Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1500189
28 M PS E . O R G be tenacious. I would also advise people to be brave, talk to people, ask whom to speak to about internships. If you're in film school, work with other students. Volunteer and get your editing chops up on low-budget/ no-budget projects. We all have had to pay our dues 'working for free.' Unfortunately, there is no one clear path, but keep your eyes open for opportunities and get to know people. It is easier to recommend someone if you know them even a little bit. You can learn anything—if you have an open mind, and you're willing. Anyone could learn how to use Pro Tools. Anyone can show you how to use plug-ins—all that kind of technical, practical stuff. The trickier part is how to behave on a mix stage and when it's okay to open your mouth and when it's not okay to open your mouth. That's the kind of thing that is harder to teach. But you learn by watching people who are really good at it and how they ask questions and how they approach things. VRS: How have you survived being a freelance editor? GYW: The thing about being freelance is you're only as good as your last job. VRS: Since my mom worked in television, she would say two things: 'A reel a day or you don't stay.' And, 'You're only as good as your last reel!" GYW: Exactly! You have to keep your chops up and you can't be a jerk on one film and then expect to ride through. I've always believed that it doesn't matter how many awards you won 10 years ago. You still have to be good now. VRS: Speaking of my mom, I read in one of your interviews that when you met George Lucas he asked you: 'Are you the next Kay Rose?!" That was fun to hear. GYW: I told him, "I hope so!" VRS: I think you both definitely have the right approach to dialogue editing and sound design! Did people ask your kids when they were younger if they want to go into the business? GYW: I think they saw how many hours I worked and said, 'No no no no.' They like what I do, and they like the perks. When my son was in fifth grade and I was working on Phantom Menace, he became King of the Playground by telling everyone, 'My mom's working on the next Star Wars movie!' I worked on Top Gun: Maverick as a dialogue and ADR editor and I got to say some ADR lines like: 'Dark Star, the runway and skies are yours!' My kids were like, 'Oh my God—that's you!!' That's always fun. VRS: Has it gotten any better for working moms? GYW: It would really help if schedules didn't slide around quite so much. Probably the biggest problem now is that nothing sticks—schedule-wise. So you commit to a show, and then it slides right underneath the next show that you committed to. It is very hard to plan. I think streaming has made it worse. There's just so much content. Besides what it does to me and my schedule is that I've already hired a crew who is also counting on those dates. Then the schedule changes and it's 'Oh my God, I'm so sorry. The schedule just moved six months.' I understand they have to feed their families, too. I don't know the answer to that. I know that everyone's juggling release dates, and it's a very, very fluid business. I mean, the norm is a 45- to 50-hour workweek. That's a lot of hours. It's a long day. It's hard to deal with that. I know that when my kids were little, George [Lucas] had a daycare up at the ranch, which was great. But it opened between 7:00 and 7:30 a.m. and closed at 6:00 p.m. We normally worked until 7:00 which meant I had to figure out what to do. I worked it out with my bosses at the time. I Jurassic World (2015).