Where did all the mentors go?

Who do you turn to when all the people who guided you have gone?

It’s a strange feeling as I get older. When I first entered the TV industry, green behind the ears, making it up as I go along (still do that, by the way), there were seniors everywhere who knew much more than I ever did. Proper veterans. People who could walk into a room, and everyone would shut up because they were probably worth listening to. I really miss some of those people, and that era of my life.

There is one director who I worked with who was fairly well known in the industry and who I owe a great deal to for seeing something in me that I don’t think many people did, certainly myself. They could command the room, they were approachable and naturally funny, but could become stern and protective when it came to the craft. When they were on set, they were laser focused, and in the cutting room they knew exactly what they wanted and why, and knew when to make hard decisions.

There was an editor who took me under his wing. He was incredibly kind and trusted me way before I deserved to have been and, even dare I say, drilled a bit of discipline into me, which still holds today somehow…… just.

I used to think he was a bit stubborn because he stuck to his guns with a lot of things. But he could have that Cassandra complex sometimes. People would ignore his warnings and three weeks later a project would unravel and someone else would have to step in.

Then there was a very kind dubbing mixer, who became a friend and mentor. He has done it all, and just getting the opportunity to sit in his studio and watch him at work taught me a lot of things that no YouTube tutorial or book can. I always enjoy his stories, and he put up with my endless questions. Those nuggets of experience have helped me shape where I was going with my career in sound.

Now, as I get older, sadly these mentors and others I haven’t mentioned have retired or are no longer with us.

While this industry is evolving, along with whatever my career is anymore, I’m sad because it is quieter without these people in it.

And now I’m starting to think I’m becoming the old guy. When I work with younger people, it makes me pity that a lot of these people who showed me their ways are not active. They would have benefited so much as I did.

And then I realise that now I’m becoming an old grumpy sod. There are, of course, plenty of people with more wisdom than I could ever share, but if I somehow make it another 20 years, then the cycle will be complete. Slightly terrifying when I think about it.

But the biggest difference for me now compared to when I started out is distance. Remote workflows….. isolation, perhaps. The people that I learned from were in person. I sat in edit suites with them or the same rooms. They could see my mistakes in real time and see where I went wrong.

And I do love working remotely, and I’m very happy, given where I am in the world, that technology allows us to achieve this type of collaboration. But I feel that you lose some magic when your mentors are on a Zoom call or email chain.

Some of the best lessons in my career have happened when I’ve been in person working with others, being able to reach out for advice, criticism or validation. Getting to go in depth into someone’s workflow and under the hood of their thinking.

These moments are hard to schedule. They just happen organically. I suppose it’s one of the reasons I’ve been enjoying teaching a bit, because it’s an opportunity to pass some of these skills on.

Many students that I have met are bright and switched on, far more than people give them credit for. I hope that they manage to enter a world that will give them better opportunities than I had, but sadly I feel this may not be the case.

When I started, there were more entry level opportunities where you would have someone experienced to take you under their wing and keep an eye on you. More productions and money flowing, more time, more chances to make mistakes.

The media industry today is leaner and tighter. AI is changing workflows and freelancers are the norm. Companies want experienced people to hit the ground running, but this experience can’t be bought, it’s nurtured.

And I worry this experience will be lost to history. I don’t feel I carry the wisdom that my predecessors had, even though I do try my best. Maybe none of us ever feel we do.

But the goal isn’t to replace those who taught us, but to make sure when someone reaches out to us, we have the life experience to help. It is important to take the time to answer their questions.

Because one day they may be looking around, realising they’re now old sods with this wisdom, wondering where my generation have gone.

Thanks for everyone who supports my work. Find out more about the work I do at my website www.tomedwardssound.com