Film Antics: Process for Editing (non-technical) your Film by Committee

[Juan Sotelo]

Hello from Film Antics (Best Comedy for 'Stare Straight Crew' at Sac 48hr International FF)...this is Juan Sotelo, managing partner and screenwriter. 

We are a small independent production company that realizes in order for us to grow, we must have efficient and effective scalable operational processes.  I know, I hate this part of the film-making process too.  But, in order to act like you're big, you have to take advantage of your small size and make the smart, quick decisions big bureaucratic companies can't.

My topic: Non-Technical Editing Process. 

Sweet...you wrote, shot and finished editing your film.  You show your team the first cut and now the floodgate of opinions rush out.  How do you methodically manage to capture and execute so many different opinions?  What are valid?  What are off (or self serving...never actors, of course)?  What is the feedback from test audiences of family/friends?

Here is a quick process I made for Film Antics.  I am a learner, so please provide any feedback you think might help improve it...I know it is far from perfect.  The goal is to capture feedback, prioritize, and develop an executable edit plan:

1. List your contributors (contributors are team members who have edit input authority)

2. List your contributors edit requests (ER's)

3. Prioritize ERs (1=highly important; 2=moderately important; 3=low importance).  Contributor owners rate ERs.  Example: Butch said scene two should be cut; therefore, Butch is responsible for prioritizing his ER.  Butch rates it a 1.

3. Make a list of ERs that rate a 1 and separate this into another list, called 'Priority 1'.  This is done so you prioritize the most critical ERs first, concentrating your focus.  Now, we work off of the Priority 1 list.

4. Explanation phase: each contributor with an ER on the Priority 1 list has X minute(s) (you should put a time limit) to explain the ER and why s/he rated it a 1.

5. Have all contributors rate ERs after explanation phase.  Example, Butch explained why cutting scene two was needed and why he rated it a 1.  The other contributors vote using the same 1-to-3 rating scale.

6. Pick your top 5 (# is up to you based on volume and time you have to resolve ERs).  You pick your top choices by listing the average vote count and prioritizing the scores (lowest avg. has highest priority).

7. Have a resolution discussion for each ER in your top 5 list.

8. After your resolution discussion, list the time it would take to resolve the ER.  Example, re-shooting a scene (3 days), or voice over edit (2 hours).

9. Vote on what you will resolve and set a schedule.

10. Now, you can go back to all ERs rated 2 and 3, and do the same.  However, I find that after addressing the ERs rated 1, the 2's and 3's get addressed.

Building out a resolution schedule will help you set realistic goals.  There is nothing worse that trying to do everything, then accomplishing nothing.  Doing so can lead to bad team chemistry and possible decisions to not work together again.

Keep in mind this is a flexible guide and should be tailored to your project scope.

I hope this helps!  I look forward to your feedback.

Take care,

Juan Sotelo

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