All my life, I have had a knack for doing things in a non-traditional way. The portion of film editing I carried out in LA for my upcoming feature documentary was no exception to the rule.
Though a professional Hollywood editor had been involved in the process at some point, when I arrived in LA and started working on the film with my own hands on a brand new Macbook Pro, it became clear to me and the producers that I was to finish the movie by myself.
This realization caught me by surprise more than anybody else, because as a first-time feature director, I had always assumed that I would never be able to do the work without the help of a seasoned feature editor.
As things were, what I had learnt from the talented Rosario Suarez in Buenos Aires and some interesting ideas of my producer John Case, who also tried his hand at cutting the film, with the added incentive of the perfect LA weather created a perfect setting for me to finally let the film unravel before my eyes with the full colors of its emotional journey.
I edited in Long Beach at a desk by a window covered by beautiful purple flowers, I edited in Woodland Hills, sitting at my friend’s dining room table, cause the desk in my room was rather uncomfortable, and I edited poolside at an impressive mansion in Hollywood hills, with quite a bit of tanning added into the bargain.
Those were prolific days. I was inspired by the sheer beauty of summertime LA, the proximity of some of my best friends in the world and their lovely families, and the positive reactions of our improvised screening committees.
It is hard to do creative work like this on a tight schedule. Sometimes, you have the time but not the ideas or viceversa.
In LA, I had it all.
These are some photos taken with my computer’s webcam at different points in the editing.
I have actually finished the film’s cut in Montevideo, but the Uruguayan winter is hardly as glamorous as the LA summer, so, no pictures of that. It was kind of nice editing by the fireplace at my house, though.