tone.notes Notes from the edit suite
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Notes · Vol. I · Est. 2026
Notes from the edit suite

tone.notes

Stories I keep meaning to write down. Weddings, the Jets years, the year I lived with Avid DiVa, the houses Steph and I have been rebuilding since 2019. One at a time. No schedule.

Justin Herrera
Justin Herrera 7 entries · 3 published

It’s the hardest project we’ve taken on. It’s also the only one I’d do again tomorrow.

— from Notes 002
The Western Ave living and dining rooms after renovation, with the opening widened.
The same Western Ave rooms before renovation, with salmon walls and the original French doors.
Before After
Western Ave · drag or use ← →Read 002 →

Published

  1. Justin Herrera carrying a box beneath the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center logo on his last day
    Latest 003 Jets August 2026 4 min read

    The freakin’ Jets.

    Nothing was wrong. That’s how I knew it was time to go.

    Five seasons inside the building, 2010 to 2015. Saying I knew Avid before I did, the joke that named Tonemedia, and why leaving wasn’t proof it went wrong. No villain in this one.

    Read the story →
  2. The Western Ave kitchen after renovation
    002 Home July 2026 4:30 read

    She saw a studio. I saw a basement.

    She sees what a room could be. I price it.

    A single family in Morristown nobody wanted, the basement I would have left alone, and the two months that made it two homes. With the whole sheet.

    Read the story →
  3. Taylor Swift holding out a phone in the Blank Space video — Justin Herrera’s own phone, used as a prop on set My phone, in the Blank Space video.
    The rare one 001 Music May 2026 4 min read

    Blank Space.

    That’s my phone in her hand. I can explain.

    Oheka Castle, September 2014. A music video shoot, a moment at the monitor, and the call about Prague I said no to. The honest version.

    On-set editor·“Blank Space”·dir. Joseph Kahn·Oheka Castle, 2014 Read the story →

  4. On the Timeline

  5. A bride and groom hand in hand on the steps outside a glass conservatory at dusk.
    004 Life Rough cut

    After 350 weddings, here’s how I’d start over.

    What I’d do differently if I were a new wedding videographer or editor today—and what I wouldn’t waste time on.

  6. Justin Herrera with Mariah Carey during his time working with Avid DiVa.
    005 Craft String-out

    Ten months with Avid DiVa.

    Dustin Robertson let me live in his Hollywood studio. We cut Mariah, Gaga, Gap. Then we packed up for Palm Springs.

  7. Close on a Lumix S1 II body and lens, the red record button in the foreground.
    006 Gear Logged

    The LUMIX S1 II.

    Fifteen years of buying cameras that promised to fix my footage. Turns out the fix was one camera, actually used. This is the one I stopped switching from.

  8. Justin and Steph mid-routine on a Dance Dance Revolution machine, 2007.
    007 Life Ingesting

    Fourth place.

    Before the wedding, before the kids, there was a Dance Dance Revolution machine and a couples sync tournament. Steph and I got fourth place. It was love.

Get the next one

The next note, before it’s anywhere else.

One when there’s something worth sending. No schedule, no algorithm, no filler.

Colophon

Notes is written and cut by me, Justin Herrera — wedding filmmaker, broadcast editor, dad. If you’re early in the work — an editor, filmmaker, or creative trying to find your voice — these notes are for you. Nothing about getting good is free. It costs time, bad cuts, wrong turns, bruised confidence, and the nerve to show someone work that isn’t ready yet. I keep office hours for exactly that.

Justin.

Justin Herrera at a café table, laptop open, iced coffee in reach
Office hours. The coffee is load-bearing.
A production of tone.dad. © 2026 Justin Herrera
tone.dad email @tone.dad