Lydia Bowden - Video Editor & Post-Production Coordinator at British Vogue
Job title - Editor
Experience - 5+ years
“Without a doubt my career highlight is getting the British Vogue job. I’d been eyeing up the role for a couple of years and was a huge fan of the work the team were putting out - but I knew I wasn’t skilled enough for it yet. But as soon as I saw the job opening last year, I was in there like a vulture to a carcass.”
Describe your job role and the kinds of projects/clients you work with.
I'm a full-time Video Editor at British Vogue. I edit long and short form video and plan and coordinate all post-production work. All of our videos are talent-based and the current franchises I work on are Life in Looks, In the Bag, Never Have I Ever, Behind the Curtain and Into the Instagram Archive.
What does an average day look like in your post production working world?
Every morning I join a daily meeting with the British Vogue video team and we go over the post schedule for all videos in the pipeline. I'm currently working on offline edits for 6 videos, all at different stages.
When our video projects arrive at post production, I receive the rushes and audio files. For example, with our Life in Looks franchise, there's usually around 1.5 hours of footage that needs cutting down to 15 mins or less. I start by exporting a transcript for the Director of Programming and Development, who will work with me to create a paper edit. Then I start editing. First, I'll make selects based off the paper edit. Once I'm happy with those, I'll begin cutting and putting the video together. I always start with picking a track that compliments the talent and that sets the mood for the rest of the edit. I work with the team to research footage/images/clips and any other b roll required. Once I have a version 1, I send it to post supervisors and my team for feedback. Then the feedback cycle begins! Alongside editing offline, I'll also be liaising with VFX artists, animators, colourists and sound mixers and prepping relevant files for them to work with.
I also edit the occasional Tik Tok video, a creative arena where my meme passion can truly flourish.
How did your career in post production begin?
First of all, I've never trained or studied as an editor. I taught myself the whole lot. I first started working for various creative agencies: moving through client services, project management and social teams. It was only when I was asked to film and edit a short talking head video for a client's social channel that something clicked: this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my career. I started making short films in my spare time to practise all forms of filmmaking. With this work under my belt, I was eventually appointed Video Producer at Hearst Magazines. This involved filming and editing food videos for Asda at the in-house agency and then a couple of years later, I moved into the central video team, editing videos for ELLE, Harper's Bazaar etc. At that time, I really didn't know a lot about editing... I trained myself via YouTube videos and various online materials. What I found really difficult was that I knew nobody in post - and I had nobody to go to for help when I got stuck (which happened very often!). Working at Hearst helped me improve my skills and confidence and most importantly helped me find my editing style - that's when British Vogue came along. Since I've joined, I've finally connected with loads of other people in post (and filmmaking overall) and now have some great mentors who help me to be/become a much better editor.
What has been your career highlight?
Without a doubt my career highlight is getting the British Vogue job. I'd been eyeing up the role for a couple of years and was a huge fan of the work the team were putting out - but I knew I wasn't skilled enough for it yet. But as soon as I saw the job opening last year, I was in there like a vulture to a carcass. When I got the job I remember my friend saying 'who knew voguing in the kitchen together would lead to this'. Who knew indeed. I will say, I had huge shoes to fill. Other career highlights include getting to meet Robbie Williams on set tbh.
Who are your role models in post?
Having not met anyone in the post world for so long, finding Edit Girls has made me feel very proud of what I do and gave me access to people working in this area. I'd say every single person on here for sure. Recent work I've seen and been inspired by is Izabella Curry's work for Blue Jean - absolutely in awe. Also every editor, VFX artist, sound mixer and colourist we work with at British Vogue who have helped me learn from them so much.
What advice do you have for others wanting to start a career in post?
I was speaking to someone recently who wanted to get into post production. They said "I'm worried I'm too late to change career". They're 22. In my mind I'm only just getting started and I'm nearly 31. My advice for anyone wanting to do this - it's never too late. Start by editing one thing, then go from there.
Follow Lydia on Instagram