Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1525212
13 F A L L Q 3 I S S U E A R O U N D T H E G U I L D Erik C. Andersen, left, with Nena Erb, Joaquin Elizondo, Rosanne Tan, Charles Little II and Sushila Love. P H OT O : J I M T U R N E R co-editor credit all the time on that show. By the time I reached Season 6, they gave me the full bump. Stephanie Filo Jones: Even though I was editing smaller projects, I was assisting on a couple of documentaries until one day there was a documentary that had tons of problems, and they had gone through like 12 or 13 editors and fired all of them. They were just like, "You know what? We don't have a budget left, but we'll give this girl a chance." So, I walked in and they're just like, "You're editing this documentary." And I just built from there. Sean Linal: I became an assistant editor on "The Chi" — shoutout to Victoria Grims- ley. I started cutting scenes, and she would let me sit in with the director on those scenes. We would work all together. Fast forward to during the pandemic. They shot two seasons of "Queen Sugar" simultaneously, and I got a call from Ava DuVernay's producer, Paul Garnes, who said, "Hey, Ava thought this would be a good opportunity to bring you in, because we're cutting two seasons and now we have an extra seat." And so that's how that bump- up happened. We often say, "Never say no to cutting." True or false? Erik C. Andersen: True! Know that your compensation for cutting for "free" is actually getting into the chair — and finding someone that's going to help put you into that chair. You will end up with something you can put on an editor's reel. Sushila Love: Absolutely true. When I was an assistant editor on "The Good Place," I cut the gag reel, and then I was sitting in a room with the other two editors as well as the showrunner, and we were cutting the reel together. I never would have had that experience had I not already been collecting things as the assistant without somebody telling me we're going to have a gag reel — just knowing, "Hey, this is funny, let's start gathering this stuff up, because it's probably going to be used." The gag reel not only was shown at the wrap party where the showrunner said my name in front of everybody, but it was also put on YouTube, so there were wins on a lot of different levels. Rosanne Tan: True. Face time is so important. Every time the assistant is cutting a recap, they're learning how to cut story beats. And when they get to present it, that's face time. It's just great experience. When I have notes, I'll have my assistant editor do the notes so that when the show- runner really likes it, I'll say, "Well, he did this," and then they get even more face time. 'Face time is so important. Recaps mean learning to cut story beats.'