#493 – We need to talk about Cut/daily

I need to be honest with you about the future of Cut/daily.

In 7 Issues, we'll hit the big 5-0(0), and it feels like a natural milestone to take stock of where Cut/daily is and whether it should continue.

The reality is, Cut/daily isn't financially sustainable.

It never has been. I've given more than I've got because I love it.

I love crafting a weekly insight for everyone else out there who cares about the industry, the art, the tech, the people, and the projects we all love to watch, as much as I do.

For the past 5 years, I've been putting way more into Cut/daily than I've taken out, but I can’t do that indefinitely without a more sustainable foundation.

I have a solution, yet it won't work without you.

The ask is simple: Before Issue 500, I need 200+ Cut/daily benefactors to step forward and commit roughly what an hour of their time is worth — $60/year ($5/month) — in return for a year of post-production insights.

If that happens, Cut/daily continues — and stays accessible to everyone.
If it doesn’t, I’ll need to rethink what happens next.

If you're thinking, ‘I hope some people do that.’ They're almost certainly thinking the same thing about you.

Cut/daily needs you.

What's past is prologue

If you're new around here, Cut/daily started off as a daily email back on April 5th, 2021.

There were (stupidly cheap!) paid and free subscriptions from the start.

After 300 daily Issues, I sensibly pivoted to the weekly format you now know and love. Since then, Cut/daily has been entirely free to read for the past 200 issues.

We will hit Issue 500 on the 5th June 2026.

That's more than five years of non-stop hand-crafted Post-Production insights.

No time like the Present

Cut to: Today.

Cut/daily has grown into not just an (excellent?*) weekly newsletter that a lot of people seem to like.

But also a giant archive of 500 previous Issues, each packed with insider knowledge that will serve you for years to come.

Not to mention...

• 80 x Cut/daily Meets... interviews with world-class Post Pros
• Custom workflow apps and plugins
• Email-based training
• Many more interesting things.

*If not excellent, at least fun? If not fun, at least free!!

The Future of Cut/daily is in your hands

The dream scenario is that 200+ of you, dear readers, have been positively impacted by Cut/daily such that you want to pay it forward by investing $60/year ($5/month) to keep Cut/daily freely available for everyone.

Not only will you benefit from:

• 48 new issues each year
• Insights on editing, AI, and the bleeding edge of post-production
• Access to new tools, expert interviews, and upcoming training

Yet – most important of all – you'll enjoy the priceless glow that comes from making the world a tiny bit better for others.

Plus, with a sustainable foundation to work from, Cut/daily will actually go from strength to strength, because:

I have plans.

With a sustainable foundation, I can invest in building better tools, deeper training, and delivering more in-depth conversations with the best editors in the business – among many other ideas!

• Add a Topic Index alongside the new AI-Search for mining the 500 Issue Archive:
  • Topic Index = A list of every Issue on Compositing, Sound Design etc.
  • AI-Search = Scan every previous Issue for any specific keyword
• Build New Tools: Paper Edit and Project Parser
• Develop new Cut/daily App features, including:
  • Teleport for Resolve (+Stream Deck support)
  • Transcriber Translator: SRT Preset styles to save time
  • Keyword Marker: Multi-keyword search and Seq builder

What I need you to do next

Invest less than one hour of your daily rate in securing a year's worth of post-production insights for everyone.

If 200+ Cut/daily benefactors do this before we hit Issue 500, we're golden. Cut/daily will continue to get better.

But here's the thing: if you're reading this thinking “someone else will subscribe” — they're probably thinking the same thing about you.

So if Cut/daily has ever:

• taught you something useful
• brought you a moment of joy on a Friday morning
• helped you take a positive step in your editing career

Then this is the moment where you decide to help Cut/daily to continue, and the best part is, you can make that happen.

I'll update everyone in the next few Issues on how we're doing.

Please Do This Now:

• Click this link
  • Choose Cut/daily Benefactor ($5/month or $60/year)
• If you see an existing plan, ignore that - active subscriptions stopped years ago.
  • Change plans to Cut/daily Benefactor

And, sincerely, honestly, thank you.

So remember, together we can Cut/daily.

PS – Between gigs, strapped for cash, or still a student of the craft?

Hit reply and let me know, I'd be glad to give you complimentary access to the Cut/daily Archive and share resources for your current situation.

PPS – If you represent an organisation that could partner with Cut/daily in supporting the wider Post Production community, please get in touch!