Editfest NY with Postchat/Mewshop/ACE

Collection of photos  Please feel free to visit/share this album. I set up a little IMGUR gallery for those who missed some of the pics I already posted and included some others not posted to Twitter.

I will preface this by again thanking MEWShop & Postchat so very much for giving me this opportunity! Although my time @ Editfest in NY was cut short unexpectedly, I just wanted to say what a wonderful time there is to be had in NY, no matter how long or short you stay. I had quite a mind-blowing and fun experience in one helluva lightning speed record time. If you weren’t aware, I hadn’t gotten the opportunity to fly and/or generally travel in a long time. I missed getting to attend NAB and was looking towards attending at least one of the Editfest events (if not, both by some miracle) I was one of a few lucky winners of tickets for the NY event from the weekly #Postchat meetings. I had about a week to toss together flight, place to stay, etc. but I had promised myself saying if you win, you must find a way to go no matter what.

I got the opportunity to meet other editors from Postchat, including @Jack_McFly, @JamieCobbEditor, @theriotisover, @EditorLiam, @JoelyEaton, and hilariously I believe I had a small convo with @artoftheguillotine discussing where the restroom was hiding at in the hotel (ps: he indeed pointed me in the right direction!) so to him and @schnittman and @Dr0id plus others, I wish we’d gotten to talk and truly I hope to meet up with you again at an upcoming event. I forsee another trip sometime soon to see NY properly. Also, to see that awesome tiki bar, this gelato shop I passed by earlier, more of central park, and roam around the city, among other places.

The event is put together by MEWShop and ACE, along with PostChat bringing attention to it during one of their recent weekly discussions. There was a panel of editors on Friday  night moderated by Norman Hollyn/@schnittman (including Milton Ginsberg, Jeffrey Wolf, Alan Heim, Meg Reticker) that was held at the Director’s Guild of America. He started off moderating the discussion by telling us we weren’t talking codecs here, which instantly got a lot of laughs, what a great opener! He said, “Audiences react to change…inside, internally, they lean forward and pay more attention..”

It was more about discussing favorite editing sequences/scenes, along with really great conversations that followed. People were able to tweet in questions, which was a cool idea, and they held a little raffle giving away some seriously awesome loot. Two won from Postchat that I recall, @EditorLiam and @jamiecobbeditor – hooray & congrats!! It was really interesting to understand why the particular editing sequences were featured. This continues to highlight how important it is to think actively while watching other films to understand the editor’s choice of cuts made and why. We were reminded at one point to look to the actors or even set design for cues when to cut. No matter how good a scene is, it won’t necessarily make a good movie. These are some of the wise words said among so much more. I need to watch the films they selected from in entirety now. Later, I had a wonderful chat with one of the gals while gulping down insane amounts of water.

Some highlights include the mixer that followed at Le Parker Meridien Hotel a short walk from Director’s Guild was AHHHH-mazing. Walking in, I was especially amazed by the feel and scenic view inside the hotel. It immediately put me in an amazed stupor, what with the red candles and giant chandeliers, neat setup, vast size/the height, even the mini screen in the elevator playing Tom & Jerry cartoons!! The view from the roof-less and glass walled balcony on the top floor ripped open my mind and thrust me into a quiet awe. I was too scaredy cat to approach too close to the edge and look down, I think I left my ninja grappling hook for safety in my bag back at the place we were staying at… yes, that was it. hah. Also, they had a little photobooth set up to take filmstrip photos near the front, which we had a lot of fun using. I met several new people at one point while charging my phone over by an outlet, which I guarded like Smaug guards his precious treasure. LOL. (In fact, met one awesome editor named Wesley, who I introduced to Postchat) Even with battery turned down and most draining apps or things off/low, I still couldn’t seem to have enough juice to last through tweets, pics, and other things. I now fully understand how hard it is to tweet & update when you run low and need to navvie the area as well.

Meaghan (@theriotisover) showed Kylee & I around on a little tour at Sesame Street before Editfest event, which was absolutely cool and I’m not sure how much I can discuss here other than WOW, those Hogwart’s kind of paintings in the front were worth every bit of struggle and effort put into them. Note to self: must install similar paintings in my house one day (it’s fun to dream!) OH – and the walls had bright accents of colours and textures, and cute little chalk drawings that we totally had to stop & gaze upon. That was a surreal time there!

Subways were a whoooole new thing for me. Actually quite a few things this trip were new-ish for me. I could get used to the subways, I think. Flying is strange, but neat. I think most of all, it’s pretty awesome to walk out your door and find places to eat, things to do, and sights to see in walking distances. Backpacks are pretty useful for walking around I’d say. That is definitely cool.

Overall, I would highly recommend this event if you can attend in the future (or perhaps try Editfest LA out later in August?) I’m sure you will find many resourceful and useful posts detailing more of Saturday’s events as I had to leave 🙁 I am very grateful for my experiences. It was one of the happier memories for me, to be surrounded by editors in that sort of setting. I may have ran around hyper-speed all day, been dehydrated, and by midnight exhausted, but, I was happy… and being back, I feel the lull & tug of why I need to move to a more post-centric area to actively participate in more events with people like this in the field. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed my experiences. I’m sorry I couldn’t cover more.

PS… AN UPDATE:  Forecast looks very good for attending Editfest LA this August (also to make up for missing some of NY Editfest) – with having to disappear like a ninja in a fog due to an emergency. 🙁 Thankfully, things are going to be okay. I don’t regret that, but I did miss people & more speakers. So with every fiber of my being, I am looking forward to it. I hope to meet more people and reconnect with those I missed, if possible!!