Behind The Edit: Nancy Novack
In today’s blog, I’m excited to share what I’ve learned from my interview talking with Hollywood Editor Nancy Novack about Documentary Editing. Her credits include All In: The Fight For Democracy, Take My Nose… Please!, and Grass Is Greener to name a few. If you haven’t seen the interview yet, check it out here:
No Script.
One of my biggest takeaways from this interview was the subtle fact that Nancy and her team DID NOT have a script for All In: The Fight For Democracy. In my limited knowledge of how editing documentaries behind the scenes work, I for sure thought that a documentary at this magnitude would be “scripted” because of how well-done this film was made.
Nancy explained that they used index cards and mapped out the film on a cork board, which sounds a lot like what you do during the writing process. So they basically were editing and writing the movie all at the same time, along with creating animations, text elements, and creative visuals to get the message across.
I can’t even imagine the amount of footage they had in their bins. One of my favorite quotes from Nancy was:
“I look at Editing like a big giant file cabinet” -Nancy Novack
If you’ve read my interview with The Halseys, this is quite similar to how Hollywood Editor Colleen Halsey, ACE thinks as well when she’s working, she relates Film Editing to a huge library and the importance of being extremely organized.
What was also interesting that Nancy shared was that if she wasn’t an Editor, she’d be a “Film Archival Producer” because she loved doing the research and enjoyed learning about history. This person would then provide the Editorial team with stock footage, news clippings, archival material, and extra assets that would allow the Editor to use for B-Roll. So hey, if you’re interested in a responsibility like that, check out the Film Archival Producer route. I’m sure A LOT of Documentaries are in high demand of that position.
Anyway, regardless of what position you’re in when creating a documentary, being Organized is the most important skill you’ll need to have. And that means being able to locate a shot within 5-10 minutes or less. Have a “solid library” - know where everything is in your head. A small trick to know if you’ve organized something well is if you can track it in your head.
If it’s too hard to find, you’ve placed it in too many directories. If it’s too cluttered together with other files, you need to categorize them better. Try this and see if it works for you.
Morals & Ethics of Documentaries.
The section of the interview I really found interesting was when Nancy shared her stance on this topic of the Morals & Ethics of Documentaries. I brought up the famous Spiderman line (which Nancy worked on that film as well as an Assistant Editor), “With great power, comes great responsibility” - How does an Editor deal with the truth when creating documentaries?
Nancy recalls a Director telling her once, “I can only put things in a film where I could sit there in a court room and say yes, this is the truth. However, to think that a documentary doesn’t manipulate the truth in some way is a false thought.”
I think that’s the most genuine and truthful answer you could say and it’s extremely well-put. To me, a documentary by nature is given from a specific point of view so of course it will be biased. But the facts, imagery, and content should be told truthfully and that’s where we learn. It always feels good to watch a really good documentary and then come out of it knowing that you learned something new or are placed in a different perspective than your own. It’s content that challenges our beliefs or makes us aware of something we know little about. That doesn’t always happen with most films so I admire that aspect of Documentaries.
Road to Hollywood Editing.
What I also loved about Nancy’s path was that she didn’t know that she wanted to become an Editor - she had a lot of interests, but it was only when her husband told her to speak with some of his co-workers who were in Music Editing that really inspired her. She then met a lot of people in the building they were in, she described it similar to a dorm room, walking around with her resume and telling everyone that she really wanted to work in the edit room.
Side note, I love this because we’re always hopped into thinking that we have to figure everything out as soon as we become adults or graduate college. It’s completely okay to like Editing now and then not like Editing in a couple years. I myself had times where I wanted to quit too because of the freelance lifestyle, the long hours, and the stress it’s given me on some gigs. That’s a real thing.
I’ve also had to sacrifice a lot: relationships, traveling home for Christmas to see my family back east, birthday events I wanted to go to, etc. That’s the reality of it, it’s going to be difficult. I want to have fun too as a young professional. But I’m getting better at this. That’s why I’m a huge advocate for always pursuing a balanced lifestyle.
