moved from staff to freelance, I was needed on most of the shoots. Having studied cameras & lighting for nearly a decade, it was an easy transition, and I was the DP on dozens of shoots over the next year and a half. I filmed everything from the simple naturally-lit orchards of the central valley, to a low-key stylized shoot of Wonder Woman's costume with Warner Bros for promotional footage. I shot BTS and interviews with celebrities during their cover shoots for Cosmo, Glamour, Elle, Seventeen, Marie Claire, and others. I also lit and shot a 6-part series for Def Leopard. For these shoots I helped plan the gear needed pre-shoot, decided on mood early, and worked with the directors to achieve the shots they wanted, while still advising when things wouldn't work (such as crossing the 180 line too often, not flipping the key light, highlight peaking, avoiding noise, etc). I also planned an 11-camera shoot with just a 1-day notice and gear pre-selected for P&G, so I'm able to make due with whatever a budget or shoot will allow.

I was also the main producer on this film along with being the writer/director/editor/animator, with a small crew of 6 and a cast of 2. Booked the sound stage at half price after negotiations, worked out a deal with current employer for gear, a similar deal with the DP for his time & use of RED camera & lenses, free music from Moby through a program they have, and volunteer cast & crew. I came in at half the budget I originally had.

While still handling VFX responsibilities, most of our jobs didn't require VFX, so I became a Lead Editor along with one other, and organized our post-workflow along with hiring freelancers for the busy seasons. Worked from start to finish on some projects, and on others I was able to jump in mid-edit to help with color, transitions, GFX, music, or other elements as a team.