Edit Fest LA 2011

Thanks to my good friend Marika Ellis, I recently attended Edit Fest LA 2011, the first of its kind weekend seminar about the art of editing.  While there, I particularly enjoyed the closing panel, featuring some of Hollywood's hottest young television editors talking about their craft and tips for the mostly college-age crowd in attendance.

Among the panelists was Hunter M. Via, A.C.E., an editor for AMC's acclaimed series The Walking Dead, who gave some real world advice that I think applies to any job in this business of show.  "It's remarkable how quickly people can rise and fall," Hunter said of life in the industry.  "Don't burn bridges."  To back up his point, he went on to tell a story about a tweet gone wrong that required lawyers and scariness.  Panel moderator Steve Rasch, A.C.E. added that he decorates his desk with a piece of tape under the monitor which reads ABN, a secret reminder to himself to "Always Be Nice."

I think this is good advice especially for the reality television genre, as it is truly the wild west of Hollywood today.  Today's transcriber is tomorrow's supervising producer, all while I'm still an editor.  And today's fellow editor is tomorrow's Executive Producer (I've seen this happen literally overnight).  So be nice to everyone, because you really never know where they will end up.