Today we’d like to introduce you to Jayce Hill.
Hi Jayce, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Honestly, at times I have no idea how I ended up where I am now. It’s quite the journey. I graduated college at Florida State University with degrees in Anthropology and Media Production. From there started a career at the National Park Service as an Archaeologist. When I had enough of that, I decided to go teach film and media studies at a school in Honduras through a non-profit called Filmmakers Without Borders.
Then I returned to my college town, Tallahassee, Florida. It was a great place but wanted to find somewhere bigger to try my hand at a few things like Stand Up and Improv comedy. I got myself a nice desk job as a video production manager at a large corporation in Midtown. My days were the typical 9-5 and would spend my nights going from show to show performing. Eventually, I found this wonderful comedy theatre in midtown called The Relapse Theatre.
Relapse, as we called it, was an incredible place for comedians and artists. It was a community full of musicians, comedians, actors, vagabonds… you name it. There I slowly began to meet folks who shared a similar sense of humor. And quite unexpectedly, I met my future bandmates. Even though we were doing improv, we all were secret musicians. Looking back, I’m not sure why, we just never shared that with each other until the pandemic hit and the theatre closed. Once that happened comedy shows went away but I would meet with my improv friends and play music (I know not very safe but it was how we coped). That turned into three albums with one in the works.
This brings us to the pandemic. At this point I’m in two bands, working on my own film work here and there and still working a 9-5. Frankly, something had to give. I was always happy taking on a million personal projects and getting my work done for my 9-5. I wanted to make the same amount of money while also having a bit more freedom. So despite my already insane schedule, I decided to add just a small side project – starting a small business.
In July 2021 I quit my cushy 9-5 and founded Atlanta Video Editors LLC. I began reaching out to potential clients and slowly over time it grew. Today, I have a few freelancers working on projects at Atlanta Video Editors while still onboarding new clients/employees.
So here I am. Very confused at how an archaeologist in Tallahassee, Florida ended up in two bands and running a video post-production business.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Honestly, the road has been very smooth. I feel like if you pursue things you enjoy for the sake of enjoying them life can be easy. Sure there are some business hiccups or months where the belt tightens but that’s life.
If you have a goal just break it down into small chunks until the whole thing is done.
I felt the pinch at first, thinking that maybe I should beg to get my old job back. A few bad business decisions have certainly been made and you have to mitigate the consequences with that. Had my fair share of nightmare clients.
But all those things are little lessons. Now I understand the ebbs and flows of business life (and to save money for those times), I know that not every decision you make has to be a good one, and I learned to vet clients and say no at times.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I think my work is really whatever I want to be working on at the moment. I had a podcast for a while where we did improvised music/songs. We have 50 or so episodes out under the name Getting Pretentious.
I have one band called Good Luck, Humans where we lean heavily into optimism and happiness even during sad subjects. We started doing live shows this year. We have one album out called “Just be happy that’s your world” and are currently in the studio working on our second album due out in early 2023.
I’m in another band Non Player Character, we have not released anything yet but have had two sessions at The Blackbird Studio in Nashville. We’re sitting on 14 songs and hope to release them early in 2023.
I don’t think I’m all that set apart honestly. I write music I like and do projects I enjoy doing. I hope that others find a uniqueness to it or get something new from it.
I think if you’re an artist, just create what you enjoy and maybe others will like it or find their own meaning in it.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
Well for video editing or video production I don’t see this slowing down (famous last words). Atlanta keeps growing and the need for media services seems to grow with it. It often feels like we don’t have enough post-production services for all the businesses and people that keep coming into this wonderful city. But look – I’m not complaining. I’d say in 5-10 years if we still have the growth we’re having you’ll see more production houses pop up and the ones that are here will (hopefully) grow in scope.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.atlantavideoeditors.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaycemichaelhill/
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7nS0ZAI9buoorfXScphQpX?si=N8AplLxDTAmRA8Js4TtuHQ
