Paul has worked on dozens of music videos during is career: 

"I learned how to edit cutting music videos - my first documentary Rockin' Brunswick was full of them. The one freatured here holds special meaning as the first one I off-line edited professionally. I also handled the online and conform at National Video Industries (NVI), a sprawling multi-floor facility in Chelsea, NYC. 

The post-production industry in Manhattan was thriving in the '90s. There was lots of work all over town for self-starting freelancers. Back then, non-linear editing with apps and files was in its infancy. Real video editing could only be done on tape, using Edit Decision Lists instead of graphical timelines, with all the complications and expensive infrastructure that implied. Each edit room had its own unique mix of controllers, switchers, mixing boards, effects boxes, and tape formats. No standardization anywhere, with many competing vendors forever pushing new toys to tack on to existing systems. Running these rooms smoothly was high stakes - back in the day, post-houses were renting them out for up to $500/hour. 

Freelance editors who could master these haphazrad setups were elite and in high demand. Success required learning new gear on-the-fly while projecting complete confidence to the client. Utterly intimidating for someone building a new carerer - I still vividly remember a few deer-in-the-headlights, forgot-my-lines-on-stage moments in the edit room. It's tough to recover from those, but those who do thrive. This environment was enormously productive for my growth as a young editor, picking up work and new skills whereever I could across this dynamic, ever-changing landscape. 

But NVI was in a class of its own. It had a chaotic, inmates-are-running-the-asylum vibe. Stacked over many floors in a narrow building, the machine room that housed the gear contolled in the edit could be several floors away, requiring constant phone coordination with assistants to swap tapes and connect equipment via a network of patch bays and cords. The owner had dubious deals going that eventually sunk him, management was preoccupied with hustling on commission and only loosely coordinating a rotating cast of young hotshots tussling for turf and seizing opportunity whereever they could find it. 

NVI was also located in a tough part of town at that time. Leaving those late-night edits could be fraught, and include encounters with very colorful characters and occasional law enforcement. A great education all around!"