Kai Lockett is a founder and entrepreneur active across the BiomedRx Network and related ventures.

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Kai Lockett | Gamer, Filmmaker & Anime Creator

Educational

On Practice: A 2026 Note on Building a Professional Portfolio

A professional portfolio is not a highlight reel; it is an argument. Every piece in it should answer a question a prospective collaborator is already asking — can this person carry a scene, hold a look, deliver on a schedule, work with people under pressure. The temptation in 2026 is to chase volume, because the tools make volume cheap. The discipline is doing the opposite: fewer pieces, each finished to a standard you would defend in a room full of people who do this for a living.

The market context rewards that discipline. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a median annual wage of $70,980 for film and video editors in May 2024 and projects about 3 percent growth for film and video editors and camera operators from 2024 to 2034, with roughly 6,400 openings a year. Modest growth against steady replacement demand describes a field where the work exists but is allocated by reputation. Portfolios are how reputation travels before you are in the room.

Locally, the ground has shifted in a direction worth understanding. FilmLA reported 5,121 on-location shoot days across Greater Los Angeles in the first quarter of 2026 — up 10.7 percent from the previous quarter, though still 3.3 percent below the same quarter a year earlier — with feature film production up 52.3 percent year over year to 687 shoot days. California's expanded Film & Television Tax Credit Program, raised to $750 million annually, is a visible part of that story. More features shooting locally means more short-notice calls, and short-notice calls go to whoever has something ready to show.

So build the portfolio for the call you want to receive, not the one you had last year. Keep it current, keep it honest about your role on each piece, and keep it easy to open on a phone in a parking lot. If you are assembling or rebuilding yours and want a working practitioner's eye on it, reach out — I book a limited number of consultations, and I would rather help you cut three weak pieces than watch you send a strong one buried at position nine.

Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Film and Video Editors and Camera Operators; FilmLA — Research & Production Reports; California Film Commission — Film & TV Tax Credit Program

May 6, 20266 min read

Informative

Now Booking 2026 Engagements — A Brief Note

Bookings for 2026 are open, and the calendar is deliberately not infinite. Working on a small number of projects at a time is the only way I know to give each one the attention that makes it worth putting my name on. If you are planning something for this year, the practical advice is the same as it has always been: start the conversation earlier than feels necessary, because the schedule fills from the calendar's front edge, not from the loudest request.

Timing matters more than usual right now. FilmLA logged 5,121 on-location shoot days in Greater Los Angeles in Q1 2026, a 10.7 percent gain over the prior quarter, with commercials climbing 35.5 percent quarter over quarter to 794 shoot days and features up 52.3 percent year over year. When local activity rises, crew and collaborator availability tightens quickly — the people you want tend to be booked by the people who called first.

For anyone weighing this work as a career rather than a project, the federal numbers are worth knowing. BLS reported a May 2024 median wage of $70,980 for film and video editors, with about 6,400 annual openings projected across editors and camera operators through 2034, and a May 2024 median of $83,480 for producers and directors. It is a field that pays professionally for professional work, and amateurishly for the rest — which is a useful thing to internalize before your first negotiation.

If you have a project, tell me what it is, when it shoots, and what you are actually trying to make somebody feel. Short notes are fine; clear ones are better. I will tell you honestly whether I am the right collaborator and, if I am not, I will usually know who is. Either way you will get a straight answer within the week.

Sources: FilmLA — Research & Production Reports; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Film and Video Editors and Camera Operators; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Producers and Directors

May 13, 20262 min read

Field Notes

A Year of Saying Yes (and Then Saying No, Carefully). A Practitioner's Reflection

A year of saying yes taught me the value of saying no, carefully. Early on, every opportunity looks like the one that matters, and the instinct is to take all of them in case the next one does not come. What actually happens is that the calendar fills with work that pays for the week and teaches you nothing, and the project you would have been proud of arrives while you are unavailable. Learning to decline gracefully — quickly, warmly, with a referral attached — turned out to be a professional skill, not a personality trait.

The economics back up the instinct. BLS put the May 2024 median wage for film and video editors at $70,980 and projects roughly 6,400 openings a year across editors and camera operators through 2034 — a field with steady but not explosive demand, where the difference between a sustainable career and a grinding one is which jobs you accept. Volume does not compound in this business. Reputation does.

Geography sharpened the lesson too. FilmLA's Q1 2026 report showed 5,121 on-location shoot days in Greater Los Angeles, up 10.7 percent quarter over quarter but still below the prior year, with television down 28.4 percent year over year even as features rose sharply. In a market redistributing itself that quickly, the projects worth clearing your calendar for are not evenly spread across categories — and noticing where they are concentrating is most of the job.

The version of this I would hand my younger self: keep a standing answer ready for the work you do not want, protect two clear weeks a quarter for the work you do, and never let a fast yes cost you a good one. If you are navigating the same tradeoff and want to talk it through with someone who has made the mistake in both directions, I am reachable — and 2026 dates are still open.

Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Film and Video Editors and Camera Operators; FilmLA — Research & Production Reports

May 20, 20265 min read