MILES SHEBAR

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Luck, natural inclination, meeting the right people, and hard work — in no particular order.

In high school, I had no clue how to turn my interests into a career, but I spent a ton of time on YouTube teaching myself video editing, motion graphics, and VFX just because it was fun. That tinkering became the foundation of what I do every day.

My first internship at Framestore — one of the biggest VFX houses in the world — came from sending 30+ cold emails to production companies while I was still in high school. They were literally the only studio who responded. A connection from a later VFX gig helped me land an ad agency internship in college, which became a lifeline during the pandemic.

I also got incredibly lucky. Brandon Stanton visited  my high school right when he was starting Humans of New York. I happened to have that period free, so I was there when he showed up by the halal cart. That encounter started a friendship and professional relationship that continues to this day — from being his first assistant editor on Humans of New York: The Series to serving as his Head of Video for Dear New York, the installation that took over every screen in Grand Central last October.

And I have to acknowledge privilege. My dad is an Emmy-nominated director — I grew up around equipment and connections that helped me get a foot in the documentary door. He and I now collaborate professionally and have been for the last 5 years – we just finished working on his latest film, Monk in Pieces. I have been lucky enough to spend almost equal parts exploring the commercial side and the independent side – which has made me a more versatile and resilient creative (necessary when paying Brooklyn rent and in a consistently uncertain freelance market).

Evoking an emotional response — whether through a tiny vertical video or a 50-foot projection.

I'm deeply drawn to documentary. Telling a story that's complex and multifaceted and needs to be distilled is more interesting to me than any fiction. There's so much power in the edit — infinite permutations of how a story can be arranged, and the technical challenge of wrangling hundreds of hours of mixed-media footage.

I have a short attention span, so wearing many hats suits me. On any given week I might be editing a video, cutting a social ad, building a website, or designing motion graphics. I approach creative problems from a systems mindset — figuring out how to move 150 terabytes through a pipeline is as satisfying as finding the perfect cut.

The pandemic. I was sent home from college after spring break and told my diploma was in the mail. After the first few months of lockdown, someone I knew from an agency I'd interned at moved to Tombras in Knoxville. Everything was remote, so they hired me.

An ad agency turned out to be the perfect place to grow. There's always a budget, projects move fast, you have to be creative on a tight timeframe, and you learn to pitch your ideas and get buy-in. That skill set translates whether you're on a Disney film or a shoestring indie doc. I owe a lot to the people there for giving me space to make crazy, goofy stuff for social media.

Get some sleep. (Still working on that one.)