Cass Rudolph - Editor
Job title - Editor
Experience - 10+ years
“Figure out what your ideal life looks like and explore what kind of work fits into that. Tunnel vision can be a tool but it can also be a hindrance that stops you from seeing you’re at your limit. Check in with yourself often to see if it changes.”
Describe your job role and the kinds of projects/clients you work with.
I’m a freelance editor and director based in Toronto, Canada. Before that I was the in house content producer for a record label and worked in live broadcasting. For the last 9 years, most of the projects I’ve worked on involve documenting the creative lives of those on the margins, which means projects involving artists, or people in marginalised bodies or gender identities getting the chance to tell their stories. My workload is pretty evenly split between clients hiring me as an offline editor and editing projects I’ve also directed. Some clients I’ve worked for include Stubhub, Warner Music, Sony Music, TD Bank, and Nuit Blanche.
My career so far has been on the smaller side. I work a lot with artists and small start ups but I’m looking to move into doing larger documentary and commercial projects in the coming years.
What does an average day look like in your post-production working world?
My days are broken into three sections:
Early mornings are for the editing work that requires a clear head like refining cuts, doing graphic/animation work, and working on forming stories. This is usually 8am to 12pm. If I have a cut I can deliver I send it out and any update emails.
Mid-day from 12pm to 3pm I do any admin work, eat, and run errands. I try to get out of the house as much as possible during this time.
Afternoons from 3pm to 7pm I’m back at my station and back to editing. If revisions from the morning have come in and I’m on a tight deadline with that project I work on those. If none have come in I move on to another piece I’m working on. I also do a lot of multicam editing so the afternoons are great for synching those sequences to cut the next morning. If a client needs to talk over their projects this is also the time of day I take those meetings.
For new projects though, my day starts the night before where I set up my workflow/shared projects and get proxies going. It always takes longer than I expect so at least if I leave it overnight it’ll get done before I’m ready to start cutting. I’ve been doing a lot more cloud based collaboration projects recently so there’s been a learning curve there to make things smooth for the DOPS, online editors, and sound people also involved in the project, allowing for extra time to troubleshoot is now incorporated into my scheduling.
I also make sure each week to spend time working on grant writing and admin for personal projects I want to get in motion and to network to meet new potential collaborators and clients.
What has been your career highlight?
Last summer I directed and cut together a 26 part interview series about public art in Toronto that was linked to an interactive map for people to walk around the city and explore new neighbourhoods. The 6 months prior I had decided to take a sabbatical from work. To reset and re-calibrate and it was one of the first projects I took on when I came back from this long period of self-reflection and rest. I love talking to artists about their work and learning about what went into pieces I walk past every day. It wasn’t a large project but it felt really important to my career.
How did your career in post-production begin?
I cut my teeth in broadcasting directing and switching live events and working in the music industry on tight turn around deadlines (sometimes 24 hours post concert). It really pushed me to make editing decisions at the earliest part in production, and live in the moment when needed, and I really fell in love with crafting the narratives and how to make interesting decisions with only what you have access to at the moment. You can get burned out really quickly doing this full-time, which is what happened to me, so I took a step back and really considered what parts of production I was drawn to and how to incorporate those into my life in a healthier way. Editing was the answer to that. It’s both a team sport and individual which is a kind of work mode I really thrive in.
Tell us about a pivotal moment in your career;
I feel like I’m currently going through a pivotal moment in my career. I’m really passionate about democratising video production so I’m working on launching an online shop with lessons, production documentation, and helpful tips for anyone looking to learn how to shoot and edit their own videos. I’m hoping it’ll inspire people to start making things.
Women in post you admire?
I draw a lot of inspiration from Margaret Sixel, Jill Bilcock, and Chloé Zhao’s works.
What advice do you have for other women wanting to start a career in post?
Figure out what your ideal life looks like and explore what kind of work fits into that. Tunnel vision can be a tool but it can also be a hindrance that stops you from seeing you’re at your limit. Check in with yourself often to see if it changes.
And technically speaking in regards to editing - study conversations. Not just how they’re cut together in video but how people actually converse with each other in real life. It’ll help with how you craft dialogue.