I am writing to apply for future Video Producer vacancies at the Economist.

The publication’s commitment to context, clarity and intellectual honesty mirrors the principles that have shaped my work to date. Over the past three years, I have produced highly edited and researched political and historical documentary videos on YouTube. These productions have garnered north of 25 million views, and attracted 424,000 subscribers to my channel, IMPERIAL. (www.youtube.com/@IMPERIALYT)

Running IMPERIAL, a one-man operation, gave me a strong work ethic. It made me versatile, dynamic and focused. I learned After Effects, Premiere Pro, and the rest of the Adobe suite as well as Cinema 4D so I could better communicate my ideas. I familiarised myself with the entire video production pipeline, from storyboarding and shot lists to voiceover, audio editing and video packaging (titles and thumbnails). I adapted the academic style of writing I learned at university to one more accessible to a wider audience. YouTube’s competitive nature gave me an understanding of viewer tastes and trends, an intuitive barometer for popular appeal and what hooks people in and keeps them watching.

Given my experience and skills, I believe I would be an excellent addition to The Economist’s video team. The publication is famed for investing in striking visual collages to communicate complex ideas. This is something I have a strong understanding of as my channel’s style was partly inspired by it. However, I’m also a competent designer in my own right. My influence on YouTube is such that editing tutorials emulating my work have hundreds of thousands of views. (see https://linktr.ee/Alexander.Casse)

In addition to my familiarity with its visual style, the Economist’s culture is also a big draw for me. My history background at the University of Bristol taught me to vet sources and cite rigorously. Because of this I approached YouTube in an unconventional manner. Unlike many other channels, I published videos with detailed footnotes so that viewers could see my paper trail. I hoped that, through making my research transparent, I could foster conversation. I want to join The Economist because it is one of the best places in the world to facilitate conversation. It has high editorial standards and an institutional framework that breeds critical analysis, debate and innovation.

Most importantly in my view, its visual cultural cachet provides incredible potential to build impactful digital media which would reinforce its position as a prestige publication that invests in high-quality coverage and bring important topics to new audiences. As a video producer I would provide not only the required technical skills to facilitate this, but also a keen understanding of social platforms and audiences.

As my YouTube success has shown, I’m a motivated self-starter. To get the ball rolling I would be happy to produce a video on a recent article to show you what I can do.

Thank you for considering my application. I would welcome the chance to discuss how I could contribute to your video journalism either in person or online.

Sincerely,

Alexander Casse