Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Sundance Doc Lab pt.5 - Notes From The Lab

I was invited to attend this years Sundance Documentary Edit and Story Lab as an assistant editor. Each assistant is assigned to one of the five feature-length documentaries that have been invited to participate in the lab. Each project consists of its director(s) and editor. This is Part Five in my Sundance Labs re-cap. Part OnePart TwoPart Three. Part Four.

I've been vague about exactly what I learned at the Doc Lab this summer. That is due, in part, to the fact that during their presentations, the advisors have to speak candidly about their work or about themselves and I feel I should protect that.

But I think I can provide a list of helpful, general anecdotes that stuck with me this summer. I know this will help me on the documentary I'm editing now and it may also help you on yours.

I won't attribute any one tip or anecdote to any one advisor. Instead this will be one list so it is from one voice. That said, allow me to tell you a little bit about our advisors this year:

Monday, August 5, 2013

2013 Sundance Doc Lab pt.4: The A[E] Team

I was invited to attend this years Sundance Documentary Edit and Story Lab as an assistant editor. Each assistant is assigned to one of the five feature-length documentaries that have been invited to participate in the lab. Each project consists of its director(s) and editor. This is Part Four in my Sundance Labs re-cap. Part OnePart Two. Part Three.




Each year, Labs and Artist Support Director Kristin Feeley and Labs and Artist Support Coordinator John Cardellino seek out recommendations for assistant editors from past fellows and advisors. They try to maintain a high turnover of assistants each year in order to expose new people to the lab. By assigning assistants to projects they have no knowledge of, it gives the assistants a chance to quickly gel with new filmmakers. It also gives those filmmakers another pair of eyes to bounce ideas off of.

Now that there are two doc labs, there is more opportunity for past assistants to return as Mark Harrison and I did this summer. We were able to serve as a resource for other first-time AEs when they had procedural questions or faced a delicate situation with their team. That can lift the burden off Kristin, John and Post Production Supervisor Dave Drusky: We can tackle something before we need to involve them, giving them time to concentrate on other important matters. Being a returning AE allowed me to feel more comfortable and increased my participation and engagement twofold.