Editor’s Note: Due to lack of space, the following text was omitted from last week’s Special Report survey, which canvassed editorial house owners and executives for their opinions on issues and trends in the cutting world (SHOOT, 1/30, p. 15). The questions we asked appear in italics.
What are the latest trends in editing?
Flexibility. Editors that can work with directors all over the world, whether the director is in Los Angeles, New York, London or Buenos Aires.
Flexibility to integrate sound design, concepts or the look of an effect or graphic treatment.
The ability to edit for different media, whether it’s TV, Cinema, music videos, longform or elevator screens.
Branded content may finally start to take off in different directions, propelled by what seems to be a strengthening economy. There seems to be in-creased movement in the business both in terms of accounts and people. Ad spending usually increases in an election year anyway.
Now that there has been a lot of shrinkage, there seems to be more work around for those who have survived the past two years. If there is more, at least some of it is usually better. More Euro-pean creatives are coming stateside and lending their sensibility to the creative and this will make the work better.
What is the best way to groom an up-and-coming editor?
Placing an aspiring editor as an assistant to a really good editor is an ideal way to expose someone to the techniques and work ethic of an inspired creative talent. It is the best form of role modeling.
This, coupled with an environment that is stimulating both in terms of the amount of work flowing through it and the quality of that work, inevitably leads to opportunities for junior people.
When clients get to know as-sistant editors in the context of a repeat relationship with a senior editor, they will often learn to trust that assistant, and come back to them with an opportunity to cut one of several spots in a multi-spot package, or give them a chance on something that has a limited budget.
