EDITOR'S NOTE

Declaration of Independents
by Tomm Carroll

Did you hear the one about the Jewish editor who cut the Muslim comedy? That's not the set-up to a joke but rather to this issue's cover story. As part of the "Independent Filmmaking" theme of this edition, we take a look at the career of Anita Brandt Burgoyne, who has made the jump from cutting television series and movies into editing feature films—most of them indie and every one a comedy. Consequently, she's become known as a "comedy editor." Her current project finds her working with one of the industry's most acclaimed comic filmmakers, the very independent-minded Albert Brooks, on his controversially titled Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World. Assistant editor and freelance writer Angela Barton interviews Burgoyne and Brooks about the film and their working relationship.

While those two are working together for the first time, other editor-director collaborations in indie film are longtime affairs: Take Jay Rabinowitz, who has been cutting for Jim Jarmusch since 1986 (and more recently for Darren Aronofsky), and Barry Alexander Brown, who has worked on nearly every Spike Lee "joint" for the past 20 years. Writer Rob Feld talks to Rabinowitz and Jarmusch, whose Broken Flowers recently opened in theatres, while regular Editors Guild Magazine contributor Kevin Lewis profiles Brown as well as Leander Sales, an assistant editor on Lee's films for the better part of a decade.

In the audio arena, New York-based sound editors and mixers are often employed on independent and low-budget projects from first-time filmmakers. Writer Michael Kunkes talks to several of them about their experiences and the benefits they find in being a part of the city's indie scene. In another article, Kunkes considers the task of story analysts and how their coverages are affected (or not) by a screenplay's designation as an "independent" film.

Wrapping up our themed stories, Guild Field Representatives Annie Ballard and Catherine Cusimano offer members a summary of the union's various Independent and Low-Budget Agreement contracts for the East and West Coast, respectively. It's not only helpful, it's necessary fine print to read for those who work (or are considering it) in the indie realm.

On the labor front, Board member Jeff Burman reports on the 65th International IATSE Convention held in Honolulu, Hawaii in July, and also devotes nearly the entirety of his regular "Labor Matters" column to the fracture in the AFL-CIO that occurred during its biennial convention this summer, representing the biggest blow to organized labor since the 1930s. On a much more positive note, the Editors Guild scored two back-to-back coups in unionizing reality television editors recently; Guild National Organizer Tris Carpenter writes about the successful drives in his "Getting Organized" column.

And finally, adding a little color to our technology coverage, Bill Stetz, stepping out from his art director position with this magazine—contributes a Tech Tip on the importance of color management in post-production, while the ubiquitous Kunkes investigates the 3cP color correction program, which offers a unified image control standard from production to post.

As always, thanks for reading.