NEW YORK — Located in the digital media and entertainment destination of the world, Manhattan Edit Workshop (MEWShop) is open to aspiring and seasoned post production professionals and content creators looking to jump-start or perfect their craft. Combining both the artistic and technical aspects of the discipline, MEWShop (www.mewshop.com) is dedicated to uncovering students’ creative potentials and giving them a strong foundation in the art of editing. Their motto: “Less Starving. More Artist.”
Transitioning from student to professional, switching job roles or entire career fields, or simply looking to get a leg-up on your competition can often be daunting and overwhelming tasks. It is essential, in today’s competitive market, to partake in ways to fine-tune your craft, enhance your skill set, or jump-start a stagnant career. A growing trend in the post production and content creation community is to participate in authorized digital training programs to learn the industry’s latest tools and techniques, and gain a competitive edge over colleagues.
Founded in 2002 with the goal of providing innovative editing and post production instruction on Apple, Adobe and Avid platforms, Manhattan Edit Workshop launched a signature training program known as the Six-Week Intensive. A hands-on, comprehensive workshop in the art and technique of editing, MEWShop’s Six-Week Intensive immerses students in the latest tools and techniques from Avid, Final Cut Pro and After Effects, while also devoting time each day to film theory, covering the history and evolution of editing techniques, as well as the aesthetics of narrative, short-form, comedy, and documentary. Students not only gain a solid foundation in editing tools, but also come to better understand the artistry behind using them.
In 2008, MEWShop added a new branch to the Six-Week Intensive – Manhattan Edit Workforce. Always looking for new ways to connect their students to potential employers, MEWShop launched a workforce program that delivers student’s work and resumes directly to participating edit facilities. Each student in the six-week program is given the opportunity to cut their own editor reel in class. These reels are then paired with their resumes and archived on a private Web page where participating facilities can view and contact them for potential hire. There are currently 17 New York facilities taking part in the program, and plans to add at least as many West Coast and international companies in coming years.
ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE
An indispensable opportunity for any aspiring editor or post production professional is the ability to work with and learn from industry experts and working editors. Hearing about the industry and what goes on behind the cutting room door, straight from the source, can be extremely powerful experience. It can spark creative concepts, inspire career moves and reignite passions for the art.
A core component of MEWShop’s Six-Week Intensive is the Artist In Residence Program, in which top film editors join the classroom to screen and discuss their work, while students are given the opportunity to share their own edits and projects for comments and critique. Award-winning editors bring real-world editing scenarios into a small and intimate classroom setting, sharing with students everything from career advice, to stories from the cutting room floor, to insights into the editing process.
Recently, MEWShop welcomed Bobbie O’Steen, Emmy-nominated film editor and critically acclaimed author of “Cut to the Chase,” to the AIR Program. "Giving young editors the opportunity to immerse themselves in such an all-intensive, hands-on experience, such as MEWShop's Six-Week course, is a wonderful way to learn about and truly understand our craft," saysO’Steen. Past Artists In Residence have included Alan Heim (All That Jazz, Network), Andrew Mondshein ( What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Sixth Sense), Carol Littleton ( E.T., Grand Canyon), and Kate Sanford ( The Wire, Sex and the City).
ALUMNI TAKE TO THE STREETS
Students from all over the world visit MEWShop’s training destination in the hopes of jump-starting their careers in filmmaking or learning new skills to further solidify their craft. The knowledge and networking experiences they take away from the Six-Week Intensive is invaluable, and for many, leads to career-advancing opportunities and once in a lifetime jobs. “Manhattan Edit Workshop gave me the tools I needed to confidently apply for jobs at established post production facilities,” says Michelle Kim, MEWShop Alumni. “I found that I had an advantage over other applicants in that many people in the industry highly regard the caliber of instruction at MEWShop. Attending the six-week workshop was hands down the best decision I made for my career.”
Kim is currently working as an editing assistant at NBC Universal/Peacock Productions, one of the leading media and entertainment companies in the world. She is working on an original series created specifically for the Sleuth Channel, an NBC Universal Cable network dedicated entirely to the intensely popular and enduring mystery and crime genres. An NBC employee who, coincidentally, was also a MEWShop Alum hired Michelle. She is also editing a cooking/travel show touring in Korea and featuring Chef Jean Georges and his wife Marja. The show is co-hosted by major celebrities, Hugh Jackman and Heather Graham, and is set to air as a national broadcast for PBS.
Another MEWShop Six-Week Intensive Alum is Stacy Parish, a Sweden-based sound design and scoring specialist. While at MEWShop, Parish was given the opportunity to log footage for the popular A&E series Dog the Bounty Hunter and Parking Wars. This experience led directly to a gig as a sound tech for Zodiac, owner of the Swedish MTV. Parish created content for a popular Swedish TV “house wife” reality series called Skane Fruar. Currently, Parish is handling all of the post production on a film for one of Sweden’s brightest new directors, Robert Lillhonga. The film is being shot with a Red Epic Mysterium and Parishis editing on FCP with Red workflows for the very first time. She is also color grading, handling the score and sound design for the film.
MEWShop founder Josh Apter sees instructor-led certified training as an essential component of any editor’s toolbelt. “I’m a faster and better editor for having learned the software [Avid and FCP] in a certified training environment, and I’ve seen the same results in countless MEWShop students,” he says. Manhattan Edit Workshop has worked hard to build its tight-knit, creative training environment, where editors train editors, and cultivating a discussion and sharing of ideas on the art of editing is fundamental in the learning process. Their motto is simple, yet powerful, and they work to uphold it every chance they get: Less Starving. More Artist.