Natalya Holley - Editor
Job title - Editor
Experience - 7+ years
“I think my direction towards editing probably stemmed from a love of music from a young age, and watching countless music videos on Kerrang and Scuzz when that was still a thing. ”
Describe your job role and the kinds of projects/clients you work with.
I’m a senior editor at Agile Films. Day to day I’ll work across offline and online projects, with directors, agencies and independently on a range of jobs such as TVC’s, branded content and music videos.
What does an average day look like in your post production working world?
An average day in the office can vary depending on what I’ve been booked on. I predominantly work on offline edits but I’ll also have conforms and online edits either for my own jobs or for others that have come in. Because a lot of our jobs include VFX I’ll sometimes have to conform and prep my edit for the VFX team. This workflow begins in Premiere, is taken through to Davinci, back to Premiere and ends in After Effects so that the conformed rushes are set up and ready for the next step of post-production. Once VFX and grade has been signed off I’ll online the project back in Premiere.
If I’ve been scheduled to start a new offline edit I’ll typically begin by reaching out to the producer and making sure I have as much information as possible both from them and any notes from the director before starting so I clearly understand the purpose and direction of what I’m about to edit. I’ll make sure to go through the treatment and watch through all visual and audio references that the director has included so that I can get a clear idea for what world they’re trying to create. From there I’ll set up my project and begin by watching through all the rushes so I get a feel of the footage before I start making my selects. With editing I find I can lock myself in a suite for a probably unhealthy amount of hours and get completely lost in a project - especially music videos. I also find that the emotion and style of editing that comes with the director’s references inspires me before I start working. It presents a new challenge to develop my work with each project I take on.
How did your career in post production begin?
I think my direction towards editing probably stemmed from a love of music from a young age, and watching countless music videos on Kerrang and Scuzz when that was still a thing. I signed on to do a BA at Ravensbourne in Digital Film Production with an initial goal of being a director, however making films over three years naturally exposed me to editing which I found to be less like work and more of a hobby that I enjoyed. When I finished my degree I cold e-mailed as many companies as I could find that made music videos until I got lucky with timing and a position became available at Creep Post as a Junior Editor. After two years working there I decided to go freelance for another couple of years which luckily coincided with a pandemic…which is when I made the move to Agile Films.
What has been your career highlight?
My career highlight was definitely having the opportunity to not only edit my favourite band’s music video, Enter Shikari ‘The Sights’, but to also attend the shoot and fan girl from the DIT table when I was a Junior Editor.
Who are your role models in post?
For me, the role models I have in post are the people who I’ve been fortunate enough to have met, worked with or witnessed their work ethic who have all been so talented, hard working and generally lovely people who would offer to help whenever needed. Faith Millin, Chris Bell, Liz Adams, Laurence Halstead, James Bradley and not forgetting Martin Flicking who’s technical knowledge knows no bounds.
What advice do you have for others wanting to start a career in post?
I found it really useful starting off in-house at a smaller company. I’m generally a bit introverted so I think I might of struggled starting off as a freelancer out of university with not many connections. Being in-house allowed me to grow as an editor in a small family style environment where I had a lot of opportunities to work on great jobs, meet new people and develop my knowledge. I found that having that initial experience in the industry as my foundation had a huge part to play in me being able to move forward as a freelancer with a strong reel of work which has now lead me to my current role. I’d also say as my final words to just work hard, be yourself and put yourself out there even if it scares you. Everyone’s journey is different and if you take a risk you don’t know where it may lead you.