This co-taught online 2.5 hour seminar will be an intensive deep-dive into the process of editing and collaboration. This course will help directors of both independent short and feature projects as well as episodic television directors understand the craft of editing before a project is shot. The aim of this course is to help directors who prepare blocking and shot lists to save valuable time on the set. This session will aid directors in communication with the editor and will give specific language to communicate with your editor, an invaluable tool when crafting beats, transitions, and your story as a whole.

 

Length: 2.5  hours

Format: Zoom Meeting

Cost: $200

This course is for all levels of directors from student to working director in the indie and television worlds.

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In this session, participants will learn:

• The role of the editor in crafting the story.

• What to look for when hiring an editor. (Hint: it changes based on your particular needs.)

• Pros and cons of editing and directing your own project.

• How to plan shots and coverage for maximum flexibility and success in the editing room.

• To bring the editor in on prep to help visualize and actualize stunts, visual effects, and montages.

• Pitfalls to avoid on set with actors, background, and crew.

• Shooting and recording so your picture and audio is optimal.

• Tips and tricks to cover for low budgets, fast schedules, and less than optimal shooting environments.

• Tips for successful communication and collaboration with your editor, including notes etiquette.

• Finding/Revising/Rewriting story, tone, rhythm, and structure in the edit.

• For television directors: the particular requirements of working in television.

• For television directors: the inside scoop on what editors hear in the room from producers about directors—what they love, what makes them crazy, what’s going to get you hired back.

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This course is NOT a session on how to edit or a software tutorial.

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ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR: JILL D'AGNENICA

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Jill D’Agnenica is a filmmaker and visual artist, working as an editor and director in multiple genres and formats. As an editor, Jill has crafted over 80 hours of prime-time television as well as several independent features, music videos, and shorts. Her television credits include Big Sky (ABC), Ordinary Joe (NBC), Creepshow (Shudder), Party of Five (Freeform), How to Get Away with Murder (ABC), Lucifer (FOX), Pretty Little Liars (Freeform), Switched at Birth (Freeform), Undercovers (NBC), Hollywood Heights (Nickelodeon), and The Division (Lifetime).

The Los Angeles Times called Jill’s award-winning directorial debut Life Inside Out (starring Maggie Baird and Finneas O’Connell) “a gentle, poignant drama whose heart and head are squarely in the right place.” Jill’s subsequent directorial work includes the tragi-comic absurdist short A Dog’s Story, and her first episode of television on Freeform’s Switched at Birth, as well as a series of humorous PSAs for the LA Regional Food Bank, and art and music videos.

Early in the Covid-19 stay-at-home orders, Jill remotely directed and edited the 130 members of Angel City Chorale for the music video Sogni di Volare and then went on to direct their full length Holiday and Summer Virtual Concerts with similar tools and exponential complexity, while filming both in-person and remotely. Last season, Angel City Chorale was back on stage and she created the video art that was projected behind the choir throughout their concerts.

Jill holds a BA in History from UCLA and an MFA in Visual Art from Claremont Graduate University. She was a director in the Disney | ABC Directing Program 2016-2018 and the CBS Directors Initiative 2019-2021. She is an active member of Film Independent, Film Fatales, The Alliance of Women Directors, American Cinema Editors (ACE), and the Directors Guild of America.

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jillmakesfilms.com

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ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR: DR. RACHEL RAIMIST

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Dr. Rachel Raimist is a formerly tenured college professor turned television director works across genres with credits in action, drama, comedy, family, musicals and more. She recently directed episodes of the family fantasy THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES (Disney+) and the musical UP HERE (Hulu) and has directed beloved episodes of THE SEX LIVES OF COLLEGE GIRLS (HBO Max), WU-TANG: AN AMERICAN SAGA (Hulu), FANTASY ISLAND (Fox) and DIARY OF A FUTURE PRESIDENT (Disney+).  Raimist holds a B.A. and a M.F.A. in Directing from the UCLA School of Film and Television and a M.A. in Women’s Studies and a Ph.D. in Feminist Studies from the University of Minnesota where The Rachel Raimist Feminist Media Center was named in her honor. She currently serves as the Alternate Co-Chair of the Latino Committee at the Directors Guild of America (DGA).

For more information, please email thepeoplesfilmschool@gmail.com