Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Salters.
Chris, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started editing while working in college for 12th Man Productions, covering sports for Texas A&M. I was thrown in the fire there cutting on Avid and shooting ENG style cameras for five years, cover collegiate athletics video before it became the social media storm it is today. Sports was fun, but I dreamt of cutting movie trailers, so after a couple of internships with Trailer Park, Inc. in Hollywood, I started as a full-time production assistant immediately after graduating from A&M.
I worked at Trailer Park for five years, moving my way up from PA to an editor in the original content department. There I learned how to cut professionally, tell a story, and – thanks to working through the ranks – became a post-production workflow expert. In my time there I worked with a group of talented people cutting featurettes and promos for movies and tv shows, some of which include Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, Inside Out, Jurassic World, and Marvel’s Netflix series Daredevil, and many others.
After leaving Trailer Park, I freelanced in Hollywood for a bit and worked directly with Javier Soto, who is Guillermo Del Toro’s personal content producer. My editorial role was similar to what I was doing at Trailer Park but was solely devoted to Guillermo’s film Crimson Peak. My stint with Javier and that project was unfortunately cut short due to family circumstances.
My wife and I made our way back home to Texas, and I started a job as Texas Motor Speedway’s in-house video producer. I had hopes of breaking back into sports entertainment now back in Texas, and the TMS position was a great opportunity to be around a fast-paced sport. I shot and edited TMS’ social content as well as what played on their giant big-screen – Big Hoss. At the time, it was the world’s largest HD video board.
I was only at TMS a short while before being approached by TCU Athletics. I was asked if I’d be interested in starting the internal video department for the Horned Frogs. It was an opportunity I had dreamed of. I became an honorary Horned Frog and built their internal production unit from scratch. In my two years with TCU I hired staff, built a studio, sourced a 32TB server (expanded to 64TB prior to leaving), purchased cameras, developed workflows, produced/edited video content for social and big screens, ran live streams, directed video board shows for all major sports, and produced/directed a 22 episode TCU-centered sports show for Fox Sports Southwest.
Having got the department off the ground and running, I felt it was time to move on to focus on growing and my family. I jumped into the DFW freelance market a little over a year ago as an editor/motion designer. I’ve been lucky enough to work with some great folks around the area including Nametag Films, Mary Kay, Southern Sky Films, Visit Dallas, Tracy Locke, Market Wave, N8 Visuals, Johnson + Sekin, and TCU.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I’ll be the first to say I’ve been very fortunate in my experience. Doors opened, and paths have crossed at the right time for me, and so far I’ve been able to this new venture work. I’m excited about the challenges that each day provides and love being able to flex different post-production muscles, whether editing or creating motion graphics.
Right before starting my freelance journey, I did have a big hurdle to climb. Within a week or two before leaving TCU and starting out on my own, I was struck by a case of viral meningitis. Luckily, I made it to the hospital before things got too bad. I was there for five days and sent home to recover.
The fun part is immediately after leaving my job at TCU, my wife and I had our second child less than a month later. As they say, when it rains, it pours. I wouldn’t always recommend leaving a steady paycheck with a baby on the way, but I knew that the time I’d get back working freelance would be what my family needed.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Chris Salters story. Tell us more about your work.
My expertise is in post-production. I have a technical knowledge of how things work and -more importantly- how to troubleshoot things when they don’t. I enjoy post-producing and taking a story from development to edit to color/finish to final delivery.
I love to edit and tell stories with video, and that is the majority of my professional work. I’m fluent in most professional NLEs (Premiere, Avid, Resolve), but I’ve always had my fingers in After Effects, creating motion graphics and compositing. What’s great is I have the ability to fluidly move between editorial and graphics or visual effects seamlessly. I like to say I’m a full post-production solution.
That in itself isn’t as unique as it used to be, but what sets me apart is the professional experience I gained while working in a demanding environment that only a Hollywood trailer house can provide.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I like to think that we make our own luck with hard work, but there’s no doubt, luck, coincidence, or God comes into play from time to time.
Within months of moving to LA, I was riding down the 101 on my motorcycle at about 70mph. I wasn’t yet used to LA’s abrupt traffic patterns, and traffic suddenly screeched to a halt. I hit the breaks on my bike only to lose control, fall to my side, and hit a stopped car. I’d never felt an impact like it and couldn’t believe I lived through it with only a broken collar bone. I rolled on my back, trying to breathe and prayed another car wasn’t about to sandwich me. The top slice to the Chris sandwich never came, and the first person that stopped to check on me was a nurse from Colorado visiting LA on vacation. If that’s not luck or God, I don’t know what it is. The craziest thing about this story is that the person I hit drove off.
God definitely played a role with connecting me to Nametag Films right as I started freelancing. They’ve been my best client thus far, and I look forward to working with them for years to come. I have been fortunate to make the right connections that keep bringing work. But I’ve hit the pavement hard trying to drum up business. When I do have downtime, I’m either learning or prospecting. Meeting the right people now is what leads to work and collaboration later. I want to be the person that can deliver post house quality work, without the overhead, to anyone who needs it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.chrissalters.com/
- Phone: 682.365.4424
- Email: chris@chrissalters.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seesalt13/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chrissaltersfreelance
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/SeeSalt13
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrissalters/
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