Amanda James - Editor
Job title - Editor
Experience - 10+ years
“I would advise any girls starting out to trust all their instincts. Be proud of yourself - you’ve come a long way just jamming your foot in the door!”
Tell us about your job role and the kinds of projects you work on;
I am an editor at Final Cut based in London. I work mainly on commercials, sometimes music videos, and occasionally short films. I also recently cut my first feature film.
What does an average day look like in your post-production working world?
Depending on what stage I'm at in an edit, my days can be hugely varied. If I'm at the start of a job, the fat end, I'll be watching through all the rushes, selecting them down. This is the laborious part of the process where you first get to clap eyes on the coverage. It's all very well having a script or boards but the realities of what's 'in the can' can throw all that up in the air, so this is where you start to figure it all out and begin to get a feel for the overall shape of the thing. I like to get a pretty decent assembly together as quickly as possible, one that I'm not too ashamed to show the director, this can be quite tough but I can't relax till I have it. I'll always look at the storyboards (even if I'm told to ignore them), I think it's important to have a grasp on what the clients expectations are, but I also like to see where the rushes push me so there's a big chunk of instinct at play in the early stages. Ideally, in that first assembly, I'll try to answer all the big questions I have, particularly regarding the structure, this tends to put the director at ease straight away, which is always a good thing, especially if I've never worked with them before. It makes for a much nicer experience in the cutting room if you win their trust straight off the bat. From there, once the director is happy, the agency becomes involved in the process (if it's a commercial), then ultimately it goes to the client who has final approval. Hopefully, by this point, it's not a million miles from where you hoped it would be and everyone’s happy
How did your career in post-production begin?
I'm from Coventry and knew nobody in the business, it was in the days before Google so I used to come down to London on the train and literally bang on doors. If the door buzzer said 'post' or 'edit' on it, I banged. I actually made some great contacts that way believe it or not and eventually that lead to me meeting a wonderful lady who put me in touch with Rick Russell who owns Final Cut. I think he felt sorry for me and gave me a job as their first runner. The company was only one year old at that point so my timing was perfect. From there my career has grown and evolved alongside the company itself. I was so lucky to find them when I did.
Tell us about a career highlight;
I have a few career highlights. From buying cigarettes for George Michael on my first day as a runner, winning at the UKMVAs with Sam Brown's Jay Z video, to most recently cutting the Paralympic spot for Channel 4. Working with Bradford Young on this was a really special experience, in fact, everyone on it was fantastic, it was a proper dream job. I feel very lucky.
Which women in post do you admire?
I admire any woman in this business and I am happy to see so many female editors or editors who happen to be female I should say, coming up. From experience I know they've had to work a little harder, shout a little louder and work the room in ways that male editors wouldn't have to - it's exhausting!!!! And then we go and have babies and go back to work - we're fucking superheroes hahaha!!!!!
Can you talk about a pivotal moment in your career?
I feel like I've had a number of pivotal moments with significant early jobs building my confidence, bagging jobs with some amazing directors along the way (getting to work with Tim Burton on The Killers 'Bones' video - his first music video really stands out), but the Jay-Z video I cut with Sam Brown is the big one.
It opened doors for me that, as a female editor, up to that point had been firmly closed. I'd always been frustrated at the fact that, in commercials, I mainly got booked on more 'feminine jobs' (for want of a better phrase) ie fashion & beauty, and had to watch my male peers working on all the exciting car & sports ads. So Jay-Z became a bit of a calling card. Even up to that point, I'd always tried to steer my career away from those female based projects (there is nothing wrong with this work, it just wasn't for me), and having Jay-Z at the top of my reel suddenly meant that I was getting a look in on a much wider variety of projects.
Then came another Sam Brown classic with Guinness 'Made of Black' which only solidified things more. I became an 'Editor' not just a 'Female Editor'. Back then this was so important to me. I think the journey is quite different for girls now - thank goodness - they don't have to fight quite so hard to be noticed...
What advice do you have for other women wanting to start a career in post?
I would advise any girls starting out to trust all their instincts. Be proud of yourself - you've come a long way just jamming your foot in the door! My heart always sinks when someone says 'oh yeah, we just really needed a woman's perspective on this' - cos it means that is why I got the gig and not because of my work/reel. But these kinds of moments give us the opportunity to shine and impress and prove that we're just good because we're good and have nothing to do with owning a pair of tits!!!