For editing, I put together commercials, documentaries, films and corporate productions. Projects can range from corporate messages and campaigns, films making the festival circuit, museum pieces, broadcast shows and PSAs or other commercials. As far as directing goes, I've been doing my own short films, music videos and commercials.

EDUCATION | International Baccalaureate Program - Eastside High School/BA in Broadcasting & Film - Boston University

HOW TO GET STARTED | Film school was great and gave me the basic knowledge for all production aspects and that was invaluable as a director and editor. In my opinion, as a director, you should have a working knowledge of how most jobs on a film are done. That way, you have a general idea of what you can expect or ask from anybody on your crew. Also, from a director's point of view, taking an acting class at some point is a plus so you can relate to what your actors need and know how to understand what their process is. For advice to be an editor - well, first of all, learn the editing systems - that can be the hardest part. The two mainstream editing systems used in the broadcasting and film world are Avid and Final Cut (Avid works on both PCs and Apple computers, Final Cut is strictly Apple-based - there are affordable "express" versions of both that can give you a basic understanding of the systems). The learning curves on these systems can be a bit challenging, but once you get past the initial struggle, they get quite logical and fun to use. For narrative work, believe it or not - watching movies and TV shows can be quite helpful. You should learn basics like what jump cuts are, what "crossing the line" means and how to avoid or work around those problems. Also, work on your timing for cuts - it's amazing how various cuts of the same footage with different timing can give someone a completely different emotional response. You should also study when it's the right time to cut to a reaction shot or how to "hide" your edits (the best edits are the ones people don't notice). Another way to get into the editing field is to try and find work as an assistant editor. If you have a basic knowledge of either editing system, you can work as an assistant loading footage and doing some basic editing - but if you're lucky, you'll work with a head editor that'll give you tips on editing and advice in the business (the more people you get to know, the better). However, the best advice I can give for any of these jobs is to just get out there and do it - you'll learn the most from that. And, if you make mistakes - well, to be honest, you'll learn even more from those!

MUST HAVE TRAITS | Creative, self-motivated, persistent, critical thinker, enjoy challenges, resourceful, tech-savvy, flexible, empathetic

how I got started | When I graduated from school, one of my professors helped me get an internship at a documentary film company which quickly turned into a full-time job. Once they realized I knew how to shoot, edit, light and do sound it was a quick transition (plus, they couldn't really put me on official crews if I was just an intern, so that helped). After a few years of doing everything and anything at that company, I decided to try the freelance world - working at a documentary company was great, I got a ton of experience that I couldn't have gotten anywhere else and I loved the subject matter - but it wasn't going to pay the bills. My first freelance job was as an assistant editor on a series of sports shows for ABC/ESPN. However, when the head editor couldn't finish the job, he told the director that I looked like I knew what I was doing and I was promoted to head editor (not the normal route). I made some connections from that job who spread my name through the area and "voila," I was a freelance editor and in demand. Recently, I've started directing to expand my horizons a bit more.

why this job?| I actually started out in college thinking I'd be an engineer, but soon realized I didn't want to sit at a desk all day solving equations (I do like math - but that just wasn't for me). A friend of mine was switching to the film program at school and it occurred to me that film production was something I'd love to do. I'd done a few video projects in high school and had enjoyed working on them, but to be honest, aside from knowing that Spielberg and Scorsese worked in film for a living - until then, it never really occurred to me that "normal" people like myself could do that for a living too.

why I love this job!| I love the creativity. There's usually no "set" way to tell a story or express an idea - so there's a lot of room to come up with new methods. For example, when you're doing a documentary or any interview-driven piece, you never know what you're going to get. There's a story there, you just have to find it. I guess it's similar to how sculptors say the statues are already in the stone - you just have to chip away the excess pieces to reveal it. Nothing beats finding a way to make sound bites play off each other, putting the pieces of the puzzle together, moving them around to make a common thread stand out like one person knew what the next person was going to say and then putting footage on top to emphasize what they're saying (and to cover your jump cuts) - it's such an exciting challenge and it's so rewarding when everything finally falls in place. Also, I love that every day is different - there's always a new challenge to meet.

