Ashley Kreamer is a senior editor at Final Cut, a creative editorial company working in advertising, film and TV. The studio has offices in New York, London and Los Angeles. Prior to COVID, Kreamer worked out of the studio’s New York City location. Let’s find out more about Kreamer…
Can you talk about what your job entails?
My job is a mix of problem-solving, storytelling and people skills. I’m like a film doula; the agency and the director made a baby and I’m delivering it into the world — while also adding some of my DNA in there too during the process.
What would surprise people the most about what falls under your title?
Early editing was literally cutting and splicing. The first editors were women because cutting was considered to be a manual task similar to sewing or knitting. Simple “women’s work” — you just follow a pattern or a script. Once the industry realized that it was a creative role, the job shifted toward men for a while.
Estee Lauder
A lot of people still think that is what editing is — simple stitching — but that’s obviously not the case. Editing shapes how you feel when you’re watching something and how the storytelling unfolds along the way. It’s like working on a multi-dimensional puzzle, combining all the components —music, movement, sound design, performance and dialogue — to make you feel something. It’s a craft that marries the creative and the technical.
Also, being an editor is like being a bullshit detector; you have to watch footage and determine which performances are authentic.
What’s your favorite part of the job?
I love finding little moments in the footage. A subtle eye shift, a genuine reaction or a camera movement that hits just right and makes me feel something. I also love building sound design and finding music. I like working with a team and elevating the edit through collaboration.
I also like problem-solving — taking feedback from the agency, director and client and figuring out how to integrate it all while preserving the integrity of the project.
What’s your least favorite?
That part after you’ve selected the dailies and are staring at an empty timeline. I know what the piece should feel like, but I don’t know how I’m going to get it there yet. You just have to take the clay and start to make shapes.
Amazon
What is your most productive time of day?
The evening – I’m a night person. After a full day of procrastinating, I get lost in the process later at night and will look up and realize it’s 2am.
If you didn’t have this job, what would you be doing instead?
Landscape architect. I think I have a desire to put things in order and make sense of environments. Spending my days talking to plants. Building something visually pleasing. Then throw in a little bit of chaos here and there to make it interesting. That, or a sharpshooter.
How early did you know this would be your path?
I started making movies when I was young. I have loads and loads of Hi8 and VHS tapes of my friends wandering around Singapore. I also made stop-motion films with my brother’s Godzilla toys. I originally wanted to be a cinematographer, and I worked as an AC throughout college in Boston, but I decided that standing out in the cold on set all day wasn’t for me. I found my way to a Steinbeck and then to Avid. I am suited to a dark and cozy room.
Can you name some recent jobs?
Comcast, P&G, Kerrygold, Estee Lauder, Amazon and Facebook.
P&G
Do you put on a different hat when cutting for a specific genre?
Broadly speaking, no. I find the parts that are beautiful, funny, authentic or that say something to me, and figure out how to put it together in a way that hopefully makes you feel something, regardless of the content.
Can you talk about editing during COVID?
I left the Final Cut New York office on March 20, 2020, with a laptop and a half-cut project on a drive and haven’t really stopped working since. We’ve upgraded our workflow throughout. We started with Evercast but switched to Zoom, which I prefer. We are implementing a cloud-based system now.
I enjoy working from home and getting that time back that I used to spend commuting. I like being able to make dinner for my kids, put them to bed and come back to the Avid after if I need to work out an idea (night person!). It feels more balanced in some ways. I do miss being in the room with the agency and director and seeing reactions as I play down the edit. And I really miss client services — I had two cheese sticks and Cool Ranch Doritos for lunch today. But I’m excited about remote work and the opportunities it affords.
On a recent project I cut, one creative was in South Korea, one was in NYC, one was in California and the producer was elsewhere too. I think we can bring more diverse people and perspectives to the table if we don’t have the limitations of being physically in the same space.
You mostly work on an Avid?
Yes, Avid Media Composer. I do cut on Premiere every once in a while, but I always find my way back to Avid.
Are you often asked to do more than edit? If so, what are you asked to do?
To be a therapist. But seriously, I really love sound design. I like to spend a lot of time working on it, finding the right tone. Sound is the skeleton that you build the visuals on top of. If you have the sound right, I think the edit feels right too.
What are three pieces of technology you can’t live without?
The AniMatte, my Wacom tablet and, at the moment, my car. I miss the subway!
What do you do to de-stress from it all?
I got a stationary bike at the beginning of the pandemic and try to ride as much as possible. (Post edits at 1pm and they will get back to us by 3pm? Cool, I’ll be on my bike.) Also, I’ve been in Asheville, North Carolina, since the start of the pandemic, so my kids and I have been hiking and wading in as many rivers as possible.
How do you manage producer’s expectations with reality/what can really be done?
You have to lean on a fabulous post producer to help manage expectations. Luckily, we are flush with them at Final Cut.
How do you manage your time? Do you manage expectations or try everything they ask of you?
I think having a really great producer to manage expectations upfront is key. As far as managing my time, at the beginning of the project, I block out the different time frames in a rhythm – doing a task and then taking a step back to ruminate. I’ll block the times when I’m selecting, and then it’s time to take a step back. Then I’ll block time for putting together an assembly, and then time to take another step back and think over things. But once you start working with the agency, then all bets are off, so being flexible is a necessary part of the job.
How do you take criticism? Do you find yourself defensive or accepting of others’ ideas (good and bad)?
Of course I love it when my first edit out of the gate is received well, but you have to try the ideas; there’s something to be learned about the edit in that process. Sometimes it feels like a slog because you know it isn’t right for the story, but that’s when you need to show why it doesn’t work.
When someone who is starting out asks what they should learn, what do you recommend?
Premiere is very accessible and, generally, people would probably start on it these days. I’m still working mostly on Avid because I feel like it’s more of a solid workhorse.
