NORTH STAR INTERVIEW: Aimee Jennings (Editor, Storyteller, Problem Solver)
A woman on a mission, who's getting new people asking her questions...
This is Aimee.
She’s edited award-winning documentaries, hit TV shows, music videos, and branded films. She’s cut for Hulu, CBS, ABC, VICE, and as I found out in a conversation recently, increasingly for brands and agencies smart enough to want a Hollywood-level editor on their side. In the age of AI, that’s interesting signal to me so I asked for more information. Aimee’s also been featured at Tribeca Film Festival, and is Co-Chair of the Motion Picture Editors Guild Women’s Steering Committee, she’s a leader at the heart of an industry being rapidly reshaped.
I caught up with her to talk about how great editing really works, why brands are suddenly knocking, and what’s next for storytelling in an AI-infused world. She didn’t hold back…
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THE INTERVIEW
You’ve cut everything from vérité documentaries to scripted TV to brand films. What’s the through line in your work? What’s the thing you’re always solving for?
I’m not sure if I have a through line as an editor but I will say that editors are always solving for “intent”. Meaning, what the production wants the audience to get from the visual that is presented to them is not always direct. Sometimes you really have to work hard to get the point across as directly as possible. Also, sometimes a director thinks the cameras have gotten something on set that they didn’t. You have to work around those misses with what you actual have.
How has your job as an editor changed in the last five years?
The essential structure of our job has changed over the last five years. We are now increasingly removed from in person collaboration with directors and producers. In TV that is not necessarily a bad thing. In many ways it is more efficient, to address notes that are written out for you but that can also lead to misinterpretations if the note giver can’t describe or know what they truly want. In the past, you would all be in the room together and work through a note, giving the editor more of a chance to respectfully defend their choices. Of course with remote tools like Evercast and Louper, the in-person collaborative element is now virtual. It’s a little slower but still effective.
AI editing tools are everywhere right now. Helpful? Overhyped? Dangerous?
AI tools are helpful for the artists that use them. They are not overhyped about their creative abilities. They are dangerous to many artists future careers because the industry employment paths are limited and still gate kept. Companies only exist to make money while spending as little money as possible. Humans cost money
How might AI expand an editor’s creative toolkit rather than replace it?
AI can assist an editor and assistant editors complete mundane daily takes faster. It can be used more by assistant editors to relieve them of time consuming tasks like syncing the footage to a script, we call that script syncing. It takes so much time, especially if actors go off script. That new dialogue must be added to the script in the post process by hand but the assistant editor. This takes the assistants time away from creative work like adding sound and music and working with the editor. I’ve seen new advances in that area really benefit the assistant editors thus inevitably helping the editor. However, I personally haven’t worked with an AI tool that expanded my creative toolkit as an editor.
What will AI never be able to do in the edit room?
AI, as an editor, will never be able to understand the emotional scope of tragic human moment. Think of an emotional scene that truly crushes you. I don’t think AI can duplicate that. Also, AI will never be able to understand a vague producer note. “I think this scene should be funnier” is not the kind of note AI will ever be able to take. That note could be addressed in various ways that I truly think only a human can do.
What do people still misunderstand about what a great editor actually does?
I think people don’t realize the editors job is to be invisible. Great editors work should feel so organic and smooth that you are not supposed to realize that it has happened. The audience should not feel thrown around a dinner table scene or a court room scene. In those scenes, a great editor puts the audience exactly where they already think they should be. If the audience is supposed to be on the defendants side, then the editor edits the scene from that characters (thus the audiences) point of view. We follow what that character is seeing and feeling throughout the scene. Even in productions like Everything Everywhere All At Once, the editing was surprisingly seamless. You were aways where you instinctually wanted to be on screen. It’s actually fine that people don’t understand what editors do. You aren’t supposed to.
What’s the thing you’re most obsessive about in an edit that clients or directors barely notice, but should?
Continuity!!!! Nobody cares and it drives me crazy. When heads are turned the wrong way or an object is not in the same place in every take, trust me an editor notices. Sometime we try to hide that stuff but mostly producers don’t care, especially in comedy. It’s the most surprising when diligent directors like Christopher Nolan ignore continuity. Take a closer look at the restaurant scene in Tenet. It made my head explode.
What’s a creative breakthrough you’ve had recently — big or small?
My last editing job was a “re-cut” job. That means another editor originally cut the show and for whatever reason the network did to like the finished product and a new editor is brought on to “fix it”. This was the first time I did one of those jobs and it was interesting. I got to flex a lot of creative muscles that you don’t get to use a lot in scripted TV. This is where the “intent” and the footage didn’t match and an editor has to do the hard work of getting the intent to the audience. And damn it I did it!
What’s harder to cut: a vérité documentary or a commercial pretending to be one?
The Vérité style of documentary is harder to cut than a commercial pretending to be one because the commercial is shot specifically to copy the authentic moments vérité editors create from hours of footage. It’s easier to copy than to create originality.
What’s the worst trend in editing right now?
The “oner” (a long take or continuous shot) is a bad trend I think in edits right now. Although, it is a great example of invisible editing. I hate to break it to you but their are no unedited oners. The cuts are hidden but they are there. The only reason I don’t like them is that it takes away the editors accomplishment and all the glory goes to the director or cinematographer. We all made it work.
What’s the best thing happening in editing right now?
I think editors are given more respect these days. They are given more creative power and are becoming part of the production team more and more. I’m seeing many editors that are working on shows for multiple season becoming associated producers and directors, which means they have more power on the production.
You’ve been working with brands and agencies more directly, why do you think they’re coming to you now?
A couple of things. More brands are working with a different caliber of editor now because more of us are available due to the lasting effects of the 2023 WGA and SAG strikes. Streamers and networks are scaling back production but brands are constantly advertising. I have an agent and they are instructed to go find the work. The other, I think, is my ability to make content that connects with the audience. Brands are starting to understand that they really need to rethink content because of short form platforms, but also to make their dedicated fans even more obsessive.
How does your documentary instinct shape the way you approach branded content differently?
The heart of editing is building. You are building a story from the footage pieces. My documentary background helps me think outside the box which is what brands want. They want you to come in with ideas to complete their vision. That’s my job.
What’s the biggest thing brands could learn from how Hollywood tells stories?
I think brands could learn the art of a through line from Hollywood storytelling. If you think of the brand as a character it could open up a lot more creative avenues in marketing. There’s lots more brands can be doing to help themselves that they’re leaving on the table I am exploring with some right now.
What’s a piece of advice you give young editors that they almost never take?
Close your eyes and press play. After you edit a scene take a moment and just listen to it. If a scene sounds good rhythmically to your ears then its a good scene. If a long pause or too fast dialogue bumps you then you know you have some more work to do on the scene. I know it’s hard to do because our work is inherently visual. But it’s worth it, in my opinion.
You’re Co-Chair of the MPEG Women’s Steering Committee. What’s shifting in your world for women, and what’s still stuck?
More women are getting the chance to edit major, high profile projects but that’s not really new. The industry was started by women. Editing in particular was considered secretarial and all the first editors were women. We were pushed out when film became a more respected form or work for men and we have been fighting to get back in the editing chair ever since.
What’s a project or format you haven’t tackled yet, but want to?
I have not edited a feature length film yet but that’s on the list and I am in discussions to do this. I welcome all genres, although independent films are my favorite.
Contact Aimee on LinkedIn and find out more here.
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