How to Choose the Right Editor for the Job
A few years ago I hired an editor for a first time job with a new government agency client. I was still very green, and I wanted to impress. It was a film about sexual exploitation and required a mix of footage and motion graphics. I briefed the editor: 'Make it emotive. We need to motivate people to make a change.'
It was a very last minute commission and we were running out of time. On deadline day the editor turned in the edit. It was bad. At the start of the video, he'd arranged the text to look like a pair of knickers. I questioned him about his creative decision making. 'I wanted to humanise the data' was the response.
Some editors are artists and some are technicians. There's a time and a place for both.
For the last (nearly) five years I've had the big privilege of running a network of freelancers called Freelance Union — FU for short — a now 650 member strong group of talented film, TV and creative professionals. The 'Union' also gives us at Liike the ability to build the right crew for the right job.
Here are my hot tips if you're looking for the right editor or film crew for a project:
Write a clear brief, including a summary of deliverables, for which platforms and which target audience.
Include visual references from videos that you want to emulate (copying isn't illegal, immoral or unprofessional)
If you don't know what you want or need, be honest about that and have a conversation. Most of us creatives prefer being given problems to solve, rather than guessed-up solutions.
Ask the editor/producer for examples of work they've done in a similar style/genre. And ask what their role/responsibilities were in the making of those examples.
Ask for a post-production timeline, when they'll need your feedback and how many rounds of amends you get in the quoted price. Communication and time-keeping is as important as talent.
If you want to change hearts and minds or connect with audiences on a deeper level through human storytelling, talk to us. We sacked the old editor and I'm less green these days.