Amy Eakin - Editor
Job title - Editor
Experience - 5+ years
“I believe that simply talking to people, surrounding yourself with creativity, and just being a nice human will provide you success – people want to work with people like that.”
Describe your job role and the kinds of projects/clients you work with.
Hi! So currently I'm the Director of Post at Bustle Digital Group, a women's online publisher, and lead a large team of editors there, but I also am co-founder of my own business, James Post, with my partner and we have ambitions to create it into a larger post house. In my day job, I work in the branded and editorial online space primarily, sometimes editing but mostly overseeing all video content for our clients (Recent clients include REI, Dove, Adidas, Samsung, Genesis, North Face, Sephora, etc.). With James Post, we have found a lot of early success leaning on our relationships with folks in the advertising industry (we have advertising backgrounds), but hope to grow the business with a few more hires now that we have planted our feet in Atlanta, where we are now a year-in coming from New York City. In my free time I love to take on creative projects for clients, but also indie films, music videos, and documentaries. I'm currently writing a script for a short film, and have plans to edit a short film later this year for a female director who I have collaborated a lot with in the past – I like to keep my hands in a lot of pots!
What does an average day look like in your post-production working world?
My average day for my day job is a lot more supervisory – managing editors, watching a lot of cuts, scheduling, troubleshooting technical problems, watching a lot of cuts, scheduling, music searching, providing inspiration, talking to freelancers...did I mention watching a lot of cuts and scheduling? My team primarily creates branded content and social videos, so we use platforms like Frame.io to share/edit/critique those videos. I also am a trained colorist so I do a lot of the color work for larger clients or high profile celebrities (The North Face, Dove, Samsung and celebrities like Camila Cabello, Travis Barker, Willow Smith, Andie Macdowell), and work in Davinci Resolve for that.
When I'm editing, I primarily use Adobe's suite of products such as Premiere Pro (although I recently did a music video in Resolve and didn't hate it!) and depending on the project I'll transcribe interviews first or pull together strings based on content/scenes. Then I'll pull selects and start music searching (when using stock), and usually will lay the story out first before going in and crafting the full assembly together.
With my startup company we have a couple of clients on retainer that we spend our time managing, but also work with larger national brands that are project-based. I manage those timelines and storyboard those projects out using Storyboard Animator or Celtx on an iPad. Depending on the project I'll either be the lead editor in my spare time or we have a small team with varying talents (editor, motion graphics, sound etc.) who we have for larger workloads
How did your career in post-production begin?
I actually majored in photography in college (at SCAD in Savannah, GA), took a few film classes back when digital video was just becoming a thing, and simply fell in love with it. Being a city girl raised in the country, I always dreamed of living in NYC. So I got a video editing internship at an advertising agency (thanks to a fantastic editor who somehow saw potential) and grew my career there after going full-time, working on various commercial projects for Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Lancome, Patron (that one was a VR project which was very cool), American Express, Audible, etc. I had a fantastic mentor (shout out Emily Sheskin) who is an amazing editor (and now director) and she helped me get into the indie film world as well. Networking is so important in this industry, and I still talk to and work with a lot of people from that first job today. Those connections have also directly helped grow my business James Post.
What has been your career highlight?
I love editing short films and music videos. Having a film do the festival run is really exciting, and I hope to have my own film go through the circuit. I don't know if I could pick one career highlight truthfully, and I hope the best is yet to come! But I have really enjoyed managing other editors and helping them grow their craft. I also have enjoyed being a business owner, much more than I thought I would, and definitely feel ambitious about where it's going in the future. I am extremely proud of a film I edited titled Willow Creek Road that was up for several awards, but my overall career highlight might have to be turning my passion for film editing into a successful business. Doing something you love but also getting paid for it in the entrepreneurial world, has been an absolute dream.
Tell us about a pivotal moment in your career;
I'd say moving into the publishing world was pivotal, as was moving into a managerial role. Both afforded me new and exciting opportunities, and grew my skills as an editor and also as a leader. I believe that simply talking to people, surrounding yourself with creativity, and just being a nice human will provide you success – people want to work with people like that.
Women in post you admire?
There's so many! I try to constantly find inspiration and women with unique points of view. I love Mah Ferraz's work so I'm excited for her Edit Girls talk! I also love Laura Sills's photography, her use of color is a constant inspiration for me. We (James Post) also actually just did this social series on famous female film editors for Women's Month and I found some of the historical film editors so inspiring – when it was so hard for females to have a flourishing career, and in the male-dominated film industry nonetheless, they persevered and went on to win awards. Just shows that nothing has to stand in your way unless you let it.
What advice do you have for other women wanting to start a career in post?
I'd say there's no 'right' way to do it. I've beat myself up a lot over different paths I could have taken or projects I should have done, but my past experience has gotten me to where I am today – and that is in a very fulfilling place. Just remember your 'dream' job might not be what it seems from the outside. I'd also say don't be afraid to change it up, learn a new skill, reach out to someone you admire – but be confident in your choice. The world is changing so quickly that it becomes so important to continue learning and growing with it. You never know where it will lead!