“Why do you want to move to LA and become an editor? You’ll just be stuck behind a Moviola in a dark room.”

A fellow grip said this to me when I was working as a local hire on a movie in northern California and told him of my desire to relocate to Hollywood. Kinda dates me, huh?

Anyway, I interviewed the editor and assistant who were working away in a motel. I also talked to everyone on the three-week shoot and got their contact info. This gave me confidence to move south and start seeking editing work. Three weeks after moving I got a job as an assistant sound recordist at a hole-in-the-wall sound transfer house. Assistant editors dropped off ¼” dailies which we transferred to 35mm for editing. I took some freebie jobs to learn to sync and the rudiments of the 1979 cutting room. In 1980 I landed my first paid assistant job on That’s Incredible! for Alan Landsburg Productions.

Flash forward to 2010. I am re-writing my first book, Cut by Cut: Editing Your Film or Video. Before leaving LA I was madly interviewing editors of all types: assistants, comedy, reality, feature, TV, sound, online etc. I have found that each type of editing requires special skills and brings different as well as similar perspectives on our calling. So follow along as I relate their observations and particular challenges, and feel free, as always, to make your own comments.

admin Editing practices, Editor’s role, Jobs