Speaker 1: You guys started on these projects like eight years ago, nine years ago. In terms of your team, like, how much, like, you guys started, you know, with people and then you guys ended together day one, but like, did you guys get anyone new in the middle of the process at the end of Infinity War and Endgame?

Speaker 2: That's a great question. You should talk about how you got started and how you got on the team.

Speaker 3: Sure. So I did a video for Avid many, many years ago. That's not what happened. Oh, no, this is absolutely true. I did a video called Story of a Switcher. But they asked me to be on the Ace Advisory Committee after that video, which is now the Customer Association. And I met an editor named Paul Rebell on that show. And at the time, I was working at Photochem doing tapeless dailies. And Avengers 1 was the first movie they shot on the Alexa camera. They didn't really know how the workflow was going to work. So they needed someone in editorial that understood those workflows. So he asked me to come on board. And two weeks later, I'm hired. I'm quitting my job at Photochem working on Avengers 1. So thanks, Avid. Well, you're welcome. Yeah. It was true.

Speaker 2: It was true. So Robin had a technical skill set that was really needed. He understood the Avid. He understood Alexa. He understood those workflows. And he was in the right place at the right time. But having that technical knowledge was really, really valuable because nobody else at the time had it. It was a big movie.

Speaker 3: It's a pretty boilerplate now. But back then, people were like, how does this work?

Speaker 2: It's about keeping current and stuff like that. But again, so what we did was Robin was basically doing dailies on that movie. Matt Schmidt was the first. I came on to work with Paul. Paul ended up leaving the movie, and I finished the film. The crew that was on Avengers 1 sort of evolved into the crew that we had on. Matt Schmidt, who was a first assistant, he moved up and became my co-editor. Robin, who was an apprentice or assistant editor, moved up and became the first assistant. So they all grew with the movies as we went along. And then other people that we brought up, Hector Padilla, who was our second assistant, he was a PA. And we got him into the union. He moved into the assisting job. All those people started at a low level with just really great attitude, incredible technical skills, and the ability to really work together well. And we sort of just kept the people we liked working with, and that's how the crew evolved. But the idea of working as a team is central to filmmaking, and understanding that from a distance is really a critical thing. And I try to do what I can in terms of mentoring people. Certainly, I want to hire assistants who want to be editors. I don't want assistants coming in who want to be career assistants. I want people coming in on my crew that want to replace me. That's the goal. That needs to be their goal. Because I want them to learn. I want them to cut. I want them to be part of that. And it's important to me because also it makes me check my thinking. If you're trying to tell somebody how to do something, it means you're rethinking the way that you do something. And I think that's really a valuable way to, as an artist and a craftsperson, I mean that helps me be a better editor. So it's a symbiotic relationship. I think it's critical to have that. So again, to your point of getting started, finding people that you can work for who you respect and have a relationship with as a mentor-mentee relationship, that's really important too. Because you just learn a lot from people who've gone before you. And you can reach out to people, by the way, too. This is something I tell people. If there's somebody that you have questions, you can reach out to people and write them an email. You may not get through. Maybe they don't respond. But it doesn't hurt to try and say, Hey, I like your work. I'd love any advice you have for me. It's amazing. The film community is made up of people who, just like everybody, they get the bug and they go, I want to make movies. Everybody had that experience. It's a very common experience. You can ask Joe and Anthony Russo. They have the same story that I had, basically. It's like they made Super 8 movies. They want to make movies. It's fun. That's how it all starts. So reaching out and looking for people to get advice from is a really great way to get a foothold.