The First Comprehensive Resource to Focus on Documentary Film Editing

Back in the day, when I was a budding editor, I was taught to avoid jump cuts.  That was about the extent of my editing education, despite the fact that I was attending one of the top graduate schools in the world for documentary filmmaking.  To make matters worse, there were no books on how to edit a documentary film.  (I was  intrigued in 1993 when Walter Murch’s In the Blink of an Eye was published, but I soon realized that it was aimed primarily at Hollywood narratives, not documentaries.)

Fast forward two decades.  After years of training with mentors like Marlon Riggs and Deborah Hoffman, editing dozens of films, and then teaching editing at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism, I saw there was still no book on the market specifically about editing documentary films.  I was delighted, however, by Sheila Bernard Curran’s remarkable Documentary Storytelling, which offered many structural ideas that have helped documentary filmmakers. Inspired, I decided to write the book I had always wanted to read.

After three years of planning and writing, I’m pleased to announce that my new book, Documentary Editing, is finally here!  Go to

https://newdocediting.com/products/documentary_editing_ebook

More than just a textbook, Documentary Editing is an electronic workbook that allows the user to actually implement the ideas and tips given.  Practical use of the material will help you structure a compelling film, hire a great post-production team, edit aesthetically pleasing sequences and cut an inspiring fundraising trailer.

Here’s what one award-winning editor/producer says about Documentary Editing:

“A concise and invaluable guide to the editing process that will serve the novice and veteran alike.  Karen Everett covers everything from finding and structuring your story to hiring an editor to making a fund-raising trailer in language that is precise and inspiring.  This is an invaluable text from someone who knows.”

— Susi Korda, Producer, William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe

Wanting to write more than just another academic book that gathers dust on the shelf, I included many exercises in Documentary Editing aimed at providing practical help for working filmmakers. In addition, Documentary Editing will show you techniques for editing compelling and aesthetically pleasing scenes, structural strategies for character-driven and non-narrative documentaries, best practices for organizing footage, tips for editing fundraising trailers, innovative ways of maximizing the director/editor collaboration and much more.  You’ll find all the veteran know-how that I wanted to learn at the start of my professional career. Check out this new, comprehensive resource at https://newdocediting.com/products/documentary_editing_ebook

Praise for Documentary Editing:

“In simple language, Karen Everett offers a prescription for emerging filmmakers to translate their ideas into film. By following the exercises at the end of each chapter, filmmakers can save themselves untold hours of frustration, by foreshadowing some of the problems we create for ourselves from lack of foresight in pre-production and production.”

— Ken Schneider, Editor of Peabody Award-Winning documentary
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