Q: Where are you currently working?
I’m busy dating.
Ask about current projects?
Since the strike slowed things down, I’ve been serving as co-host/editor of the weekly wrestling video podcast Family Wrestling Alliance. I’ve been a wrestling fan since I was five years old, and a friend and I decided to create a video pro wrestling podcast from a black perspective because there were no black-centric wrestling podcasts.
Q: Describe your job.
My job is to help editors lighten their day, so I assist them with graphics, sound work, and most technical issues that affect them. Sometimes the assistant editor gets a chance to edit a scene or two, but everything we do is to help the editor.
Q: How did you first become interested in this industry?
When I came back to Las Vegas at 16, I wanted to be an editor. When I was in high school, I needed an editor for my broadcasting class, so I did that. It wasn’t until I attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and talked with one of my best friends, Jason Edmiston, that I decided to make editing the focus of my career. Jason, a professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, gave me the confidence to pursue this goal aggressively. He gave me notes and we talked about the movie for hours on end.
Q Who gave you your first breakthrough?
Tom Hietter is a story producer for unscripted (reality) television. Story producers watch hours of footage and create a story from it. Tom gave me my first job out of grad school, as a story assistant for one season on an unscripted television show called “Kendra on Top.” (Kendra Wilkinson is a former Playboy Playmate who is married to retired NFL player Hank Bassett.) My job is Watching hours of footage, finding certain phrases, and then marking them as I tried to come up with a functional story for the show.
Q: What was your first union job?
In 2016, Shiran Amir, ACE, a board member of the Society of Editors, said she needed an assistant on a movie her boyfriend (now husband) Cody Miller was making in Boston Editor. She told me on Thursday while I was watching a Chelsea FC football match with my friend Franzis Muller (who is also an editor). She told me to take the job. On Friday, I said yes. On Saturday, I quit the job I was working on. On Sunday, I was working in Boston.
Q: What credit or course are you most proud of?
Before the pandemic, I made a lot of movies that no one had seen. (I was interviewed by a friend who actually said this to my face.) I accepted a commercial for the third season of the Netflix psychological thriller You. I assisted Rita K. Sanders, who allowed me to study with her what people actually see. Thanks to Rita, one of the best and most generous editors in the business, for giving me so much experience. I would die for her.
Q: What is your biggest challenge at work (or on a specific project)?
Sometimes, dealing with stress. As an assistant, your job is more technical and detailed. As a result, you may forget little things and feel tremendous stress. But you have to persevere and take the time to do the many things required to complete the task.
Q What is the happiest thing about your job?
When I was working on Wu-Tang: An American Legend, which is streaming on Hulu, part of my job was to find where the musical cues were coming from. I chose a song that had a deep personal connection to me; my uncle often played it when I was with him. Method Man and Raekwon’s work is called “Meth vs Chef”. It’s about the two of them competing over freestyle rhymes. I chose it and the show was able to use it in the final cut of an episode.
Q Jobwise, what do you hope to be doing in five years?
June 10, 2022 was a big day for me, not only because Stephen Curry scored 43 points in the NBA Finals in Boston, but because someone said something to me that I didn’t like. I’m not going to reveal the details, but from that point on, my goal was to be an editor within 20 years, and I worked hard every day to achieve that goal.
Q: What are your outdoor activities, hobbies and passions?
I collect sneakers, trading cards, and chat with friends through Twitter Spaces.
Favorite movie? Why?
Singin’ in the Rain is my favorite movie – at least in part because it’s a movie about trying to save a movie, which editors often do. Other favorites include The Warriors, for its authentic look at gang life in the 1970s, and Deadly Gorgeous, for its hilarious mockumentary about the madness of beauty pageants.
Q Favorite TV show? Why?
My favorite TV series is Happy Endings, which aired for three seasons in the mid-2010s. Sadly, this is one of the more underrated shows. This is one of the best-written comedy shows ever written, but not many people know about it. The conversation is lively. It’s very funny and very well edited. So I’m one of its main flag-bearers. I watch Rick and Morty, Law & Order: SVU, and The Simpsons (seasons 1 to 12 because the writing gets weaker after that).
Q Do you have any industry mentors?
Cody Miller was the first person I assisted with editing on the Guild show. Rita Sanders gave me the opportunity to work on a hit show. Jim Carretta is one of the few people I know who actually loves movies, and we would have long conversations about movies that we really liked. Dominique Ulloa is essentially the reason I’m still here; she often goes out of her way to help me. Q: What advice would you give to someone interested in doing your job?
When I was guest speaking at my alma mater, UNLV, I realized that everyone was much younger than me, but they had grown up watching this movie: I told them, Finding Nemo is important for any career you pursue. Here’s the most important advice: “Keep swimming.”
Q: Have you ever been in a situation where you needed to rely on your guild for help or assistance?
When I took the job in Boston, I went without a paycheck for nearly four weeks. The unions must step in and address this issue. Also, now: I haven’t had a full-time job in a year, and without the union I would be in a lot worse shape than I am now. I have health care until September, so I’m hoping to have some kind of job by then.
Q Is there anything you would like to say to the guild members, words of encouragement?
Like I said before, you just keep swimming and you’ll find your way. Additionally, Blake Griffin once said, “You have to fall in love with the process of becoming great to become great,” and I have followed that ideal for most of my career. If you fall in love with it, then you accept everything that comes with it.
Compiled by David Bruskin.
