Breaking Into Commercial Editing

Editing is the unglamorous, often unsung, underappreciated, and unrecognized backbone of nearly every kind of media production. Movie stars and directors get much of the fame and glory, but everything on set means nothing if it can’t come together into something cohesive—not just whittling down the best bits, but actually creating plot, emotion, and characters out of the footage. Putting the creative work into editing that it requires, at any scale or in any industry, for the little recognition you receive in return, isn’t a job for everyone. But for those of us who find it fascinating and fulfilling, finding a way to do it as a career isn’t so straightforward. Here is one way in.

Likely the most popular, reliable, and profitable manifestation of editing work, commercial and advertisement editing is the first stop for many aspiring editors. Commercials are a constant and nearly infinitely refreshing industry, and even in the age of AI, nearly all premium brands have massive budgets meant for churning out commercials—called “spots” within the industry—on consistent quarterly cycles. The size of the advertising industry has brought with it an entire post-production ecosystem, made up of large offices and companies that specialize in finishing those commercials, called “post houses.” While these companies often include multiple post-production services under one roof, from color to sound, the cornerstone of most of them still lies in editing.

Post houses can range from independent studios with one or two editors, to small boutiques with 6–12, to massive operations with 100 employed editors and even more freelancers cycling through. At any of these post houses, each editor is supported by at least one—and sometimes two—assistant editors: people who help load and prepare the footage for editing and assist in cutting rough cuts and assemblies.

It’s this assistant editor job that you, as a young editor, should be gunning for.

Because of the demand and high turnover, most large post houses are bringing on new assistants at least every few months, and often need people on a rolling basis. Assisting can be a high-stress, high-intensity job. The turnaround on many of these commercials can be as short as a few days, meaning the margins for error are small. Assistant editors need to be extremely comfortable in Avid and Premiere, and able to adapt quickly to different editors’ specifications and workflows. This may sound intimidating at first, but unlike 20 years ago, when the only way to access these tools was through apprenticeships or expensive film schools, today most computers can handle this software, and YouTube has hours of content that can teach you the ins and outs of all of it.

If you can spend the time to learn Avid well on your own, and feel extremely comfortable using it, then reach out to a few local post houses and offer to be a freelance assistant. Sooner than you think, you’ll get a response asking you to help load a job. Come in early and get everything prepared ahead of your deadline so you have plenty of time to adjust or make changes if your editor has notes.

Working as an assistant can last anywhere from one to three years on average, but slowly, as your confidence and your relationships with editors grow, you’ll be assigned your own versions of commercials. If the main edit is a 90-second commercial, it may be your job to cut the 60. As those opportunities grow, you’ll eventually be trusted with your own jobs and can start looking to other post houses and clients to lead commercials yourself.

It’s a slow and steady path, but in an industry where so much feels out of your hands, an Adobe trial, YouTube, and the willingness to keep showing up are completely within your control. Start there, and let the work speak for itself.