Video Editor for Slow-Paced Narrated Documentary Series (Space/Astronomy)

I'm producing a long-form narrated documentary series (45–60 minute episodes) about the history of astronomy and cosmology, and our place in the universe — think the pacing and tone of Fall of Civilizations or Carl Sagan's Cosmos, not a fast-cut "faceless channel" compilation video. This is important: if your portfolio is mostly rapid-cut, heavily-captioned retention-optimized content, this probably isn't the right fit, and that's fine — I'd rather find that out now than after a trial. The role, concretely: Work from a detailed shot list I provide (every shot specifies the image needed, the pan/zoom motion, and duration). Source real images for each shot — primarily from free, public-domain archives (NASA, ESA, Wikimedia Commons, Smithsonian Open Access, and similar). I'll provide the approved source list. Light image research/curation judgment required, not stock-footage shopping. Fill in a simple JSON config file (I provide a template and full documentation) listing each image and a caption reference. Run a Python/ffmpeg script I've already built and tested — it handles the pan/zoom motion, timing, and assembly automatically. You don't need to build anything, just run it and review the output. Generate the episode's thumbnail using a template script I provide — you pick the best single image to represent the episode and supply the title text; the script handles layout, so this is closer to "fill in a template" than "design from scratch." Watch the result and flag anything that looks off — I'll adjust the config with you as needed. What I need from you: Comfort running command-line tools / Python scripts (you will not be writing code, but you will be running python3 assemble.py config.json and reading a README) A portfolio with at least one example of slow-paced, contemplative, or documentary-style editing — not exclusively fast-cut/high-retention content Genuine attention to detail with image licensing (public domain vs. requires attribution vs. not usable) Comfortable with async written communication; this is not a fast-turnaround gig What this is NOT: Not a templated "faceless YouTube automation" edit Not heavy on-screen captions/text inside the video — used only in a few specific, justified cases, which I'll explain Not a rush job — quality and tone consistency matter more than speed Trial task (paid, fixed $50): Before committing to a full episode, I want to run a small paid trial: source images and produce a ~2-minute test clip using my provided shot list and tool, covering just the opening of Episode 1 (11 shots) — plus one thumbnail for that clip. This lets both of us confirm fit before any larger commitment.