
A Newbie's Look at EditFest LA
Hillary Lewis February 29, 2024
0 Comments
Originally published on August 17, 2017
Presented by Blue Collar Post Collective and Professional Development Accessibility Program
Inside the auspicious event and a weekend with BCPC
Editor's Note: The Blue Collar Post Collective is a 501c3 non-profit organization that seeks to support emerging talent in all areas of post production. BCPC does this through free meet-ups and events, and a financial aid program called the Professional Development Accessibility Program (PDAP). Applications were accepted from individuals meeting income and employment requirements to provide one member flight, accommodation, and a ticket to EditFest LA. A BCPC committee chose Hillary Lewis, a short-form editor three years into her career in Indianapolis, to receive this aid in order to open up geographically limited opportunities to those who would not be able to take part in them otherwise.
Oh. my. God. They picked me .Holy crap! They PICKED me!! I couldn't believe it. Sitting there staring at the email a thousand thoughts went through my head. I pictured myself amongst legendary editors in a beautiful city I've never been to on the Disney Studios lot of all places!!
It was surreal and immediately made me anxious. Could I accept this? Did I deserve it? Could I do this all by myself? The answer, of course, was yes to all the above .how could I say no? So I took a deep breath, spiffied up my website and LinkedIn, and packed my bags.
To be honest, I didn't know what to expect. My worst fear was stepping into, what I had heard to be, the LA lion's den. A room full of competitive, out-of-this-world talented people who had no reason to take me seriously. Who had been exposed to more tech, more content, and more workflows than I had ever been exposed to in Indiana. Being an editor from the midwest with a background in short-form commercial work and no film/TV (scripted or unscripted) experience, I would have nothing in common with that world or so I thought. I admit I fell into one of the biggest misconceptions about LA, that it's a dog-eat-dog world. And while that may be the case in other industries in LA (I have no idea), I'm happy to say my experience with the post-production industry and BCPC was far from it. Let me tell you why.
The Build-Up Even before leaving for LA, Blue Collar Post Collective's team was incredibly accommodating. They scheduled my flight, hotel room, conference ticket (as a guest of the incredible film historian Bobbie O'Steen), and introduced me to an array of people to ensure my trip started out on the right foot. Right away I knew their team was extremely organized and passionate about their mission, and I would be well taken care of.
I arrived at Bob Hope airport early on Friday morning and walked out of the plane onto the tarmac like a celebrity my Snapchat was lit. (Exiting a plane without a gangway isn't a common occurrence where I've flown.)
I arrived at Portofino Inn in Burbank shortly after landing, and from there, on the recommendation of Kylee Pena (BCPC's President and my point of contact in LA), I immediately walked over to Frank's Coffee Shop (attached to the lobby of the Inn). Frank's is a classic American diner and has been featured in several movies/TV shows in the past. Larry Crowne, Parks and Rec, CSI, etc. Nothing overly special about the establishment itself besides the cinematic history but if you're a local in LA it's worth the stop-in! Great classic breakfast, good classic coffee.
Shadowing After my historical breakfast I headed down to Hollywood for a day full of shadowing, graciously scheduled for me by Kylee Pena.
Viacom was my first stop shadowing Assistant Editor Noah Diamond doing a ton of digital and episodic content for Spike TV and Comedy Central. Viacom also owns MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, BET, CMT, etc., and had recently moved to their current location in January. The facility was modern and tech-savvy, with motorized desks and a plethora of editing bays.
I thoroughly enjoyed learning their workflow for social media and digital content. From shooting certain content in-house as horizontal AND vertical 4K video to re-purposing all content for every social media platform's dimensions (9:16 Snapchat, 16:9 Youtube, 1:1 Instagram etc.) This workflow resonated the most with me because of similarities that are used in my current job while creating short-form video. I enjoyed seeing Viacom taking their workflows to the next level!
I then took a short trek to shadow Kylee, Workflow Supervisor at The SIM Group, Bling Digital being her place of work and one of the MANY divisions under the SIM Group umbrella (I couldn't name them all if I tried ).
I was given short tours in the production/camera rental department, workflow dailies department, and offline/online editing departments. The building workflow was very efficient. You could try out cameras and equipment downstairs in the rental department, set up a test shot, send your test footage upstairs to the editing department, play with stylizing and color until your shots looked just right, and then take your final choice equipment out to shoot. I was pleased to meet both offline, online, and workflow dailies editors, and got a taste of each of their jobs as well.
I consider myself lucky to be exposed to both companies in the short time I was there, and was encouraged by how much more I understood than I originally thought I would. Coming from a job where the editors are expected to be a complete one-man-band, we ingest, we cut, we color, we create graphics, we add effects, we export deliverables.
Comparatively LA seems to thrive on having one specific set of skills at an expert level. It was refreshing to see you don't have to execu
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
11/02/2026
FYI: Phone Support Maintenance One thing we pride ourselves on here at Utah Scientific is our 24-hour support included with our signature 10-year hardware warra...
11/02/2026
Leading provider of video streaming solutions, Bitmovin, has appointed Ian Baglow as Co-CEO alongside existing CEO and Co-Founder Stefan Lederer. Under this str...
