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Australian film editor Kate Hickey decamped to the United States shortly after graduating from the Sydney Film School in 2005. Now living and working in Los Angeles, Kate's credits include high-profile features The Town (Ben Affleck, 2010) and Whip It (Drew Barrymore, 2009).
She speaks to Rowena Robertson about the craftof editing and an important personal project - her debut feature documentary.
What piqued your interest in editing and where did you study it?
I was working in advertising straight out of the University of Sydney, and then I did a short film for Tropfest. We hired an editor, and I saw how much he could do technically, how he could create atmosphere and how he had the power to make or break the film. I thought, 'That's a skill I want - that's my chosen thing.' Then I quit my job in advertising and went to [Sydney Film School] to learn the craft.
You learnt how to edit on a Steenbeck (an analogue, flatbed film editing suite). What were the benefits of having that, rather than digital editing, as a starting point?
I think the benefits are that it gives you a deeper understanding of each step of the process. It teaches you patience and makes you really work for that first assembly and that is something you'll never forget. A great 'first love affair' I guess. You can't help thinking about all those old movies you grew up with and loved having been cut on film and feel somewhat connected. Digital is very much about instant gratification. People these days lack the appreciation of editing's origins and history.
How did your editing career proper start off? What were some of your early jobs and what did you learn on them?
My first proper editing job was cutting together family footage for home videos. It was really about making [the family members] into stars in their own right, and coming up with a little story and putting it to music and sound effects. My interest has always been in biopics/documentary/true stories, so that suited me fine; even though it wasn't a high-profile job, it was...