Glen Montgomery the Third
Archive for May, 2011
The Human in the Machine Interview #2: Editor Agustin Rexach
May 24th
The Human in the Machine is a continuing series of interviews with industry professionals focused on the relational aspects of the editorial process. Blog pages and bookshelves everywhere are flooded with technical information on the craft of editing, but there seems to be little out there on the human side of it all. Even though much of our work is technical based, what is at the heart of it all is spending 10-15 hours a day locked in a room, usually with other people, creating stuff. What makes those other people come back to your edit suite instead of walking down the hall to the next one? What keeps those other people from killing you, or what keeps you from killing them? Why do so many editors and directors reference a “psychic relationship” where they instinctively know how the other would proceed with an edit? Some of my questions don’t even pertain to editing alone, but all work that involves relationships and collaboration. I think, especially in school, so much of the curriculum is geared toward the tech side instead of the human side. Unfortunately, I know too many great guys who are wicked machine operators but fall short in the More >
Waiting and Preparation for the Producer and beyond
May 10th
Last week my boss and Director of Integrated Production here at Crispin Porter + Bogusky, David Rolfe, shared a reflection with our team that was too good not to share. It deals with preparedness in producing, but has such cross-over goodness for editors as well. Usually the producer is our closest companion and strongest champion in the work we do, and I know that my projects would never have reached the point they do without the diligence and support of Gina Vorman, who I have to give a shout out to as we have collaborated on 8 projects here together. We share in the same periods of waiting that the producers do and we can be just as involved in the acts of preparation. As in chess, we should be looking 6 moves ahead and solving problems before they ever occur. Here is what Dave shared with us.
I’m not sure waiting should exist, in producing. There is no real room for it. We don’t have time to wait and producers are not waiters. If a situation is coming forth that smells of waiting, then counter it by planning. Why do we wait? We wait for feedback. We wait for “approval process.” More >