Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/942009
29 Q1 2018 / CINEMONTAGE those editors who actually critiqued my work and showed me how they were doing what they were doing," he says. "So I had to find my own way." Part of that was due to the nature of television post-production, where assistants are often hired separately from editors, unlike the close relationship that often develops between an editor and assistant in the feature film world. DeGraff didn't even consciously consider himself to be a mentor when he first started helping Dixon. "She was the first person that made me think that I had something real to offer young editors in terms of my experience," he says. He says he prefers if the assistant approaches him for mentoring. "That shows an openness and a hunger to learn from my experience," he says. "I've had many assistants with whom I have never developed a relationship, but when an assistant says, 'I'd like to stay with you on a number of projects and have you help me become an editor,' I take that relationship very seriously." When he was editing the Netflix horror show Hemlock Grove (2013-2015), assistant Damien Smith approached him. "He asked to stay with me for a couple of shows, so he could grow to be an editor," says DeGraff. "He had a tremendous amount of background in sound work and was already a talented editor. He assisted me on the second season of Daredevil and the pilot of Designated Survivor (2016-present), and showed producers he could cut scenes, and they bumped him up to editor this season." The editor's most recent mentee is Koenig, who assisted him on The Crossing pilot. When DeGraff moved over to The Man in the High Castle, she reached out and asked if he was looking for an assistant. "I felt like I had a lot to learn from him," she recalls. "He said, 'Absolutely.'" The experience, according to Koenig, has been transformative. "Right away, he had me practice cutting scenes, including scenes that were very difficult," she adds. "He gave notes like a director would, in a way that shows he didn't dislike the choice but that another, better one could be made." DeGraff also encouraged her not to be afraid to speak up. "He said, 'You have good opinions and thoughts, and to sit in the room and not speak them isn't doing the project a service,'" she remembers. "I found my voice and learned to have confidence in my own abilities — that people will believe me if I believe in myself." Mentoring is a two-way street, DeGraff