Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1397791
37 F A L L Q 3 I S S U E F E A T U R E When I left "Queen Sugar" and went to "The Chi," I let Ava know what I was working on, so I kept her in the loop. When she reached out to me maybe three or four months ago about working on [season] six and bumping me up to editor, it was just an amazing opportu- nity, but throughout the years, I've been building that relationship with her. She now has a compound campus downtown; we all have lunch together—the different teams—and we get to know the writers. Ava stops by often. Ivany: Similar to Sean, I've kind of been in Ava's world throughout the years. I first met her when I worked on "13th." I was hired by the lead editor, Spencer Averick, who's become my mentor over the years, to work on a "low-budget documentary" for six weeks—and that turned into two years. After "13th," I assistant-edited more for Spencer and Ava on several different projects, such as her "August 28th" project, which is at the Smithso- nian [Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture] s t i l l . I wa s c u tt i n g t h i n gs fo r A r ray as well. I had an opportunity to cut a few indie features separately, so that was a great exposure to the picture editing world and stepping into the editing chair, but all the while, I was staying in Ava's loop and working as an assistant editor with her. There was a project about spring 2018 that I was going to assist for her, and it didn't end up happening. I thought I would be out of a job, but instead she asked me to come onto "Cherish the Day" as a picture editor. That was my big opportunity with her. She believed in me, and it's a testament to Ava that she has that trust and loyalty, that 'ride or die' mentality. And now I've been editing on "Queen Sugar" for the past two seasons. Aquino: I was just wrapping a feature that I was working on and ended up getting connected with an editor by the name of Shoshanah Tanzer, who was looking for an assistant editor. She was going to edit season two of "Queen Sugar," and she hired me. I watched season one—binged through it—before I started on season two and just loved it. That was actually my first scripted TV job. I had worked in reality TV and then scripted features, but I'd never done any scripted television. That's where I met Sean, and I con- tinued working with Shoshanah. We did "Queen Sugar" season three. Then a couple of chairs opened up on "Queen Sugar" season four. Christiana Hooks, who was our post-producer at the time, recommended me to Ava, and she was totally willing to give me a shot. I wasn't expecting it. I went to season four and cut my first episode. I just tried to do the best job on it that I could. She brought me on to "Cherish the Day" season one, and then right on to "Queen Sugar" season five. Then the pandemic hit and everything shut down. It was a crazy time. This is when we start- ed this work from home thing. Season five was a pretty special season because of working through the pandemic; the shows were being written about things that were happening in the moment. We continued onto season six and we're in it now, all three of us. Q Let's talk about season five of the show because it's obviously special and different. How did it feel work- ing on it in real time? Ivany: I edited episode 506, which takes place the day after the murder of George ' Season five was pretty special because of working through the pandemic.' P H O T O : C H R I S T O P H E R F R A G A P A N E Alex Ivany.