Freelance Video Editor (Premiere Pro), trial project with possible ongoing work

Speck of Dust is a video production company in Sydney, Australia, working across documentary, sport and live-event content.

PLEASE READ THIS IN FULL BEFORE APPLYING. We receive a lot of generic, copy-paste applications, and we only consider people who are a genuine fit. Apply only if you are a genuine video editor with a real video editing reel. This is NOT a role for generalists, web or graphic designers, AI-content creators, or social-media content editors. If that is your background, please do not apply.

We are looking for a remote video editor, and we like to start with a single paid trial project so we can both see if it is a good fit. This first project is small (budget around US$150 to US$300). Only if it goes well would we then talk about more project work and, in time, a possible ongoing monthly arrangement. There is no immediate or permanent commitment up front, and nothing is locked in.

THE WORK (the trial project). It is a fun, upbeat highlight edit of an event night: the kind of piece that gives the people who took part a great memory to watch back and share. It is a single-camera job. You cut the best ---------- nts down into selects and assemble them into a finished piece of around 90 seconds (two minutes maximum). It opens with a short presenter introduction, moves through people arriving and enjoying the experience, carries a short interview section around the halfway mark, and builds to a high point before closing on a sponsor logo we supply.

The feel is celebratory and energetic, driven by well-known upbeat pop music, with the cuts and speed ramps timed to the rhythm. Golden ---------- nts are kept in their original slow motion. The footage is shot on a Canon C400 (C-Log2 profile) and you apply a LUT we provide before any grading. We give you reference edits to match for pacing, structure and feel, so you are not starting from a blank page. It is edited in Premiere Pro, you hand back the Premiere project file, and review happens in ---------- with time-coded notes (one revision round on the trial).

Beyond this first project, our work overall ranges from emotionally driven, story-led documentary pieces through to fast, energetic sport and event edits.

WHAT THIS IS NOT. We are not looking for a generalist social-media editor. If your main experience is editing for YouTubers, Instagram, or short-form social (for example CapCut-style content), we are probably not the right fit. We don't do disposable, templated clips with tacky graphics, gimmicky sound effects, or AI-generated filler. We want a genuine video editor who specialises in considered, brief-led craft: emotional, story-led documentary work and cinematic, high-energy sport. Every piece is made to a specific brief, with real storytelling, craft and taste.

TWO THINGS WE WEIGH HEAVILY (these are core to the role, not nice-to-haves):
1. A strong, fluent command of English, written and spoken. We will assess this on a short video call.
2. A genuine video editor specialising in craft work, shown in a real editing reel, not generalist, social-media, web or graphic-design work.

YOU MUST HAVE (please be honest, this is where we have had trouble before):
- A computer that can genuinely handle large-format Canon C400 footage (.mxf, C-Log2) in Premiere Pro, with a proxy workflow if needed.
- Plenty of fast, free storage. Jobs are often 400GB or more.
- A fast, reliable internet connection. You will be downloading large media and that download time is real.
- Confidence with the ---------- Transfer app and the Google Drive app, and with relinking media in Premiere.
- Premiere Pro, and you hand back the Premiere project file on delivery.
- Comfortable applying a supplied LUT, working with slow motion and speed ramps, and cutting to music.
- Organised and reliable, and comfortable communicating day to day on Google Chat or WhatsApp.
- Able to take feedback through ---------- time-coded notes and action it properly.

A BONUS (not a dealbreaker): After Effects and a sophisticated hand with visual effects.

TO APPLY, please include:
1. Two or three of your most relevant samples as direct video links (for example Vimeo or an unlisted YouTube link), ideally matching our work: one story-led emotional edit and one high-energy sport edit. If you do not have directly relevant work, send your strongest pieces instead. Please do NOT send a full Google Drive folder with endless lists and subfolders for us to dig through; pick your best two or three and link them directly. It must be genuine video editing work.
2. Your computer specs and storage.
3. Your internet speed.
4. Your rate for a single project like this, and your monthly rate if we were ever to move to ongoing work.
5. References and proof of the work and credentials you mention.
6. One thing from this brief that stood out to you, in a sentence, so we know you have actually read it. We read every application and can tell a copy-paste from a real one. Applications that clearly ignore this brief, or whose work is not genuine video editing, will not be considered.
A short video call is the next step so we can have a chat.

THE DEAL. We start with this one paid trial project. If it works, we would love to keep working together on more projects and possibly an ongoing monthly arrangement later, but nothing is committed or locked in up front. Every editor we engage signs a short agreement: nothing you edit for us is used in their own promotion, and they do not approach our clients directly. This is standard on every job.