my typical day| As an editor, my typical day is showing up at a production house and getting the low-down on what the project I'll be working on is (when I work from home on my own system, this is a call or a meeting). From there I'll either work directly with a producer or director on the final product. Different clients have varying amounts of input - some hire me and tell me exactly what goes where and for how long - but a lot of my clients give me a general guideline for a show, hand me tapes and a script (if there is one) and leave me to create on my own (obviously, those are clients I've worked with quite a bit over the years and we know each other's styles). From there, we'll usually come up with a rough cut, send it to the final client for changes and input and then, depending on the feedback, either defend the choices we've made or make changes that the clients suggest and finish the show. A lot of the work can be "cuts only" types of shows where you're more interested in the content than the "razzle dazzle" of special effects. However, I do get a lot of work that involves a lot of layering and effects to pull off the final result. Those pieces can be just as challenging as content-only pieces, but in a different way. Making sense of sound bites is once kind of challenge - pulling off effects, green screen compositing and layering so that one piece matches another and spins, twists or falls into the right place or times out right to the music is a whole different challenge. That's why I enjoy it so much - it keeps you on your toes! When I’m directing, the challenge is slightly different. Now you're dealing with how a written concept ends up on film. You have to deal with actors - making sure everyone is on the same page and finding a middle ground between your conception of who a character is versus who your actor thinks that character is and what it looks like.

what they are | There's always new challenges. As an editor, you're constantly trying to find new ways to solve things like shooting problems (wrong angles, green screen compositing issues, crossing the line, etc) or content issues when people don't say exactly what you want them to say - or they say "uhm" a lot or misspeak and it needs to be fixed. Then there's the biggest challenge you'll meet as an editor - it isn't putting something together when it's shot right - it's how to fix something once it's been shot and there's something wrong (that's where the phrase "we'll fix it in post - comes from - and you'll hear that more often than not). As a director, the biggest challenge is getting a crew and cast to come together and capture your vision of what you think a script should "look" like. However, that's an ever-changing target. In all parts of this field, you have to be able to constantly adjust to what you think something should be versus what it's actually going to end up being. You have to learn to not be "precious" about certain shots or lines that, although they might look great on their own, end up being a detriment to the final product (that sounds simple, but in practice, it's a difficult thing to learn and accept). A couple of years ago, I was working on a film with Terry Rossio (Pirates of the Carribean, Aladdin, National Treasure) and we were running into problems making scenes work they way they were scripted. After a bit of a struggle, we had to reluctantly stray away from the script to make things come together. Although it was tough, he explained the process in a great way - he said that you dream up this story for a film in your head. Then, during production, there's this surreal moment when the vision in your head collides with the real world as you try to translate that vision onto film. However, once it's been filmed - it now exists in it's own, separate new world and any pre-conceptions or thoughts you had in the scriptwriting, pre-production or during production no longer matter - the only thing that matters is what works in this new world that you've created. So you have to be open-minded enough to accept whatever new form your project might turn into. The other challenge, especially as a freelancer, is constantly being able to establish good relationships with new clients and new team members. That can be exceptionally rewarding, but it can be difficult at times - especially when dealing with clients. You have to be able to walk the fine line of giving your opinion as to how you think things work best to understanding that, in the end, your client’s opinion is the most important.

all about growth | The growth in this job is different for everyone. If you work for a production company, there can be a ladder to climb where you start as a production assistant or some other low-level job and work your way up within the company. In the freelance world, there really is no set path, that's why you have to be self-motivated. Some people go out and direct short films of their own, get some notice at film festivals and become feature film directors… others work their way thru from the bottom doing every job there is on the way up and then become directors. As an editor, the normal path would be to start as an assistant editor and hopefully work your way up - but there are those who get pigeon-holed and make a living of being an assistant editor. It mostly depends on your goals. If you want to become a director, you should work on that goal- you can go to film school - you can try to get accepted into the DGA training program (Directors - Guild of America) - or you can just try making your own films and go from there. If you want to be an editor, get a job as an assistant and if it doesn't progress - move on to the next job. Eventually, you'll hopefully make connections and learn enough to get a job as a head editor. As far as demand for the job - depending on where you live, there's a lot (even small cities have local broadcasting stations where you could find work, it just may not be on major blockbuster features). If you're looking to do major network television or feature films, LA and NYC are the biggest markets, but Boston, Miami, Orlando, Philadelphia, Albuquerque and other big cities have some of that work as well. However, you can find work in most parts of the country, it just depends on what type of work you want to do.

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