Liz Adams - Editor
Job title - Editor
Experience - 10+ years
“I don’t think you ever really stop learning in this industry and having that mind set is key. A positive and engaged attitude will get you far!”
Describe your job role and the kinds of projects/clients you work with.
I am a freelance offline editor, working mostly in television with the BBC, ITV and Sky. I specialise in factual and entertainment projects, and particularly events programming. In the past few years I have made appeal films for Comic Relief and Soccer Aid / Unicef, winners films for The EarthShot Prize, VTs for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II and I cut The King’s 2022 Christmas Broadcast. Something I particularly enjoy about freelancing is being able to vary the projects I work on, so I also cut music videos and commercial content for clients such as Under Armour, Glenmorangie, Sigma and The Vamps.
What does an average day look like in your post production working world?
An average day for me… it depends where I am in the job - at the start it’s all about organisation. Organising your project comprehensively is the foundation of a successful edit, in my opinion - I’m a big fan of colour coding! Getting to know the content you are working with is so important. If I have time I like to watch everything through, making notes or categorising as I go. A lot of the work I do is short form but this does not mean it comes with a small amount of footage! Charity films for example are often shot similarly to longer form docs and take a lot of crafting to get right. As the editor, I need to know the footage better than anyone else so that I can find things quickly, know what is and is not possible and flag up any gaps or issues. The crafting process is extremely collaborative - most of my days feel like trying to solve a puzzle and I love working closely with my producers and directors to do it. There’s a lot of trial and error, trying out an idea and maybe it doesn’t quite work so you try it a bit differently - when everything slots into place it’s a great feeling.
How did your career in post production begin?
I studied Film at university and when I tried out editing it just made sense to me and I knew it was what I wanted to do. After uni I did some work with a grass roots documentary production company, then moved on to making promos for music tv channels - both fantastic learning environments. I began directing music videos with my incredibly talented and wonderful friend Debbie (@wolfscanlan) which was such a fantastic experience and gave me an invaluable perspective that helped inform my editing work.
What has been your career highlight?
A career highlight for me would probably be getting to cut the Queen’s Coronavirus speech in 2020… which might seem strange as of course it was a difficult time, but to be involved with such a historic broadcast was a real honour. I think we had only been in lockdown for a couple of weeks and everything at the time was so surreal and unknown that it felt like an important moment for the country.
Who are your role models in post?
As a freelancer I work with so many different amazing people who are inspiring in their own ways. I really admire people who carve out their own space - in post and life! From Debbie (@wolfscanlan) and her phenomenal creativity, Katy Raffin who has built Telling Tales Productions with a fantastic team and a unique warmth, to the super humans at BBC Studios who put on incredible events productions on the world stage. And lastly, my husband Chris who is a colourist. His talent, work ethic and attention to detail are constantly inspiring.
What advice do you have for others wanting to start a career in post?
My advice is to take on as many different jobs as you can to get a broad experience and learn from them all. I don’t think you ever really stop learning in this industry and having that mind set is key. A positive and engaged attitude will get you far!
This music video for the Vamps which I edited and co-directed, was so much fun from start to finish. We had a full on set-build to create (and then destroy) the four different party zones and cutting it all together was such a great experience.