Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/756468
21 Q4 2016 / CINEMONTAGE by Edward Landler T he Membership Outreach Committee recently offered three separate classes, each comprising two sessions over two consecutive days, to initiate a new series that will be scheduled regularly in the future: the Editors Guild Master Class Series. Presented in the Dede Allen Seminar Room in Los Angeles, these Master Classes are far more intimate than the usual Guild seminars. Like all future Master Classes, each of the three was limited to only five Guild members who were mentored by a veteran prepared to offer an intensive program of key editing skills in the sessions. Says committee co-chair and sound editor Stephanie Brown, "The Master Classes must be small enough for each participant to receive direct and immediate feedback, allowing significant one-on-one interaction between mentor and student." The first Picture Editing Master Class with Stephen Rivkin, ACE (Avatar, 2009), President of the American Cinema Editors, was held October 15 and 16. On October 26 and 27, another Picture Editing class was led by John Heath (Picket Fences, 1992-94), who also wrote Concrete Wedding Cake, a concise and straightforward book on editing. Supervising sound editor Eileen Horta (Lucifer, 2015-present) taught a Dialogue Editing Master Class November 12 and 13. The committee is now planning an ongoing schedule of Master Classes. Guild President Alan Heim, ACE (All That Jazz, 1979), and supervising sound editor Greg Gerlich (The Iron Giant, 1999) have each agreed to lead future courses in picture editing and sound effects editing, respectively. "We want to provide enough classes to meet membership interest," Brown explains. "As more of our experienced members volunteer to mentor for the series, we eventually hope to have at least one two-session Master Class every month." The series emerged from roundtable meetings organized two years ago by the committee for picture editors and assistant editors to discuss the loss of post-production mentoring through apprenticeships and internships. With heavier workloads, shortened post schedules and rapidly changing technologies, committee co-chair and The Art and Craft of Giving Back MEMBERSHIP OUTREACH COMMITTEE LAUNCHES MASTER CLASS SERIES MEMBERSHIP OUTREACH COMMIT TEE Editor Stephen Rivkin, left, conducts the Picture Editor Master Class in the Guild's Dede Allen Seminar Room. Photo by Willow Fortin