The Ride Home.
It’s 1:00 AM. A lone car cruises south on an empty I-35, heading home to Austin, Texas. The five people in the car have just spent a full day shooting a short film to promote the upcoming Concierge auction for Greer Farm in East Texas. Now they are on the final stretch of a six-hour drive home. The car is dark inside, except for the bright glow emitting from Michael Zisk’s laptop.
Michael is the Video Editor for Concierge Auctions. While his workload typically focuses on post production, on this day, he joined his colleagues at our Greer Farm shoot to PA on set. A jack-of-all-trades, Michael wore multiple hats, including sound and camera operation — something that is not uncommon for him. At any given moment in his role, Michael may have as many as two dozen different projects on his plate.
“While I was on set, I was getting texts about another assignment,” Michael recalled. So, he slipped away into one of the guest houses on the farm, found the WiFi password, and edited in-between takes.
When the day was a wrap, others might have succumbed to the luring hum of the highway and surrendered to sleep in the backseat. Not Michael. Always the driven team player, he took advantage of the ride home to edit. (“Have you ever looked at a computer screen while riding in a car? It’s absolutely nauseating,” he laughed.) First, he finished editing Casa Tokase, a Cabo San Lucas property auctioning on May 10th. Then, he jumped right into all the footage they had shot just hours before and began editing Greer Farm. “There’s never a dull moment,” Michael grins.
Michael’s Background.
Michael has a background focused in media. After graduating from UNT with a degree in film and a minor in French, (a random combination, he admits), Michael honed his skills, working as a photographer at Disneyland in California and editing for Fine Brothers Entertainment. He then moved on to become a freelance editor, editing everything from corporate videos to feature films. When we met Michael, he was editing for oil and gas companies in Houston. We were so impressed by his work, he beat the local Austin competition. We relocated him so he could join our team. He has been Concierge’s Video Editor since November 2015.
A Day in The Life.
As our Video Editor, Michael knows how to multi-task, and he knows how to do it well. He regularly juggles dozens of projects with varying deadlines. On any given day, he can be found editing something different from the day before — from property films to company videos to tutorials. (He recently delivered 24 projects in one week alone). He also creates motion graphics and 3D animation.
“We constantly need to be ready for anything. We often get edit requests from not only our internal team, but also our partnering agents, or even our clients directly,” Michael notes. While each department has different needs and a different set of eyes reviewing his work, he consistently remains excited about each assignment. Michael is always open to feedback through multiple rounds of edits, and always with a smile on his face.
“It’s always fun,” he reflects. “It’s awesome getting to do what you enjoy. We have a great team with lots of positive energy.”
Michael loves being able to edit, but he particularly loves the people he gets to work with. That might be why his favorite moment at Concierge Auctions so far has nothing to do with editing. The team recently volunteered in partnership with Giveback Homes and Habitat for Humanity to build a home for a family in need, which is something Michael has always wanted to do.
“It’s nice to work somewhere that motivates employees to give back. It was a lot of fun and very rewarding to be able to volunteer with everyone from the office,” he says.
Michael with a handful of external harddrives so he can edit on the go.
Employee of the Month.
Here at Concierge, employees nominate their peers for “Employee of the Month” and offer the reasons they feel their nominees earned the title, which is then selected by management. For his passion, dedication, work ethic, and performance, it’s no surprise that Michael was awarded the coveted recognition this month.
Some Well-Earned Shut-Eye.
Michael confessed that while he was editing Greer Farm in the backseat, he just may have actually dozed off at one point. Frank Kivo, our Director of Video Production, is one of those who nominated Michael for “Employee of the Month.” Frank notes, “Michael got us miles ahead on Greer Farm by editing all the way home from the shoot in East Texas… until he literally fell asleep with his hands on his keyboard.”
When asked how Michael felt about earning the award, he admits, “I wasn’t expecting it…” Laughingly, he adds, “And, I didn’t know Frank knew that I fell asleep in the car.”