11/02/2026
Paramount and the CBS Television Network will partner to air UFC 326: HOLLOWAY vs. OLIVEIRA 2 live on Saturday, March 7, from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, mar...
11/02/2026
Beginning February 10, fans can buy MLB.TV on ESPN, a new milestone in one of sports media's longest-standing partnerships. ESPN becomes the new streaming h...
11/02/2026
Fubo Sports Network is available to Hulu's Live TV subscribers in the core $89.99 a month subscription plan, which also includes full access to the entire H...
11/02/2026
Following a competitive public tender process, Rai (Radiotelevisione Italiana), the national public broadcasting company of Italy, has awarded Imagine Communica...
11/02/2026
Major League Baseball is making in-market streaming subscriptions for 20 Clubs available today for fans. Subscriptions for the following Clubs are available vi...
11/02/2026
Building on successful demonstrations during the Paris Olympics 2024, Italian public service broadcaster Rai and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) are condu...
11/02/2026
Following Sunday's Super Bowl LX, ESPN and Disney unveiled We're Going,...
11/02/2026
Delayed streams are a growing source of frustration for sports fans. During the 2026 Super Bowl, some streams lagged up to 62 seconds behind the action on the f...
11/02/2026
NASCAR and FloSports announces an expanded slate of racing events that will bring FloRacing coverage live throughout the 2026 season to the NASCAR Channel, furt...
11/02/2026
Manifold technologies GmbH announces the appointment of Nick Tucker as Sales Manager for Europe, reinforcing the company's continued growth across broadcast...
11/02/2026
Genies, the AI avatar technology company powering the next era of interactive digital identity, entered into a landmark collaboration with MLB Players, Inc., th...
11/02/2026
The International Cricket Council (ICC) and Google have joined forces for an AI-...
11/02/2026
Dolby's CEO Kevin Yeaman and Giles Baker, SVP of Dolby Cloud Solutions, shared how the brand's latest innovations - Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, and Dolby...
11/02/2026
Ilitch Sports + Entertainment has entered a first of its kind partnership with Major League Baseball, which will provide broadcast support to both the Detroit T...
11/02/2026
For major U.S. events like Super Bowl 2026, FIFA World Cup, America 250, and the...
11/02/2026
Broadcasts of the NHL's Detroit Red Wings will also be produced by the leagu...
11/02/2026
Video moves fast can your DAM keep up?
Join Blue Lucy in LA for the West Coast's leading Digital Asset Management event as we explore, celebrate, and acc...
11/02/2026
NEW YORK - February 10, 2026 - An estimated 124.9 million viewers watched Super Bowl LX on Sunday, February 8, according to Nielsen's Big Data Panel measu...
11/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/02/2026
Clear-Com provided an advanced, IP-based communications infrastructure for TEDNext 2025, supporting production, media, and editorial teams with a highly flexib...
11/02/2026
Astera introduces QuikBeam, the newest addition to its acclaimed Quik family of focusing LED Fresnels. This ultra-compact spotlight combines the equivalent powe...
11/02/2026
Following a competitive public tender process, Rai (Radiotelevisione Italiana), the national public broadcasting company of Italy, has awarded Imagine Communica...
11/02/2026
With Convertible Mount for NL Bowens & Aputure A Mounts See it at BSC Expo Stand #133 LCA
DoPchoice continues to refine light shaping tools for professional LE...
11/02/2026
World Premiere at BSC Expo, Booth #319 Oberkochen/Germany, 10 February 2026
ZEISS introduces the new Aatma, set of nine high-end full frame T1.5 cinema primes ...
11/02/2026
As Re-recording Mixer and Head of Sound at The Farm, one of UK's leading post-production facilities, Nick Fry has built his career on making stories sound a...
11/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/02/2026
Graduate Spotlight: Gabrielle Rodriguez The educator, who grew up in the Philippines, shares how shes bringing what she learned at Berklee back home.
Februar...
11/02/2026
Wednesday 11 February 2026
Sky brings together Netflix, Disney , HBO Max and Ha...
11/02/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Confirms Production of Love O'Clock' From the...
11/02/2026
Back to All News
Investing in Belgian Stories: A Commitment to Culture and Choice
From left to right: Undercover, Ang le, Rough Diamonds, Into the Night, John...
11/02/2026
At the end of January, ICG headed off to the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, for our annual conference.
An early flight gave us plenty of time to start exploring s...
11/02/2026
ABS Strengthens Ku-Band Capacity and Expands Regional Reach Through Strategic Pa...
11/02/2026
The intergalactic children's show starring Adam King will premiere on 14 February on RT 2, RT KIDSjr and RT Player
The Late Late Toy Show star Adam King...
10/02/2026
From San Fran to Santa Clara down to Los Angeles, ESPN celebrates the Big Game w...
10/02/2026
A team of broadcast engineers and experts dispersed across Northern Italy help broadcasters and still photographers keep shooting
OBS has put new imaging techn...
10/02/2026
If you can have the best pictures and the best sound quality for these global ev...
10/02/2026
Disney+ will add vertical video within its app this year after ESPN introduced V...
10/02/2026
GameChanger today unveiled the most comprehensive product update in its 15-year history, marking a major step forward in how families, athletes, coaches, fans, ...