We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Annette Davey a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Annette, thanks for joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

As a young student growing up in Adelaide, south Australia I had always wanted to work in the arts but it wasnt an easy path getting into the film industry. In Australia the film industry is quite small and not easy to get into, so you have to be open to working as an intern and volunteering as much as possible to get your foot in the door. Initially I did any class or course that was available, and then i moved to Sydney where there is a bigger film industry and got extremely lucky. Upon arriving i went to the employment office to look for work and was asked what i wanted to do, as i replied the film industry i was told there was a job in film. It turned out that a group of women had set up a training program for young women in the film industry and there was one place left. I applied and was accepted and for 5 months learnt about all aspects of the craft of filmmaking. Editing was an area i really enjoyed and the advisor for editing took me aside and said I should think about editing as a career and encouraged me to move in this direction. My first job was as an Assistant Editor at the Australian Broadcast Corporation which was a fantastic place to learn. The ABC had a training program for assistants with on the job training and different levels of skill demanded as you progressed. After this training i then went to film school and was able to practice my craft as an editor working on student films. I also continued working with Editors in the industry as an assistant to gain more experience. I saw any opportunity to be working either with experienced editors or working as an editor myself to work on short films, music videos. Commercials, documentaries whatever was available as an opportunity to learn more.

Annette, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a film and tv editor, and have been working both in Australia and the US for over 20 years. I made my way into the industry however I was able to,through working and also going to film school got to know a lot of industry contacts which helped me get work as initially an assistant editor and then as an editor. I moved to the US approximately 20 years ago and have been fortunate to have had a long and successful career here in both movies and TV. Whether its a feature film or a TV Series I always bring the same level of discipline and craft to each project. I love editing and am very excited at the beginning of a new creative venture and i feel like I have a good combination of skills to bring to my work. I am very interested in the story telling and creative aspects of filmmaking, especially the visual elements and the use of music in stories. But I also have a background in psychology which I feel is very helpful for character development in stories and also is a helpful tool in managing the politics of the edit room. I think this combination of creativity and psychology is a great combination and is one that i utilize a lot during the editing process. Having also cut a lot of documentaries, along the way to becoming a feature film editor I am often drawn to stories that have some element of social relevance or truth to the stories. Most recently I worked on MAID and PAM AND TOMMY( two TV series) both which were very female led stories and this was an important element of these stories for me. Yet I always love a good comedy and heart warming story and cant miss out on these projects, which is way i worked on MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 3 a wonderful moving comedy.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Being creative is an amazing way to live and earn a living. Working in the film industry is really rewarding and fun and so engaging, it often doesn’t feel like work. I find during the day when I am concentrating hard but happily on the work, the hours fly by and I can look up and not realize hours have passed by. One of the most rewarding aspects is simply being able to do something you love and enjoy all day and to make it your life’s career is a great experience

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I think its important to learn that having a great work experience is not just about the prestige of the project. It took me sometime to appreciate this, sometimes a small intimate project may often be the most rewarding. A large highly anticipated project can sometimes come with a lot of obstacles around it and also have a lot of people participating in the project on so many levels, that it can lose some of that wonderful free creativity that can arise. Its really about each individual film or TV series and you dont always know how they will turn out or what they will bring to you both professionally or personally. Its also important to follow your instincts as much as possible as they dont generally steer you in the wrong direction.

Contact Info:

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Annette Davey