Steal my 12-step high-leverage post process

Ready to escape the DIY trap? Steal my 12-step high-leverage post process.

Why?

Because it kills me to hear filmmaker after filmmaker tell me how busy they are, how overwhelmed they feel…

And then, in the same breath, share that they’re doing everything themselves.

The Overwhelm Trap: We’ve All Been There

I get it. I really do.

It feels safer to do it all yourself. To protect that hard-earned revenue.

I spent years in that trap myself.

But let’s be real. If you’re doing EVERYTHING yourself, you’re probably feeling:

• Burnt out (like, toast-level burnt)

• Like your work could be way better (if only you had the time)

• Like things can’t keep going this way (spoiler: they can’t)

• Unsure of how to ‘get ahead’ (hint: it’s not by working harder)

Leverage: Your Escape Hatch to Freedom

This is where leverage becomes your secret weapon.

As a business owner, you need to create room to focus on the things that let you drive the most value.

Newsflash: Rough-cutting media isn’t one of those things.

The Magic Formula: 3 Steps to Freedom

I’ve built a system that’s all about identifying a couple of key high-leverage parts of post-production. The parts where I drive the most value.

Then that’s all I do. Everything else? Delegated and automated.

With killer systems.

The Numbers Don’t Lie

What does this mean in terms of results?

• A global brand film with 7 hours of interviews and a six-figure budget? Done in less than 8 hours.

• A national brand film with a $60k budget? Knocked out in 87 minutes.

Sounds crazy, right? Let’s break it down…

From the infographic, you can see that there are only three stages of the post-process which I consider high-leverage:

• Drafting the paper edit: This is where I take the interviews and create a word-for-word outline of what the edit should be. I know the client. I know story. This is where my perspective is huge.

• Fine-cutting the film: AFTER my paper edit is assembled and everything is roughed in, I’ll spend more time dialing it in. You could delegate this too, but it’s a more expensive skill set and this is where I ensure our films feel like Muse.

• Reviewing with the client: That experience and the delivery is so valuable, I’d put client time as largely high-leverage.

That’s it. That’s all I’m doing.

Everything else? Delegated and automated. This frees me up to take those extra 30-50 hours saved and develop relationships, be the strategic partner for my clients, and grow the business.

“But HOW?” I Hear You Ask

Here’s exactly what I do:

• Create a VERY detailed post manual. So detailed that it has every step, every timeline, and exactly what needs to be done at each step. << This makes it easy for a junior editor to handle steps 1,2,3,4,6 at $10-35/hr

• Develop AI tools that know the Science of Storytelling. This lets me (and you) feed in your transcripts and draft that paper edit in minutes to hours. << This makes your step 5 something that’s fun and quick

• Create a soundtrack and SFX process for sound sourcing. This allows my EA to handle step 7. She finds various relevant options, timecodes them, and preps for the editor.

• Have ‘master folders’ in DaVinci setup. These let me get top sounds, animations, LUTs, and footage in seconds across any project. << This makes my step 9 fast and fun, where you can really enjoy the edit

Once these systems and processes are built, you can delegate them to others, and they can take over the low-leverage items at a fair and reasonable cost.

The Math That’ll Blow Your Mind

If you pay a junior editor $35/hr and they can do their steps in 12 hours, you’re paying $420 for all that time back and still delivering quality.

But most don’t want to build the system, train the person, and go through the growing pains of getting it up and running.

So we continue living in a land of fulfillment and don’t have the room to work on and grow the business.

But please, do think about the math for a minute…

You could save 30+ hours PER PROJECT and get this whole thing up and running for LESS investment than the time to do one project all by yourself.

But then you get dividends for every project after that.

• Patrick