Introduce Yourself : Hello all! by Leah Peticolas

My name is Leah. I'm a video nut, born & raised in central NJ. I've been involved in video production in some way or another literally since I was a little girl (my eccentric, artist grandmother scripted a fairy tale story, enlisted the help of my aunt studying film production as well as a few other family members as talent, cast me as the main character and created a fully-produced film, and then another, and then...) Today, I'm a freelancer and aspiring small-business owner. My company, A Lost Epic (an anagram of my maiden name, Peticolas, www.alostepic.com) is focused on creating promotional videos for artists and other small businesses. I do everything, soup-to-nuts - consulting with clients, shooting interviews & b-roll footage, editing the projects and often animating the logos or other typography. For the past 5+ years, I've also been freelancing, primarily with a wedding cinematographer in my area, and ultimately gotten much more involved in the wedding industry than I ever planned on when I reluctantly took that first gig after leaving a terrible situation at a small TV network (one that is now, unsurprisingly, out of business.) I know there is some indignation over the use of "cinematographer" or "filmmaker" to describe someone creating wedding videos, and probably rightfully so, but we struggle to find a better descriptor that separates us from visions of traditional wedding videographers with a single, shoulder-mount behemoth of a camcorder with a big LED affixed permanently to the top. I consider it a word that's allowed to be used differently in a specific industry, the way "photographer" is used in the news industry to mean something altogether different than photographers elsewhere. And so, I guess the reason I'm getting into this here and now, in my long introduction, is that I don't quite know how to describe myself to all of you. If weddings were all I did, I would stand my ground on the above merits of specific industries and being clear to clients, etc, but it's not all I do, and it's certainly not all I want to be doing. But I still hesitate to use "videographer", being so aware of those connotations (and oh gosh never "video-ographer!") But I'm more than just an editor, I'm more than just a camera op, I'm not confident enough to use "DP" and in this environment, "cinematographer" feels presumptuous. I'll end this here, I guess. I can't be alone in this. Is there anyone else out there who has maybe followed a less-than-traditional path and struggles to define their career? Have I done myself some sort of disservice in the industry playing Jack of All Trades, Master of None? Or is it truly better than being a Master of One? (Although I know there are times my editor's eye has helped me while filming, and vice-versa.) What do you guys think?