EDITORIAL

Job Overview

The assistant editor manages the editing department, maintaining an environment that allows the editor to devote his time and energy to the creative process of editing the film. With the assistance of the second assistant(s) and the apprentice(s), the first assistant editor is responsible for logging and organizing footage; maintaining all department reports and paperwork; interfacing with outside vendors, such as the film lab and sound transfer facility; taking notes during dailies and throughout the editing process, and whatever else is needed to keep the department running smoothly. After the picture is locked, the first assistant editor oversees the film through postproduction until the final print is completed. Some editors permit their assistants to gain hands-on experience editing a scene.

Special Skills

Assistant editors must be good communicators, extremely organized, and detail oriented.

Advice for Someone Seeking This Job

Obtain whatever experience you can by volunteering to work for free on student and low budget films, commercials, or videos. Then try to find a position as a production assistant assigned to editorial, or as an apprentice. Working for a postproduction facility or a local television station is another potential inroad.

Professional Profile: Michael Reynolds, First Assistant Editor

Raised in Southern California, Michael Reynolds initially planned a career as a theatrical director. He studied at UCLA, earning a bachelor's degree in theater, film, and television in 1989. While in school, his direction of department productions received acclaim. But it was when he directed a short film that he realized his eye was better suited for film than stage, and began pursing editing.

Reynolds' first post-college job was working as a production assistant on the television series Parenthood. Producer Sascha Schneider was so pleased with Reynolds's work that when he expressed a desire to get into editing, Schneider facilitated his hiring as an apprentice editor on the series Veronica Clare. Reynolds did some work for National Geographic before landing his first film, the low budget feature Pontiac Moon, as an apprentice for editor Anne Coate.

Impressed with Reynolds's work ethic, Coate hired him as an assistant editor on the next three features she worked on: Congo, Striptease, and Out to Sea. He picked up some additional work between those projects, including a month on The Jackal, before going on to The Horse Whisperer.

When renowned film editor Pietro Scalia mentioned to friend Anne Coate that he was looking for a first assistant, she recommended Reynolds. He was hired for Playing by Heart and went on to work on Gladiator and Black Hawk Down.