One day as I was scrolling through my Instagram feed, bored and unamused to the point where I actually looked through my explore page, a post caught my eye. Intrigued, I watched as a compilation of clips from movies that I had seen before play one after another to form a short edit, matching up with music chosen to go along with the clips.

Amazed to see thousands of well-deserved views on that edit alone, I scrolled more, and stumbled upon similar recommended posts of video/movie edits from accounts dedicated solely to editing. I fell into a rabbit hole of intense feed-scrolling and found myself spending a lot of time going through the editing accounts that stood out to me. I enjoyed looking through their work, marvelling at certain edits with movies that I had never seen but looked interesting, edits with movies/shows/music that I loved and knew well, and at the creativity displayed within their edits.

Soon, I realized that I hadn’t just come across a possible new hobby, but a whole community of editors and film and movie enthusiasts in which I was more than eager to join. I wanted to make my own edits with movies and shows that I had seen, incorporate my favorite songs and audios, develop my own style, and share them with the world for people to enjoy — just like the other accounts I had seen. Despite having no knowledge of editing whatsoever, I was determined to begin creating edits and the birth of my account @do0wop — named after one of my favorite genres of music, Doo-wop — ensued.

As excited as I was to post my first few edits — however sloppy and horribly made they were — I was unaware of the process that had to occur to gain even somewhat of a following and ensure people would actually see my content. My closest friends knew of and supported my account, yet I was nervous to really put my work out there and promote it.

Nevertheless I continued to post, looking to editing accounts with a large audience for inspiration, as well as smaller editing accounts for guidance and mutual support. Slowly, I started to gain a following and made it a goal of mine to have a posting schedule and put out a certain amount of edits every week. Within my first few weeks of starting out, the unthinkable happened. A well-known editing account found one of my posts and promoted it on their story, which allowed thousands of people with similar interests to interact with it. From there, I made friends with other smaller creators, learned tips and tricks, and saw my account steadily begin to flourish.

With lots of experimentation I figured out where and how to download high quality clips, format, split, and center them, add text, audio, transitions, and make them on beat to music. As my passion for editing grew, so did my love for film. I learned to celebrate the little milestones on my account, and was grateful for all of the support I received no matter how big or small.

Perseverance was key; the more I learned how to improve my editing, the more time I spent on a single edit–sometimes up to several hours polishing a perfectly on beat clip or importing/sizing quality clips. I searched for specific scenes that would convey the emotions I wanted the edit to embody, as well as music to go along with it. Months passed, and my posts started to gain recognition through getting featured on the explore page. Certain edits blew up more than others, inspiring me to challenge myself and create more elaborate edits. I was elated when I found out the lead actress in an edit I made for the movie The Florida Project, Bria Vinaite, liked my post. People from all over the world were seeing my edits, and the overwhelming amount of comments and support I received motivated me to keep creating them.

Now, over a year later, I am proud of and extremely grateful for how far I’ve come, from creating edits for a small audience and close friends to creating for an audience of thousands of people, no longer being afraid to openly promote my account, and having the opportunity to join such a supportive and unique community.