SNL Editor Adam Epstein: 6 Pieces of Advice for Editors and Other Creative People

Tribecafilm by Adam Epstein

If there’s anything the Internet is good for, it’s haphazardly blasting out opinions – preferably in a bullet-pointed list! So to that end, here’s a fun-time grab-bag jamboree of technical insight and creative advice

One of the side products of getting older, apart from the emergence of World Series MVPs and internet millionaires who were born while you were in high school, is the fact that people start asking you for professional advice. This has been an odd notion for me to wrap my head around, as I still see myself as a somewhat stunted buffoon who now just happens to have a couple gray hairs and a few nicer shirts -- so far, it seems to be a convincing adult costume.

That being said, I’ve spent enough hours in multi-monitored rooms working with both talented individuals and, um, other people, on projects ranging from 5 second off-air promos to studio-produced feature films to have developed some opinions about what I find important to my creative process. And if there’s anything the Internet is good for, it’s haphazardly blasting out opinions – preferably in a bullet-pointed list! So to that end, here’s a fun-time grab-bag jamboree of technical insight and creative advice – it’s coming from an editorial-centric perspective, but apply as needed and call a doctor in case of unexplained rashes. I’m sure he’ll recommend an enormous grain of salt.

And for an added level of intrigue, some of the advice is NOT advice, but instead, selections from an erotic techno-thriller novella I’m working on called Science Friction. I leave it up to you to figure out which is which. To the big board! read more...