I Came Across a Cursed Tickling Video

'Freelancing wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I started scouting for video editorial positions. My goal had been to get in good with an actual production company and was willing to tackle most any genre to get there. Commercial, independent, big, small, it didn't matter. I applied to schools, marketing firms, hell I even dropped off my reel and resume to local access studios. It was an exhausting process, one that I was prepared to take on, but I had no idea how long or how arduous of a task it would be. It was in those months that I considered actually listening to my parents and going back to school. In hindsight, that's exactly what I should have done.

I only got into taking temp positions to make ends meet. It got so frequent that I thought of even starting my own little agency, but I didn't need a bigger money pit than my own need to eat. But I was fine. I was able to do what it was that I enjoyed, something in which I had found real interest and talent. Sure it was just video editing, but I liked observing raw footage, seeing the truth of what artists wanted to show, and working with clients in shaping it into something unique. That's perhaps a more romantic description of what most would probably find really boring and tedious, but that was just my point of view on the matter.

I had taken many small jobs over the years. Little commercials, short indie films, projects with which to fill my reel and resume, but certainly nothing on a national scale. They all ranged from mindless day jobs to projects that I actually found real passion in along the way. For the most part, I enjoyed all that I got to do. There was nothing about my work that made me regret taking any job. Not until the one, the last job I would ever do.

Feather Bed Productions was a company that I had never heard of before. I figured they were small, new, eager to get into whatever medium they were trying to crack into. They had an open position as a film editor, in an office not far from where I was, so I jumped on it. I applied before I took the time to look them up. When I did, I was surprised to see that they primarily focused on tickle videos, videos of just people tickling other people in various ways I guess for the tickle fetish audience. I can't say that I was a part of said audience, but I was at least aware of such things. The material seemed easy enough, the content didn't bother me, and the edits that had been made to the films that were up on their site were pretty cut-and-dry. Nothing crazy, no effects. Just a splash card and a couple of long shots at different angles for about twenty minutes at a time. Easy peasy.

They reached out shortly after I applied. They interviewed me online and it was all pretty standard fare. The guy that runs the business, Giles, was a smiley, positive man. My own perceptions of anything related to adult entertainment left me picturing middle aged, hairy, bald guys in tacky gold chains, for whatever reason, but Giles was nothing like that. Clean, neat, and professional. He also seemed pretty excited to have me on board. I was offered the job pretty much at the end of the interview. He wanted to fill the position as soon as possible in order to fill some deadlines that he was already behind on. I was eager for the work so I thought nothing of it.

I was in the office the following Monday. I got to meet Giles in person, along with several other members of his very limited team. He had one guy as the primary camera operator, a girl on sound, and several models that day coming in for a shoot. I was happy to see such a small team. It gave me the feeling of the operation being done more personally, nothing that I would feel lost in, you know? Plus it was nice seeing the girls so comfortable to be doing the shoots with as few other people involved as possible. Or maybe that was me projecting my own perspective into the matter. Either way, despite not being a tickle fetishist like I was sure most of them were, I was thrilled to get started.

Giles gave me a short tour of the facility. It was not anything too large or fancy, but they certainly made the space home. Of course they had their studio and assets. Lots of bedroom scenes and bondage furniture. Lighting and sound equipment sat in clusters that I'm sure were organized in some way that I just didn't recognize. Costumes hung on racks all clumped together. Most of the equipment I saw walking through was fairly standard. It was nothing I hadn't seen from other production companies, surprisingly enough.