Rob Field
Amelia Allwarden’s journey into film editing began with a childhood fascination with storytelling.
“I’ve loved movies and books since I was a kid,” she said. This passion intensified when she stumbled across the bonus features on the Harry Potter DVDs, where she discovered a section called “The Magic of Editing.” This feature allowed her to re-edit scenes and witness the profound impact of editing choices. From that moment on, Amelia was hooked.
She didn’t get into the film school she applied to, but she was undeterred. She created her own major in college, combining visual arts, film theory and practical experience. This self-driven approach gave her a solid foundation for her career, which ultimately led to her choosing the ACE internship program. This opportunity opens doors, provides mentorship and valuable on-the-job learning.
Allwarden recently completed production on Katie Robbins’ series Sunny, editing episodes 2, 4 and 8. The story of Suzy Sakamoto (Rashida Jones), who lives in a near-future Japan after her husband Masa (Hidetoshi Nishijima) and son Zen (Fares Belhair) disappear in a plane crash. , Suzy receives a robot named Sonny (voiced by Joanna Tomura) programmed by Martha as a consolation gift.
Suzy initially resists due to her fear of technology, but gradually works with Sonny to uncover the truth behind her family’s disappearance. The show blends elements of science fiction, comedy and thriller as Susie discovers unexpected aspects of her husband’s life, encounters a conspiracy involving Martha Technologies, and explores the dangerous world of robot hackers and the underworld.
Alworden’s cross-genre background proved crucial in her work on It’s Always Sunny , a show that blended a variety of tones and genres and required a nuanced and visceral touch.
CineMontage: Tell me what your ACE internship has done for you.
Amelia Alworden: Oh, it gave me everything. My whole career really started in Los Angeles when I was in that internship program. The biggest thing it gave me was the open door to having coffee with people and having people’s email addresses and having people allow me to ask them questions. Also shadowing in the editing room, learning how to be an assistant editor, and more. I had no idea how to become an assistant editor. I didn’t know what a dailies was because I didn’t go to film school. Fortunately, within a year of my internship, I became an assistant editor on Doc Crotzer’s pilot project, and he became my first mentor. He taught me a new way of looking at editing.
CineMontage: What is that?
All guards: Because I was such a novice, I thought that either you have editing or you don’t. I learned from him that you can learn a lot in every job when you are willing to learn. For example, he had two versions of a scene, and he would kindly invite me into his office and say, “I’m going to play you two versions of that scene. Which one do you like better and why? This is not a test.” ; but a test. He sincerely wanted my opinion and someone to work with who would know if I didn’t provide an explanation that he felt was true. Editor. Before that, I was looking at it more from a technical perspective, so he was still my first mentor. He was my assistant editor. A great reason to be promoted to editor.
CineMontage: Tell me about the workflow on Sunny.
All guards: “Sunny” is a very interesting show because it mixes a lot of different tones, and that’s what really attracted me to it. My editing background spans a variety of genres, which I enjoy because I get to work on projects that blend them. This was very important to showrunner Katie Robbins and EP director Lucy Cherniak. We worked closely on iterating on tone. Japanese editing was also a challenge, especially episode 4, which is mostly in Japanese. We worked with assistant editor Charlize Toratani, who is fluent in Japanese, to translate the script and sync it so we could focus on the performance. Each sequence is always tonally balanced according to its specific needs. For example, at the beginning of Episode 2, there is a sequence showing what is called Radio Taiso, an exercise in the Japanese corporate world. This scene could have been edited in many ways – purely comedic, more tense, or somewhere in between. We made multiple versions of the sequence to make sure we were on the right track. “Sunny” can be edited in many different ways and can be adjusted to the desired state at any time.
CineMontage: You can’t set the rules for a show; you have to be completely alert and use all your instincts.
All guards: really. This is done on a scene-by-scene basis, as the tones may change within the same scene. This was more instinctive than setting the tone for the show as a whole.
CineMontage: Is this show any different than what you were told when you first took the job? Is anyone surprised?
All guards: When I took the job, it was very much about comedy because the script was hilarious but also engaging. I want to figure out what happens next. It’s important to balance humor with elements of thriller and mystery to create a unique tone. I know this and I want to be a little quirky or adventurous. For example, I might have something linger longer in a wide shot in a comedy, or switch between a single in a drama. Our intention is to figure this out as we go along.
CineMontage: What kind of footage or coverage do you receive to collaborate with? Are the storyboards carefully designed? Especially with robot/puppet choreography, how does that tie your hands?
All guards: It depends on the scenario. Some scenes, like the bathhouse scene in episode four, were heavily storyboarded. Lucy shared these with me early on so we could iterate before shooting. But she also had plenty of options that day to strike a balance between intentional direction and free rein. Reporting allowed us to be intentional with the lenses we used, especially Susie, who is a closed character. We wanted to use close-ups to peek into her emotional headspace and make those moments feel intentional.
CineMontage: How do you choose to perform in this context? With robots, do you manipulate performance in post-production to meet the tone you determine during production?
All guards: We had Weta Workshop create the Sunny puppet and have a roboticist on site filming her operating her, with Joanna Sotomura playing Sunny. Rashida Jones can hear Joanna’s voice through the speakers in the puppet. Sonny’s facial expressions are captured on camera and transformed into the robot through Joanna’s performance. We could manipulate these in post if needed, such as ADRing Sunny’s face or changing expressions, but that wasn’t the majority of what we did. If we need more humor or sadness, we have the option to repurpose the show globally. Joanna’s audio can be taken from any shot and matched to the face, giving us endless opportunities to manipulate the performance.
CineMontage: Talk to me about tracking a narrative arc, especially with a character who has a closed mind. How do you get us involved?
All guards: This is one of the more interesting challenges. We intentionally chose moments to connect with Suzy in more depth. As we unravel throughout the series, some of these moments are scripted and we get more into her emotional space. When we realized we wanted to be more internal, we had to craft and publish some of those moments. We took a global look at the show to see where we needed to know more about her inner life. Tyler Cook and Taichi Erskine, who edited episodes one and three, and I watched the first three episodes and discussed Susie’s emotional headspace. , reshaping the scene through score, sound, and camera choices.
CineMontage: What did you take away from this series?
All guards: The theme of loneliness resonates with me. It became a matter of adjusting to the way Sonny began to imitate Suzy, or understanding how she wanted to interact with her so that she could be emotionally accessible to her and help her open up. It was a stepping stone to talking to real people again after this tragic event. One of the goals of the series is to create conversations about artificial intelligence and technology and how they exist in this fictional world. So when we were making this almost futuristic, yet retro, familiar-feeling Japan, we worked a lot on the sound design of the world to make it feel very analog. The sound design eschews traditional sci-fi beeps and roars in favor of soft, analog, organic sounds. Familiar yet new and old. All of these things come together when we work on post.
