Please Note: “The safety and well-being of our Members, Intern Applicants and employees is American Cinema Editors top priority. As a result of this unprecedented pandemic and in line with direction provided by health experts, the official date of the Internship Program may be adjusted.”
ACE Internship Program
Open Date – May 1st each year
Close Date – June 30th each year
Internship Program Structure
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The cost to apply is $100 and includes the “Lecture Series” which ALL applicants are invited to attend. ACE selects two applicants for an Internship Program each year. This program gives an opportunity to talented and highly motivated college graduates who wish to pursue a career in post-production motion picture and TV editorial. Please note: Applicants are notified in early August regarding the status of their applications.
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The structure of the ACE Internship Program emphasizes assistant picture editing. The program includes:
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Orientation (begins day of in-person interviews), interns are assigned editing rooms where they shadow assistant editors.
Observation of work in a variety of editing venues: scripted television, features, and reality television.
Exploration of post production facilities: lab, telecine room, VFX house, sound effects and music editing rooms, ADR and dub stages.
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These offer the opportunity to observe different styles and requirements of each room and see what assistant editors are expected to deliver during the making of a project. It is an opportunity for interns to absorb, question, compare and contrast what they’ve learned in school and on the job. During this time there are many opportunities to network with other interns, assistant editors, editors and filmmakers. Before and after the program, the Internship Committee meets with the interns to prepare, encourage, and mentor them. Interns are expected to:
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-Email a daily journal to their assigned mentor (an ACE member) recapping what they have learned each day of the program.
-Attend the ACE Holiday Party where interns receive their plaques of participation.
-Work at the ACE Blue Ribbon Panel screenings where ACE members vote for films nominated for an Eddie Award.
-Attend the Eddie Nominee Cocktail Party where interns receive their plaques of participation.
-Attend the Eddie Awards and black-tie banquet after-party.
-Work at the Invisible Art, Visible Artist event (where a panel of the current Oscar nominees screen sequences from their films) the day prior to the Academy Awards.
-Write an article for the ACE Cinema Editor Magazine describing his or her experience.
-Give a short speech at the ACE Annual Meeting describing your experience with the ACE Internship Program.
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It is also expected that ACE interns will return the following year to participate in the orientation of new interns. This helps foster the basic ideology of mentoring.
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The Lecture Series & EditFest Global
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The ACE Internship Program begins with a seminar which ALL applicants are invited to attend. In addition, all applicants will be invited to ACE’s new EditFest Global event in August. Both events will be held on Zoom this year. You will receive an invitation to join us just prior to the event dates. The cost for both events are included in the application fee.
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It takes place in October, and consists of four separate panels of Editors and Assistant Editors with a wide variety of experience in features, scripted television, and reality. Over the course of the lecture series, attendees will learn what it takes to become a successful assistant editor in the TV/film industry.
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The lecture topics are:
Lecture #1
Getting Started, Etiquette in the cutting room, Protocol, and Skills
Lecture #2
Assisting in TV and Features: From Dailies to Online
Lecture #3
ACE Editors: How We Got Our Breaks
Lecture #4
Editors / Assistants in Reality TV: An Insiders View
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Over the past few years, we have hosted the panels with some wonderful and talented ACE editors, including: Angus Wall, Mary Jo Markey, Pam Wise, Matt Chessé, Stephen Mirrione, Steve Rivkin, John Refoua, Bonnie Koehler, Briana London, Susanne Malles, Alan Heim, Michael Tronick, Maysie Hoy, Tina Hirsch, Mark Goldblatt, Diana Friedberg, Troy Takaki, Stephen Lovejoy, Chris Cooke, Hunter Via, Tom Cross, Fred Raskin, Alan Bell, Dody Dorn, Maryann Brandon, Dan Lebental and many more.
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*Food/Refreshments provided during The Lecture Series
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Internship Success
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It was launched in 1992 and is run by Tyler Nelson and Carsten Kurpanek, both of whom are former ACE interns themselves having graduated in 2006 and 2008 respectively and now working film editors.
Since the inception of the ACE Internship Program, many of those who have gone through the program have gone on to have successful careers in editorial. Here are just a few:
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Hunter Via (2001 intern) – Editor of The Chi, Snowfall, The Walking Dead – ACE Eddie Winner for The Walking Dead
Joi McMillon (2004 intern) – Editor of Moonlight, Girls, Togetherness – Academy Award Nominated for Moonlight
Gretchen Schroeder (2016 intern) – Assistant Editor on Avatar 2, Post PA on Star Wars: The Last Jedi