Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1359892
36 C I N E M O N T A G E F E A T U R E behalf of their post-production clients, they must have an understanding of the art of editing—not just its particular role in the filmmaking process, but its rela- tionships to other disciplines. "There's a real truth to the fact that, when a project goes into the editing suite, it turns into a whole different animal," said WME agent Mira Yong. "In film, the director and the editor work so closely together for that director's cut, and you have to understand those personalities will have to work in that room. The way of working will need to match up." Agents also must grasp particular personalities of the editors they call clients: their strengths, their interests, their goals, and even their hobbies. Yong said that she aims to find at least one completely unique attribute in each editor's skillset. "That really helps with pushing them, say, from the independent to studio world, or into television where they haven't done television before," Yong said. C o n s e q u e n t l y, w h e n a g e n t s pitch editors to directors, they have more to work with than simply a laundry list of credits. "When we talk about our clients, we're not talking about: 'Oh, they just edited this, they edited this, they edited this,'" Yong said. "We talk about personality. We talk about what they actually are motivated by." Armed with such knowledge, the agency can dip into its vast pool of cli- ents to potentially pair directors with below-the-line talent. "There was one recent example of a film where I was in touch with the director at an early stage," Pagni said. "I was able to put actually four clients on the project: cinematographer, production designer, costume designer, and editor. Of course, that's a very best case scenario." Indeed, the WME agents say that editors should seek stable, long-term collaborations—something as important in building a career as good scripts and healthy budgets. "I think director rela- tionships are the most important part of a career," Pagni said. "If you get hooked up with two to three extremely talented directors who are doing the type of proj- ects that speak to you, that can lead to a very strong career." So vital is the formation of editor-di- rector relationships that WME never hesitates in matching client editors with non-client directors, said Wayne Fitter- man, the head of the agency's production department. "As great as it is for us to have great access to directors that the agency represents, that by no means stops us or precludes us in any way from having relationships with directors that the agency doesn't represent," Fitterman continued. "Some of us have very deep relationships with those directors from other agencies because of clients that have worked with them over the years." Indeed, Komatsu describes himself as a beneficiary of WME's commitment to networking. For example, after working on AMC's series "Halt and Catch Fire," Komatsu was recommended by another editor for another show, "Matador." "One could say, 'Well, you didn't get that through your agent,' but I would not have met that editor on 'Halt' unless it was for WME getting me onto 'Halt,'" Komatsu said. "It's like this tangled web that stems from WME, making these contacts for me or getting me an initial show that then leads me to another show." The development of such leads is especially important in an industry that can feel more unstable by the day, begin- ning with the decline of studio-produced dramatic features. "You could always rely on DVD sales to a certain extent, even if the box office was not stellar. That's when the mid-range dramas were being made," Pagni said. "The business all re- ally started to change 10 years ago, when DVD sales went signif icantly down." These days, much of that content has migrated to television or streaming plat- forms. "The need was fulfilled by at first HBO and Showtime, leading into Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, et cetera," Pagni said. Komatsu has been a witness to, and participant in, the transformation. Early in his career, he worked in the cutting room of director Ron Howard, but he eventually began adding more and more television and streaming projects to his portfolio. After wrapping up the second season of Showtime's series "I'm Dying Up Here," though, Komatsu told Pagni that he wanted to make sure he still had a presence in the feature world. "He said, 'Absolutely,' and that's one of the reasons I got 'A Dog's Journey' for Amblin," said Komatsu, who was tempted to try for another feature to keep the momentum going. Then fate intervened. "Part of me was like, 'Maybe I should just go for another feature,' and then 'Mrs. America' came along—I was like, 'I can't turn this down. This is just too good.'" F i t t e r m a n s a i d : " E d i t o r s , l i k e directors and writers and others, are sto- rytellers, and I think that taking a story and making it six hours or eight hours, instead of two hours, allows a much deeper dive." Not that the jump to television or streaming is always an easy one. Editors accustomed to flying solo on features will find themselves working in tandem with other editors. "Some people love that collaboration and love that experience," Pagni said. "Then there are some, hon- estly, who don't and would like a movie that's sort of their own thing. It's our job to listen to them and to know who would thrive in that environment more than others." E v e n e d i t o r s w h o m i g r a t e f r o m broadcast television to streaming will 'Editors, like directors and writers and others, are storytellers.'