Why I Haven’t Quit Yet
I’ve been in “filmmaker” mode for 10 years now. And I’ve never really stopped creating in that time. l just can’t help myself.
But I’ll be honest: even though I love what I do (and am immensely privileged to be in the career I’m in).... I can’t do YouTube all the time.
Whenever long-form YouTube videos become the SOLE focus of my creative energy, things start falling apart. It happens every time. There’s just too much involved in the process:
Picking great, authentic video topics that feel relevant and original
Writing the scripts & doing pre-production
Scheduling video shoots, travel & b-roll
Editing & post-production (& the associated project management)
Planning & creating animations and effects
Coordinating with creative partners & publishing
The Marketing: promotion, thumbnails, titling, creating hype
There’s so much involved and since I don’t have a boss that tells me I can go home and think about other stuff for the rest of the day, it's easy to wear myself out. And then when I feel worn out, what I make can feel stale – so it's a lose-lose situation.
This is why being a “YouTuber” is such a highly coveted career path, but is also so challenging to pull off. It’s why creator burnout is so common that it’s almost become a cliché.
I’ve had to create a system that allows me to reliably create videos I’m proud of – but also keeps my energy and joy in creation alive while I do it, because I want to play the long game. I want to create important work AND have fun while doing it and I want to be doing it for decades to come.
And I’ve figured out how.
I’ve discovered what works for me is to sprinkle my life with creative side projects, experiments, changes of environment and work that breaks up the logjam of pure, go-go-go YouTube video creation.
Living life in a well rounded way that triggers my curiosity is my ultimate source of inspiration for telling stories. When I’m living interesting experiences and in a way that feels highly aligned with my values, it’s almost like the videos make themselves.
In fact, it’s why I started making the podcast. I needed a creative outlet outside of my rigorous long-form video creation process, that allows me to still put in the time on my main channel to create intense productions I’m proud of. And now in a weird way, the podcast and the main channel “feed” each other.
The key to longevity in YouTube (and the creative life in general) is: enjoying the process.
It’s basic to put it in those terms, but it’s also perhaps the easiest thing to lose sight of when going through the struggles of finding your creative voice or starting a business (or both).
Now imagine if you want to make amazing videos, with everything involved in the bulleted list above – but at the same time you’re executing these steps…. You also have to LEARN how to do each of them for the first time! It’s no wonder that many creatives burn out along the way, or fail to launch their work.
That’s why, for the first time, I’m going to be sharing my full process – from writing, to shooting videos, to editing & animation of those videos – that goes into making a “Nathaniel Drew” video (it’s weird to refer to myself in 3rd person but you get what I mean).
This past Spring, I launched Frame by Frame, my Editing & Animation masterclass. It was an amazing experience, with students joining from all over the world.
We’re launching the course again – and rolling out a ridiculous amount of new content and material for the second round of the course:
8 Live Sessions, 100+ Videos: Frame by Frame includes the Editing and Animation Courses, with 2x weekly live sessions (one for Editing, one for Animation) at different times to maximize the value for each (and minimize any “dead time” for those not interested in one of the two topics.)
BRAND NEW MATERIAL- The Shooting Course: WHAT! That’s right. For the first time, I’m going to be teaching my process for filming video content: the lenses, cameras, settings, and thought processes I use to CAPTURE the content that eventually makes its way to YouTube. It became clear this was a big point of interest for folks in the first cohort. We’re excited to share this (for the first time anywhere, ever).
Hands-On Editing & Animation Assignments (files provided): The Editing Course & Animation Courses will include example projects (walked through step-by-step) you can complete early on in the course, so you don’t have to shoot your own material to get started practicing.
If you’re interested in joining (OR you want to hear any time we launch again in the future), all you have to do is join the waitlist.
Here are some (more) reasons to join the waitlist:
Exclusive Free Videos: I’ll be sharing excerpts from the Shooting Course – including a lens tour where I walk through every camera lens in my “kit” and how / when I use them in my videos. I’ve
never shared this anywhere else in this level of detail. Sign up!Early Access to Join: We are limiting the number of students to 125 for this class – and we had well over that amount in Cohort 1. I’ll be sharing sign up access to those on the waitlist 1 day early, so sign up!
First Notice for Future Classes: If you’d like to hear about future cohorts, know that I’ll be sending fewer emails to this main email list, since there will be a new “home” to hear about everything cool we’re doing. So to make sure you don’t miss anything (or any free bonus videos), join the waitlist.
Ok. I think I have linked the waitlist enough times now. ;-) Please excuse my excitement, I can’t help myself.
The course will open for sign ups on Friday September 1st (one day earlier for those on waitlist)– excited to teach everything me and my team know about shooting great videos, editing, & animation.
More to come soon!
Music Recommendations
1) Perfect to listen to while you’re getting ready to go out.
