How To Become An Award Winning Editor – Simon Smith, HBO’s Chernobyl

Simon Smith, the award winning editor of HBO’s Chernobyl, lets us know how he became an editor, how knowing Final Cut Pro led to an award winning editing career, what’s it like to edit a high-profile mini-series for HBO, which had a grueling, one hundred day shooting schedule, and how he handled that kind of workload and pressure. Perhaps most importantly, Simon tell us the bold steps he took to land the job.

Simon took home the “triple-crown” of editing awards this year, an American Cinema Editors Eddie, the Television Academy Emmy, and the British Film & Television Academy’s BAFTA, for his editing on the highly acclaimed HBO mini-series Chernobyl.

Simon Smith, Editor HBO’s Chernobyl

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Table of Contents
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00:00 – Intro
01:16 – How did get your start?
02:24 – First jobs as an assistant.
04:45 – Being bold about what you want.
06:45 – How hard is it to get your 1st credit.
10:13 – Getting the job on “Chernobyl.”
13:38 – 100 day shooting schedule.
16:31 – Collaborating with another editor (Jinx Godfrey)
17:30 – What were some of the biggest challenges editing “Chernobyl?”
18:48 – Managing the workload and pressure.
22:04 – Tell us about your editing process.
25:45 – Dealing with the visual effects.
29:15 – How were you on time per episode?
32:05 – How technical are you with the hardware/software?
36:35 – How do you manage the work/life balance?
39:54 – How does having done some directing inform your work as an editor?
43:49 – What’s your advice for people who want to become editors?