Erin: What challenges have you faced in your career?

Michael: One has to be prepared that there is a lot of competition.  When I came in as an assistant editor, I didn’t want to overstep. I was kind of feeling like I wish I could go back to and do it over again. This was because I came in as a runner assistant editor, and they immediately had me cutting scenes for a movie. I had just gotten hired, and here I was cutting scenes for The Interview with Seth Rogen and James Franco. I found myself thinking, “Here I am cutting scenes for this big movie and they're going to share those scenes with Sony, and then Sony is going to share them with their editor.” This was overwhelming to think about. Then to top it off, some of the stuff I cut ended up in the movie. Everyone was looking at me like who is this guy? I could imagine them thinking, he just came from North Carolina and now he's here working on this big movie. 

In addition, there were all these other assistants trying to get promoted and it was uncomfortable to be succeeding.  Due to this, I probably held myself back a bit. In hindsight, I wish that I owned  my ambition as I would have likely been promoted  faster. 

In terms of the actual work, my challenges were in relationship to the actual skills that I needed to develop.  Often, one is thrown into work where you don’t have any previous experience. An example would be where I had to learn how to be a producer. That was something that HBO expected when I got hired to be a senior producer, however I had never produced before. In particular, I had to learn how to mentor younger staff. This was something that I never had to do before. I stepped into this even though I wasn’t ready to be a senior- which ended up working out really well as I found that I have a real knack for mentoring people. It is exciting to see people develop. I've had many of the associate producers and producers working with me. I love teaching them new editing techniques and different little tricks that I know. What is exciting is watching their cuts get better and better. 

Erin: I had seen the trailer for The Hustle, then I saw the movie. While I liked the  movie, the trailer doesn’t represent the movie from my perspective.  What are your thoughts on this disconnect?

Michael: My wife and I saw The Hustle when it came out here in New York. We were excited for this film to open. However, we almost walked out of it.  Part of our strong aversion to it was that it was not what we were expecting. In terms of the art of trailers, I hate how that sort of disconnect between a trailer and a film happens. That's the crux of this industry is that we can fake people out with what we do. I really don't like doing that. I don't like to lie in marketing. I like to be honest and really show the audience what the film will be.  However, for some films you have to polish it to get people to go see it, even if it won’t necessarily measure up.

Erin: What advice would you give people who want to be in your position in the future?

Michael: Keep pushing. Editing is something that you just gotta keep working at. It takes a lot of time to really hone your skills. I definitely wasn't natural at it; I just have a lot of techie experience with computers. For me it was really: practice, practice, practice. While there are people who are naturals, I am proof that you can be successful and not have an innate talent. 

Don't be afraid to speak up and reach out to editors. We're all very chill people as far as I can tell, so don't be afraid to reach out to editors you know. Also, reach out to any mentors that you have. If it's something that you're into, just put something together and ask us, “what do you think?” Usually, we're very happy to help. 

My advice on what not to look for in a mentor, is that you should avoid those mentors who are very fierce. It is my experience that they can inhibit your growth. Often people think that in this industry intensity- like one will sometimes find in producers- means that you will learn more. This is not my experience.  

Be aware that more and more material for learning skills can be found online. There is this new site I saw called Film Editing Pro- which is very generic- but it seems like it's designed by professional Hollywood film trailer editors. While I haven’t had a chance to explore it, their ad video on their main page looks legit. Recently, I've been recommending it to some of the younger staff who want to learn some of the techniques that I have, and they have benefitted from it. This is what I recommend for anyone wanting to move into the industry.

Erin: Is there anything that you think a student, somebody who's entering into the career field, could do to stand out against the crowd?

Michael: If you are interested in editing as a career, I would suggest that you put together a nice little sizzle package, like a reel list and cool shots that you made. It doesn't have to be full films. Just take a camera and go film a cool shot, get some photography of an actor or somebody. Just get some amazing, beautiful work. Then cut it together which will in the least show that you know how to use editing software and that you know how to put nice images together with music. This will go a long way towards introducing yourself when you have a chance to get your foot in the door.

Erin: Is there anything that you felt like you did as a student that really prepared you for your career? 

Michael: For me, it was just making a lot of short films. While I did my work on the critical side of the film program at UNCW, this would only be beneficial for my future if I wanted to go into teaching or the analytical side of film. This didn’t get me far in terms of my understanding of production and clearly didn’t provide the leg-up for my career. Since I was at UNCW, the program has gotten much better in terms of the skill-based production classes. I wish that they had been available when I was there. However, even if these classes had been available, it really was because I made so many short films that I learned. In addition, due to this, I was always collaborating. 

Another thing that I took advantage of was Flicker, although it wasn’t well thought of when I was at UNCW. However, I took this as an opportunity to make films and to work with some like-minded people. I just took every opportunity to make films. 

In addition, I was always researching material related to editing and films online as well as watching “Film Riot” videos. They have such great information. I have also found that  learning from podcasts has been really beneficial. There's just so many different film podcasts you can get into that are about the fun side of filmmaking. I also really like listening to the editors and the trailer editors just talk about the struggles that they went through during certain projects. There are so many situations that can allow one to learn about the field, whether it is a time when an actor was ridiculous and had so many notes for the editor- because they were a producer on the project as well- or the show runner is a brand new showrunner and they don't know what they're doing. 

An example of this happened to me when a new showrunner told me not to put any of the good jokes from the show  in the trailer. I get flummoxed. How am I supposed to get people to know that your show is funny when I can't put the good jokes in the trailer? Listening to these podcasts or just allowing editors to bend your ear about their experiences, are more than just fun to listen to, they also have provided me an education on how to approach the situations when I have been faced with them.

To learn more about Michael Skanes, check out his website, www.Michaelskanes.com or follow him on Instagram @michaelskanes