Editor / Documentary Collaborator

NY 411; New York (NY); On-site; USD 11,160 - 16,740; Part time

Job summary

Life Force Films is seeking a smart and collaborative editor to work on a behind-the-scenes documentary about a senior thesis short film production in New York City. The role focuses on shaping a coherent documentary from ~2.5 hours of diverse footage.

Key qualifications include documentary editing instincts, strong organizational skills, and proficiency with Final Cut Pro. The budget for this project is low, at approximately $1,000-$1,500 max total. There may also be future opportunities for additional paid work.

Qualifications

• Experience with documentary or interview-driven editing.
• Strong organizational and dialogue/audio editing skills.
• Ability to shape vérité/BTS material into coherent stories.

Responsibilities

• Edit approximately 2.5 hours of 4K footage into a 15-25 minute documentary.
• Organize and label media for transparency throughout the project.
• Collaborate effectively with the director while maintaining creative control.

Skills

Documentary or interview-driven editing instincts

Strong sense of story, rhythm, pacing, and emotional structure

Audio syncing, cleanup, dialogue balancing

Final Cut Pro proficiency

Strong media organization habits

Collaborative temperament

Job description

This is a Contracted position in the field of Post Production - Editing, Compositing, Motion Graphics, & Visual Effects, located in Brooklyn, NY.

The position pays $1,000.00 — $15,000.00 per job.

The employer is Life Force Films.

Clicking "Apply" will direct you to apply through ProductionHUB.

I’m looking for a smart, collaborative editor to help shape a behind-the-scenes documentary/featurette about my daughter’s senior thesis short film production. The material: ~2.5 hrs of 4K Sony FX3 footage, interviews with cast, crew, producers, and director, vérité/BTS set footage, hundreds of BTS stills. Target runtime: approximately 15–25 mins. I’m aiming for something more cinematic, thoughtful, funny/human where appropriate, and genuinely process-oriented — a portrait of young artists trying to make something real under actual production conditions. Technical notes: Audio is a bit of an adventure: camera-mounted shotgun, wireless lavs, occasional split-channel chaos. Strong organizational and dialogue/audio editing skills matter. Workflow matters too: I use Final Cut Pro, so FCP workflow compatibility is preferred. I want the project fully organized and transparent throughout: labeled media, synced timelines, clean project structure, incremental saves/backups. I’d like the ability to review, jump into the timeline if necessary, or take over the project in an emergency without needing an archaeological team. Creative control ultimately stays with me, but I’m looking for a real collaborator — someone with documentary instincts, taste, rhythm, emotional intelligence, and ideally a sense of humor about the absurdity of filmmaking. Budget: Low-budget but serious project. Approx. $1,000-$1,500 max total. NYC-based preferred. There may also be opportunities for additional paid editorial work beyond the initial featurette/doc cut, including: EPK/promotional edits, social media cutdowns, teaser/trailer material, archival/festival assets. Those would be discussed separately and are not assumed within the initial scope/budget. Please send: samples/reel (documentary/interview/process-oriented work preferred), editing platform, brief workflow overview, availability/rates. Bonus points if you’ve worked in academic arts environments, indie film, or know how to make people look brilliant without making everything look like a perfume commercial.

Experience

• Documentary or interview-driven editing instincts
• Strong sense of story, rhythm, pacing, and emotional structure
• Ability to shape vérité/BTS material into something cinematic and coherent
• Audio syncing, cleanup, dialogue balancing, and general sound wrangling
• Comfortable navigating mildly chaotic multi-source indie-film audio setups
• Strong media organization habits (PLEASE)
• Final Cut Pro proficiency/compatibility preferredThoughtful use of music, silence, atmosphere, and texture
• Good eye for integrating still photography into moving-image storytelling
• Collaborative temperament and low-drama communication style
• Ability to take notes without spiraling into existential despair
• Reliable project management and deadline follow-through
• Experience with indie film, documentary, student productions, arts organizations, or similarly resourceful environments
• Taste
• Restraint
• A sense of humor helps
• Bonus: If you secretly enjoy watching talented young artists try to pull off something wildly ambitious on too little sleep and not enough money, this may be your genre.