A Day in the Life of an Assistant Editor at Warner Bros Discovery
A typical 8-10 hour workday for an assistant editor at Warner Bros. Discovery involves a dynamic workflow, shifting from creating the editor's cut and incorporating sound design in the first week, to collaborating with the director and producers on revisions in subsequent weeks, "speeding up the process" by dividing note-taking responsibilities. The month concludes with the showrunner's final approval before handing off to other post-production teams, with the entire cycle repeating for each episode.
Collaboration, Time Management, Creative Problem-Solving, Adaptability, Technical Proficiency
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
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Traits
Morgan Hinshaw
Assistant Editor
Warner Bros. Discovery
Loyola Marymount University
N/A
Film, Media Arts, Visual Arts
Arts, Entertainment & Media
Creative
Scholarship Recipient, Greek Life Member
Video Highlights
1. The Assistant Editor's role is multifaceted and changes weekly, involving tasks such as creating the editor's cut, incorporating sound design, and collaborating with the director and producers to refine the project.
2. The position demands efficiency and collaboration, as the speed of turnaround is crucial in post-production. Assistants play a key role in streamlining this process by managing notes and making necessary updates to the project.
3. A strong understanding of editing software (like Avid) is beneficial, as is the ability to adapt to the changing demands and collaborative nature of the workflow. Creativity in sound and music integration is a significant aspect of the Assistant Editor's role during the initial cut phases.
Transcript
What does the day in the life of an assistant editor look like?
Each day is typically 10 hours long, which is what our on-call is. You'll usually work eight to 10 hours, depending on how crazy it is.
The first week of the month, you'll be doing the editor's cut for the show. You'll get new footage every single day. Your editor cuts all the scenes, and then you help with sound design as you put them together. You receive random scenes each day, so they're not necessarily in order. You just have to work in pieces.
At the end of that week, you get four days to finalize everything into your whole episode. That's when you add music. Most of your creative work will be in the first couple weeks of the month, putting the episode together and then working on your editor's cut.
Once that goes out, you work with the director for a whole week. It's about four to five days, depending on the agreement. The director gives you notes, and it's typically your job as the assistant editor to take notes on what the director is saying. The editor is actually doing all the cuts.
You might have to go in periodically and update the cut. If you've worked in Avid before, everything gets messed up easily. When you add stuff in, everything slides over. You have to go in and patch up the sound and the music to make it flow again.
Then, that director's cut gets sent out at the end of the week to the producers. So, we take it to the next level. The producers will give you notes as well, and it'll be a similar process. Depending on your relationship with your editor, you'll be doing more or less work.
I would typically do the notes for the first half of the show, and my editor would do the notes for the second half to speed up the process. The speed at which you're able to turn things around is really important in post in general. The producers always want to see the cut as quickly and in the best shape as possible. That's where you really come in and can shine and help your editor out a lot.
The showrunner comes in at the very end, giving all of his notes. He or she is basically the main person in charge. They can override any previous notes and will work with the studio and network to give one final pass of any little tweaks. At that point, you would lock and turn the show over to the sound, music, and color.
Your role is different each week throughout the month. By the end of the month, when you're done with that episode, it resets, and you start over.