Welcome to another edition of the Auteur Edit: diary of a female film director — a short roundup of what’s keeping me sane, inspired and awestruck in the madness that is the media arts business — plus my take on the trends, tech and tips for achieving creative success.

Let's get to the list.

* My studio. Most editors who use DaVinci Resolve, are pretty familiar with Blackmagic’s line of speed editing keyboards — designed to make editing more efficient. Maybe not as widely known but worth considering is a better way to streamline the process for mixing and editing audio tracks. While its line of stand alone studio consoles are used by larger broadcast and film studios — the Blackmagic Fairlight desktop keyboard — is equally efficient at sound design editing. Let’s call it the indie audio engineer’s tool of the craft. Also portable — sets up wherever you do — it comes at a price point smaller studios can swing.

* My desk. Speaking of sound design, I’m currently reviewing principal photography footage — like the screenshot you see — that’s set to go to edit for a documentary I recently directed. Premised on addressing an overlooked niche with women in film, its all I can reveal at this point — except to say it was really a joy to film.

* My watch list. The New York Times released its ‘100 Best Movies of the Century’ list and its quite a list — I’ve seen many of them. But Parasite — which took the number one spot — I’m ashamed to say I haven’t seen yet. Although, I plan to do so before the summer is up. Until I do, I’m comfortable calling these my top five from the list: Kathryn Bigelow’s Hurt Locker, Jordan Peele’s Get Out, Greta Gerwig’s Ladybird, Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash and Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings. In that order.

* My cart. My new favorite summer sandal — the jelly — seen everywhere is bringing back all kinds of nostalgia. These were a summer wardrobe staple back in the day for girls like me, and the present day iteration has taken on a life of its own with every kind of style imaginable. The jelly flats from Anthropologie appealed to me since I need something more practical than a wedge that still looks decent when working. Can I tell you, these are so comfortable! I bought the matte brown and although those are sold out there are other colors like this green — which is now leaving me a little envious. Let me just say, these are not my school-girl jellies — they’re the glow up for grownups.

* My reads. Six-percent not 100-percent. That’s the figure Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) is more comfortable with when it comes to slashing the budgets of public broadcasters like PBS — as part of a $9 billion foreign aid claw back proposed by President Trump. He said as much during a recent interview — with the caveat that it would have to be a 6-percent cut across the board. Sounds potentially sensible for an indie filmmaking haven like PBS, except, Paul admits his proposal is probably a non-starter since Congress is expected to pass the president’s version — which would slash 100 percent of government funds allotted to publicly funded media — when it takes the measure up by the end of week.

That’s another Auteur Edit. Content links are embedded in the article. I hope you found something useful. Thanks for your support. I’d love to hear what you think or might want to add to today’s list.

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