I contributed another article to the Frame.io blog. This one’s about the pros and cons of working remotely, specifically for those who aim to edit feature films or big TV shows. The uncool bottom line is that aspiring editors have to do their time in one of the Big Three production hubs (LA, NYC, London) before they can even think about working from some remote location where the traffic is swift and the views are gorgeous.
My favorite thing about this article is the range of editors who put in their two cents. We had everyone from Chris Frith (who worked on Mission: Impossible—Fallout) to Paul Machliss (Edgar Wright’s go-to editor) to Doug Pray (co-editor and writer on HBO’s The Defiant Ones). One of Doug’s main reasons was the “energy of the edit suite.” Here’s how he describes it:
The shared laughter over a particular edit, the arguments over structure, the process of being in a room and staring down a ton of index cards, the emotional camaraderie between editor and director, or fellow editors—these are highly valuable. And the most important thing of all: watching edits with others in the room with you. This is usually the best way for me to really know if an edit is working or not, because I’m somehow able to see the cut through their perspective. When I’m alone, I can get halfway there, but nothing replaces an audience (or having a director, producer, fellow editor, neighbor, or whoever, in there with me).
Christian Leithart 