EditFest NY, the east coast version of American Cinema Editor’s successful EditFest series, launched last weekend at The Director’s Guild Theater in Manhattan. Kicking off at the DGA on June12 & 13th, the event was followed by Certification Sunday at Manhattan Edit Workshop on Sunday. The attendees, who came from New York and states surrounding, included working editors, professionals from related disciplines, industry experts and students. EditFestNY is presented by American Cinema Editors (ACE) and Manhattan Edit Workshop (MEWShop.)

Over the course of the weekend, EditFestNY presented some of the best known and highly regarded east coast film editors who turned out to mingle, mentor, and present. EditFest NY kicked off on Friday with an industry insider’s view of how to break into the editing business, moderated by ACE President Randy Roberts, ACE editor and producer of “Law and Order.” Friday’s Breaking In panel featured ACE members Bill Pankow, Troy Takaki, Scott Brock, Lee Percy, and Plummy Tucker in a candid discussion of the rigors of starting and maintaining a long-lasting editing career. The panel was followed by an opening night gala, a wall-to-wall party where panelists from every EditFestNY panel mingled with rapt attendees.

Saturday’s panels featured a who’s who of editing talent and focused on key areas of interest:

Television (Kate Sanford, Meg Reticker, Troy Takaki, Michael Berenbaum and Alexander Hall, moderated by editor and author Bobbie O’Steen)
Comedy (Ken Eluto, Stephen Rotter, Anne McCabe, moderated by MEWShop founder Josh Apter,)
Documentary(Robert Eisenhardt, Sam Pollard, Tom Haneke, Larry Silk, and Karen Schmeer, moderated by Tom Atkin.)
Feature Film (Chris Tellefson, Jeffrey Wolfe, Tim Squyres, , Brian Kates, Craig McKay, and Jay Rabinowitz, moderated by American Cinema Editor editor Vincent Lobruto)

The presenters shared equal parts inspiration, insight and knowledge that only such an esteemed group can deliver.

For exclusive video highlights of EditFest NY produced by Manhattan Edit Workshop and ACE, please click here.

On June 14th, MEWshop hosted Certification Sunday which offered hands on training and certification in Final Cut Pro and also Re-Tool Bootcamp a class on demystifying demystifies key areas of the digital media pipeline each to a sold-out gathering at their mid-town headquarters .

EditFestNY 2010 will take place June 11-13, 2010 in New York, details on locations, events and panelists will be forthcoming. EditFest LA is slated for August 8&9th, 2009 at Universal Studios in Los Angeles. For more information on the upcoming 2009 EditFest LA click here.

For further information about EditFest, visit www.editfest.com for updates.