Clarity Around A Film’s Rough Cut

When the director announces, “it’s a wrap”, it’s definitely a euphoric feeling. You think the hard, tedious work as a producer is close to being over. But what happens when receiving a rough cut is even harder to obtain?

I’m driving home relieved as the director finally announces that it’s an official wrap for the production. Now, it was time to gear up for post-production. I still had a few more people to hire but I figured since their services didn’t require any in-person meetups, the problems that would arise would be tolerable.

After a few days of rest, my first task was to find an editor. Editors are supposed to be locked-in before production even begins but due to time constraints my focus was primarily on getting a film crew that would get us through production. But I had the Christmas and New Year’s holiday to allow me some time to carefully select an editor. I first reach out to the editor who edited the very first trailer that I produced. Unfortunately, her schedule was booked up for the next year and she politely declined and wished me the best of luck with the production.

Then, I sent out a bulletin to the film community that I was a part of, and some interesting hits came through – some directly from the community and others somehow from a film directory. I first went through the list of responses from the film community and one woman stood out to me. Her work was eye-catching, and, on her website, there was a mini reel of a film project that she edited about an African American man striving to make a difference in his community. I immediately asked if she was available to meetup via zoom and within a few days we were on a call.

I started by telling her a little bit about the film and what the story was about, and she seemed very intrigued. After about thirty minutes, our call had come to an end. While she did inform me that she did have other clients, she did ask me to send her the script so she could assess if she could squeeze my project into her schedule. A week passed by, and I didn’t hear back from her. I followed up and she finally told me that even though she found my script very interesting there was just too much detail that had to be captured and it would take more time to complete than my budget would allow. I completely understood and politely thanked her for her time.

I move onto the two inquiries that came from the film directory. I met up in-person with one of them at her request at a small café in Baltimore. We discussed the project particulars, the background of the story, what we would both need from each other (if we decided to bring her on board) and the extensive amount of material we already had prepared to make the process for her as smooth as possible. The meetup ended very well, and it was great to hear about her film background especially how due to her schedule conflicts she was close to taking part in the production of one of my go-to Netflix films, Really Love. You can definitely say she was a Baltimore film fanatic!

The other editor also resided in Baltimore, and she had more skin and knowledge in the film game particularly with editing, music, sound, film festival/streaming to prevent delays/rejections etc. We meet via zoom, and she mentions that if we decided to bring her on the project, she wouldn’t be able to start editing until February. I reached out to the director to let her know what I found with the two editors and we both decided on the latter option, and soon we officially had an editor on board.

February and March come along, and the editing has begun. Throughout the next few months there were a few delays, but we were patient. Constant texts and emails were exchanged letting us know of the continued progress. Then, out of the blue the editor informs me that she would have to step-down as the Lead editor. But she would still do her best to complete her portion of the project. (Perfectly fine)

I finally manage to get the editor, the director, and I on a zoom call to finally see what the editor had produced. The work she showed us were only organized files and color correction (Huh?). So, I finally asked, where is the rough cut? Then we found out – there was no rough cut. Her schedule didn’t allow enough time which was why she urged for us to find another editor. (Oh my gosh!). It wasn’t until after the call that it truly hit me that almost half a year had gone by, and we were still at ground zero in post-production.

I was so angry, confused, and disappointed. I was constantly trying to figure out where the miscommunication could’ve happened. I couldn’t really find anything but there was one place I knew where I messed up. I never gave a precise deadline on when I expected a rough cut to be produced because I really didn’t know.

Luckily, the director calms me down and tells me to forget about it and immediately start looking for another editor because we still had time. I gave myself the weekend to cool off and I got very, very, very, clear. I sent out another bulletin for a film editor. A few more hits came through and again we settle on one film editor who strictly had editing experience throughout her resume. I reached out to her for an interview and let her know that before she accepts the interview that we would need a rough cut in a month – no exceptions! She agreed to the terms and accepted the interview.

But I was still skeptical because she resided in France! France! I was scared out my mind. But I took a chance on her, and the next round of editing had begun!

Other posts you may also be interested in:

• How To Stand Out On A Major Indie Film Set?
• What It Was Like Interning Under A Hollywood Actress?
• How A Schedule Can Impact A Film Production?

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