Cutting SyFy: Editor Shiran Amir on Rejecting Rejection

Cutting SyFy: Editor Shiran Amir on Rejecting Rejection

Hillary Lewis January 30, 2024

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When talking about her career path, you get the immediate sense that rejection isn't a no for Shiran. There's never been an obstacle that's kept her from living her dream. Shattering ceiling after glass ceiling, she makes her rise up through the ranks look like a piece of cake. However, her story is equal parts strategy and risk - and none of it was easy.

After taking countless chances in her career, of which some aspiring editors don't see the other side, she has continually pushed herself to move onward and upward. She's been an assistant editor on Fear of the Walking Dead, The OA, and Outcast to name a few, and is now a full fledged editor of Z Nation's fifth season, editing the 4th and 9th episodes of the zombie apocalypse show. She's currently on the Editors Guild Board of Directors and is involved in the post-production community in Los Angeles.

And she's only 30 years old.

Born and raised in New York until she was eight years old, her Israeli parents decided Shiran should grow up around her grandparents and family back in Israel. She was educated in a small suburb of Israel and studied theatre and media studies in high school. Using Adobe Premiere on the old computers in the school's lab, she slowly fell in love with the art of editing.

I realized when I was 16 that I wanted to be an editor, and I was fortunate to figure that out pretty early on.

Shiran Amir behind the camera during her time in the Israeli army, but spent most of her time in front of a computer editing

After graduating from high school, Shiran, like all Israeli women, was required to serve in the Israeli army for two years.

Knowing there were several filming units in certain divisions of the Israeli army, she went to her teacher for advice. He told her there's no way she'd get in, and that her competition would be too tough. That kids coming from a school more devoted to the arts were more likely than her to get accepted. That she would need connections she didn't have.

It fueled me to prove him wrong. I believed that if I'm good enough and motivated enough then there will be a spot for me, and sure enough, that's what happened. They saw potential in me and I became an Avid editor for the Air Force Filming Unit. I was lucky to have a lot of hands-on training with Avid there. It was like my own version of film school except we were making real products for real clients.

I ended up saving that teacher's number. Sounds like a petty thing to do but I was so dedicated to proving him wrong because there's nothing worse than someone you really appreciate saying you can't do this. Later on in my career, I called him to say that I had served in the filming unit and it led to me moving out to LA for editing, and he was actually really happy for me. Early on, it provided me with motivation in my career to give it my all and see what happens.

Shiran in full uniform for the Israeli army

Editing on Avid for the Israeli Air Force Filming Unit

Shiran served her two full years and when she was needed further, was enlisted briefly for reserve force, where she met a connection that got her next job editing local celebrity news bulletins at E! News. She spent six months there while using her studies stipend money from the army to take an evening After Effects course.

Using forums, training videos, and (happily for us) Creative COW, she improved with After Effects and acquired a great additional skill to have up her sleeve. But on her day job, Shiran quickly realized editing celebrity news bulletins wasn't her cup of tea.

I got depressed because it wasn't what I really wanted to do. I could see that Israel didn't have a lot of production going on at the time, the industry was small, so it motivated me to move to LA as soon as I could. One night while doing research for the move, I googled post-production houses in LA'. I sent resumes out to all of the search results I found, but Nadav Streett was the only one who replied, because he was Israeli too. He told me I can't help you if you're in Israel, you have to come to LA first.' And with the help of my dad, I did exactly that.

Shiran had lived in Israel for 14 years, but at 21 years old she packed up and headed to LA. Her dad went with her, staying for about a month to help her find an apartment and a car. One of her first jobs was working for Nadav as an Assistant Editor on a reality show for Spike TV for a year. Like many budding editors, she was grateful to find that first job, but after doing several reality gigs assistant editing and sizzle reel editing, she knew she had to put everything aside and make the jump to scripted content.

I would visit Israel every year since I left. And it would be like a status check for me. My family and friends that were still in Israel would ask me So, what are you doing now? How are you doing in LA?' I would be compelled to show them some progress, but for the first three years I would keep saying I'm assisting in reality' again and again. And I realized I had to stop. I wasn't in the genre I wanted to be in, I didn't come out here to work on reality TV. Just like with the celebrity bulletins I was doing in Israel, it was time to hit the brakes and swerve away from that.

So I started actively refusing jobs and made a new circle of connections with people who work where I want to work. I started cutting short films for director students in film schools. I applied to the ACE Internship program and met a whole new group of friends there that all had the same goal. One day I heard a big Hollywood editor gave a lecture in Israel where I used to study After Effects, it was Dan Lebental. I reached out

LINK:	https://creativecow.net/cutting-syfy-editor-shiran-amir-on-rejecting-r...
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