Josh Porro edited the Tribeca film Cinnamon, which folllows two young lovers who attempt to improve their circumstances by engaging in what they hope will be a victimless crime. When they realize who they stole from, the pair get way more than they bargained for and could end up becoming the victims themselves.

Josh Porro and friend

We reached out to Porro, who was brought on after filming had wrapped and an assembly was put together, about working on the film and with director Bryian Keith Montgomery Jr. on what was the first feature for them both.

How did you work with the director? How often was he looking at your cut?
For the first half of editing, Bryian and I worked remotely, Zooming and sharing cuts every other week or so. For the second half, when we really started to dig in, we worked out of Sugar Studios in Los Angeles every day for about two months. This was Bryian’s first feature film as well, so I feel like we learned a lot together.

Was there a particular scene or scenes that were most challenging?
One of the main characters in the film is a budding singer/songwriter, and there is a sequence in which she is recording an original song, having some trouble with it, overcoming some fears, all while juggling a very new and very powerful romance, which is just starting.

It’s a lot of story and music and emotional beats to blend together in a few minutes, and I’m sure we tried it a dozen (or more) different ways. Sometimes, I think editors can get to a point in an edit where they have done something so many times that they begin to lose their objectivity, but this is when it is most important to dig deep and keep trying until they fall in love with something. I think the scene turned out great.

Did you do more than edit on this film?
No. Luckily, they had lots of amazing other people doing the rest of the work.

Can you talk about your editing workflow?
My workflow for this project was far from a well-oiled machine. After more than a dozen years editing professionally (as I mentioned), this was the very first feature I ever edited. And, more than that, this was the first project of any note that I edited using Adobe Premiere. I also like to work in long-play instead of reels, and in the future, I think I might have to grow up a bit and realize I can stay way more organized in reels.

You cut on Premiere. Why did you choose that tool?
I didn’t get to choose the system we worked on, and I don’t think I would’ve chosen Premiere, but I’m so happy it was chosen for me and that I made the switch. Every new project I begin (if I get to choose), I now use Premiere.

Is there a tool within that system that was particularly helpful?
I cannot overstate enough how much I love the ease of putting a graphic/text on a clip in Premiere. Whether it is marking a VFX shot to be pulled later or just typing up some temp ADR we are coming up with, Adobe makes it incredibly intuitive and user friendly. I know it might not be the sexiest feature, but as far as saving me time, it really is number one in my book.

How did you manage your time?
I have two kids, two dogs and a busy spouse, so time management is key. Plus, I’m working from home a lot of the time, so my day can get out of hand really quickly if something needs to happen that wasn’t in my schedule when I woke up (which is every single day mostly).

As far as saving time and mental clarity is concerned, about three years ago, I got rid of all my social media. This stopped me from staring at my phone an extra 10 or 15 minutes after each text I would answer. But that is a drastic example. Mostly, as far as time management goes, I just set small, specific, achievable goals for myself each day, and I try to meet those regularly.

Did you have an assistant editor on this?
Yes! Sam Means, who works at Sugar Studios, was my main assistant editor, and he was invaluable helping me with my Adobe questions, aswell as just being a great sounding board.

How do you manage producers’ expectations with reality/what can really be done?
I think if you are working with the right people, then they trust you to get the job done. (We were on this film with Jillian Apfelbaum and Tristen Tuckfield over at Village Roadshow and Oz Scott, who is a wealth of knowledge and has been in the trenches of making entertainment for a good long while). But if there ever is a bit of contention, I firmly believe most people just want to be listened to — to be heard. If you are hearing other people and they are extending that courtesy to you as well, I feel like things generally work out in the end.

How do you take criticism?
This is a seriously hard thing to learn. On one hand, being creative takes a certain amount of blind enthusiasm and belief in yourself that you know what you are doing — that you have something to say, and people will want to listen.

On the other hand, you have to remember that what you are working on could be terrible. It just could be. You might be a genius, but that doesn’t mean you’re immune to making something bad. So somehow, you have to learn to navigate your own inner criticism first. Because, if you’ve done that, all exterior criticism should actually end up being helpful —  resulting in either a new idea you haven’t thought of, or it will reinforce why you did what you did in the first place.

Do you find yourself defensive or accepting of other’s ideas (good and bad)?
I remember like it was yesterday, but in 2011, I was working on a big montage, and we were running out of time with maybe a day or two left after weeks of editing. I was in a room with three or four other producers who were trying to be helpful, pitching ideas like we’d done the previous nights. But it was getting late, we had been working hard, I was nearing the end of my creative rope, and someone suggested a transition to try. For some reason, I chose that moment to put my foot down and just flat out said it wouldn’t work. That it wasn’t a good idea. They kind of looked at me, suggested it again, and I reminded myself they were paying me. So I tried it, and — you guessed it — their idea totally worked.

From then on, I’ve never flat out said something wouldn’t work without trying it. Because you know what? You don’t know if it will work or not until you try it.

When someone who is starting out asks what they should learn, what do you recommend?
Ironing. It’s the analogy I use the most to explain it. I almost always sit down to my day’s work, coffee in hand, and back the movie up 5 to 10 minutes from where I left off and let it play. I hit the spacebar when something bugs me or if I remembered I had a note I needed to address. Then I fix that. I drag the play head back a minute or so, or to the top of the scene, and do it again. I just keep going back, rewatching and stopping until I’m finished. I just flatten out all the wrinkles until those pants are pressed and starched! So ironing… and good carpal tunnel stretches for your wrists. I would learn those too.