The Assistant Editor is the heart and engine of Editorial. They coordinate with all other production departments and post houses, and set workflow systems in place that will keep the production running smoothly from the very beginning to the final delivery. Experienced assistants are worth their weight in gold. An Editor working alone without adequate knowledge of technical workflow requirements may become an expensive liability by the end of post.
Call for Applications
Directors & Editors Guild of NZ is pleased to present the Assistant & Solo Editors Course in 2020, a comprehensive course of 4 workshops covering the technical knowledge and skills needed to run all aspects of Editorial through the complete workflow, from pre-production to delivery. The Guild welcomes applications for this course to be held on consecutive Sundays from September 13 to October 4.
The workshops are specifically designed for emerging assistant editors (with at least two productions they’ve assisted or cut), and solo editors working without an assistant (any number of productions) who wish to move into more complex productions. Both drama and documentary (containing archival) will be covered.
The workshops will deal both with key skills considered minimum requirements for setting up a well functioning Editorial – setting up projects, ingesting and full preparation for the editor – and with more advanced skills – setting up systems, workflow meetings, departmental interfacing, VFX, trouble-free handovers and troubleshooting issues when they arise.
These are hands-on workshops moving right through a project workflow, each day of the workshop builds on the skills of the previous day(s) in a cumulative layering of knowledge and skills. Prospective participants will need to commit to the full course.
Up to 14 participants will be selected.
Course Requirements
Both Avid and Premiere practitioners are invited, however, please be aware that the bulk of the workshops will be carried out on Avid Ultimate with some sessions dedicated to Premiere. You will need:
- a working knowledge of Avid – this is not an Avid tutorial nor a beginners entry course into the industry.
- Premiere practitioners will also need an Adobe ID to access Premiere on the South Seas system.
Workshop Details
Price: Course offered at discounted rates due to the COVID-19 pandemic (normal non-member price – $360)
DEGNZ Full member – Free
DEGNZ Associate/Student member – $100
Non-member – $200
Lunch and tea/coffee provided
When: Sundays from 9:30am – 4:30pm
13 September
20 September
27 September
4 October
Where: South Seas Film and Television School, 75 Ellice Rd, Glenfield, Auckland
Travel allowances are available – see below.
Our Tutors
DAN BEST has 25 years experience in Film and Television. He spent 14 years working as an Editor, Director and Producer for Television. The last 13 years have been spent working in film as a Post Production Supervisor, Editor, Assistant and VFX Editor, including 1st Assistant Editor on Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin, Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy, and more recently as 1st Assistant / VFX Editor on Mortal Engines and Post Production Supervisor on They Shall Not Grow Old. He is currently engaged as VFX Editor on The Lord of the Rings television series. Dan is highly valued as a very experienced Editorial Manager and with these huge and varied productions behind him there is little he has not handled in his career to date.
DIONE CHARD has worked as an assistant editor and editor in both New Zealand and Canada over the past 12 years. She cut her first feature film Stray in 2017 and more recently she’s cut All or Nothing: A Season with the All Blacks for Amazon and Vai with Brown Sugar Apple Grunt Productions. As an assistant she’s worked on many varied productions from ABC’s Legend of the Seeker to Disney sitcom Mr Young, telefeature Jean and the STARZ series Ash vs Evil Dead.
Supporting Tutors
ANNIE COLLINS – Editor since 1975
ANU WEBSTER – VFX Editor & First Assistant Editor since 2008
BEN SINCLAIR – Sound Designer & Composer since 2000
DAN KIRCHER – Editor since 2008 (Adobe Premiere)
TRISTAN SIMPSON – Conform DMC Supervisor & DCP Specialist since 2008
Questions?
Who can apply for a travel allowance?
If selected to attend, DEGNZ Full members may apply for financial assistance of up to $1000 incl. GST towards their travel costs, equivalent to up to $250 per workshop.
- DEGNZ has up to 3 travel allowances available for this course.
- Applicants must live in New Zealand outside the Auckland region.
For further information and criteria, see here.
Can I apply if I attended DEGNZ’s previous Assistant Editor workshops?
Yes, you can still apply if you participated in either/both of the Assistant Editors – Mandatory Skills Workshop or the Assistant Editors – Advanced Skills Workshop.
However, you will need to include in your letter why you think you would benefit from doing this course. The Assistant & Solo Editors Workshops is a revised format, covering most of what was taught in these two earlier workshops.
If you have further questions, please contact us.
To Apply
Application Deadline: 9AM, Wednesday 26 August
STEP 1: Complete the application form below.
STEP 2: Send in one PDF to tema@deganz.co.nz:
- your CV (with filmography)
- a brief, maximum 1-page letter that tells us why you would like to participate and what you hope to gain from the workshop.
Late or incomplete applications will not be accepted.
This initiative is brought to you with the generous support of the New Zealand Film Commission.
