How to Develop Your Editing Career

There are thousands of editors who want to work in Hollywood, so what can help you stand out?

Here are some tips for any editor looking to progress their career.

Having worked for major Hollywood studios, FEP’s lead trainer and founder tells all in an interview with Zack Arnold, also an editor and host of the “Optimize Yourself” Podcast.

The full interview is worth a look, but here are some key takeaways they discussed.

Don’t be Afraid to go Niche

Most people don’t even realize that trailer editors are different from feature editors. A lot of people think that whoever cut the movie probably cuts the trailer. And it couldn’t be further from the truth.

A “Hollywood Editor” can actually mean a lot of different roles. You might have previously set your heart on being a feature editor, but have you thought about other types of editing jobs? As well as being a trailer editor, Chris also has experience in 3D animation. He explains one of the reasons he switched to trailer editing:

 On many levels, that job (3D animation) got a lot more commoditized, I think, than trailers did. And that pushed salaries down and increased long work hours.

Whatever industry you’re in, pursuing a more popular role can place you in a competitive job market, which can make other aspects of the role less appealing. Instead, you might just find that choosing a more niche role, such as a trailer editor, can be just as rewarding, and potentially more lucrative.

The Puzzle Mindset

Editing is full of creative challenges – having to work with bad material, getting creative blocks, or difficult client demands can massively impact the quality of your work.

How do you get past these issues while keeping the edit fresh and creative? For Chris, the answer lies in mindset:

Taking any of those challenges and viewing it as the fun puzzle that it is, and being enthusiastic to figure out a way to cut something a different way, to fit something that doesn’t seem like it should fit, to present it in a light that makes it interesting and not boring, and being able to do that every day…I think that makes the difference.

Treating creative challenges like puzzles instead of problems might sound gimmicky, but it really does work! This mindset will help you keep a positive view of the edit, which in turn boosts your creativity.

Your Producer is Your Ally

Like an editor, the role of a producer can take many different forms in the film industry. They’re not just there to get results from editors. In fact, Chris often asked his producer for a second opinion:

Maybe if you’re like…’I’ve tried everything, this just isn’t working.’ Let the producer say ‘Let’s try this new music. Or what if we rearranged how we presented this information?”…And then it works great.

Having someone available to give you unbiased, objective feedback can be really useful when you’ve been working on an edit for weeks, or even months. Always do your best to maintain a good working relationship with your producer, they might just give you the suggestion you need.

Be better than the competition

With so many people vying for a small number of editing positions, it’s easy to be defeatist and assume you won’t land your dream role. However, that’s not how Chris thinks:

The cream always rises to the top. So there could be a thousand people doing the same thing. We’ll just do it really, really good.

He relates an experience of a friend in his math class that was smarter than him, but often got worse scores in tests:

He didn’t check his work. And I’ll spend an extra 10 minutes and I’ll check it and I’d get a hundred and he’d get a 97 or a 95. And he said, ‘Oh, I missed it. I missed that one dumb question.’ I’m like, well, take your time. Polish it. Do it better.

There’s no secret sauce for getting ahead of the competition – you just have to do the job better. So focus on being the best editor you can, polish your craft, and make yourself too good to ignore.

Wrap Up

One of the best ways to invest in your own editing skills is through courses. Get started with one of Film Editing Pro’s free courses, or head over to our training page to check out the full collection of original, high quality training material that matches your skill level and editing goals.