If there’s anything that you can learn from this blog post, it would be this: Don’t be afraid to take up passions outside of editing - this is important. Honestly, it makes you a more grounded and balanced person. You could be the best editor in the world but it’s also healthy to experience being the worst runner or surfer in the world. Living out those experiences humbles you and makes you realize that Editing is not the center of our world. It’s up there but it’s not everything.
Your well-being and happiness is everything (if you’re curious what the center is).
Also who knows, that other passion might help you out in a future project you edit or it wins you the interview because your experiences being a Video-game Twitch Streamer (which I’m currently pursuing as well right now, twitch.tv/getemfonz if you want to follow and check me out) is the type of person they’re looking for! You just never know.
Anyway, more on Nancy’s early beginnings - she ended up finding a Mentor, Susanne Pillsbury, that told her, “I can’t pay you but I’ll teach you everything I know”. Nancy agreed excitedly.
These are the moments that I live for, I really loved hearing this experience because it reminded me about the times when Editors allowed me to sit in their cutting room and watch them work. It’s honestly one of the most coolest moments, especially when you’re starting out, you sit with an Editor who’s willing to share you their day-to-day and how they approach scenes. It’s what this business & my channel is built on - to give advice and share all that I know.
So soon after that experience, Nancy found a home in Editing, assisting on films like Awakenings (with acclaimed Hollywood Editor Jerry Greenberg), Spiderman, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and then eventually moving onto editing feature-length documentaries, and establishing herself as an A-list Hollywood Editor.
Assistant Editors.
I loved hearing what Nancy had to say about how she gives her Assistant Editors a chance to be creative. Whether it’s through temp sound design or temp visual effects work, she tries really hard to get her Assistants to be creative during the editing process. If you watch the interview, I literally stop and say “Thank you!” haha because it’s true, I personally love when Editors give Assistants a chance to be part of the process and not just the person who’s in charge of logging/data management. It makes my job mean so much more and makes me feel a sense of pride because I’m part of that process. So again, thank you Nancy for this.
“Often I will ask an Assistant to replace a scene with music that I’m not happy with anymore, which is good practice for them to do temp scoring. I’ll ask them if they’re good with graphics and to temp up graphics work. That’s when they get to be creative. I hate that the assistant editor job right now is mostly logging.” -Nancy Novack
Nancy also shares that she loves teaching and hearing opinions from her Assistants when she’s working so she definitely relies a lot on her Assistants to gauge what’s working and what’s not working.
Music Editing.
The last topic that we talked about was Nancy’s expertise in Music Editing. If you haven’t seen All In: The Fight For Democracy, Grass Is Greener, or Take my Nose… Please!, you must check them out just for Nancy’s meticulous editing in music. It’s honestly surgical. The way that she’s ahead of the viewer and uses music to drive scenes is a big enough reason to watch her documentaries for.
In the interview with Nancy, she shares that Music is extremely important to her when shaping a scene together, picking the right music cue happens in the beginning of the edit and not afterwards.
That’s interesting and bold because you run the risk of getting tied to the rhythm of music instead of actually editing the scene through its own heartbeat. But that’s why Nancy knows what type of Music to choose before even editing. It’s an important vetting process for her that takes her hours to find the right type of music because she knows that if this music doesn’t work out, her whole edit needs to be redone. Wild, right?!
In Conclusion
So show of hands, who wants to be in Documentaries? haha it’s a daunting field to be in but I can only imagine how rewarding and satisfying it is to create one. The long hours and never-ending amount of research to pull something off like All In: The Fight For Democracy is just incredible.
I for one will be watching more documentaries and empathizing with the editors on all of them after listening to Nancy speak on how much work it takes to edit one. If you have any recommendations on documentaries you’ve seen that you think would be a great watch, let me know in the comments below!
Anyways, thank you so much for reading my blog post on Nancy Novack’s career as a Hollywood Documentary Editor. I’d like to thank Nancy Novack for allowing me to interview her and for sharing all of her experiences, insight, and advice for us aspiring Hollywood Editors. And a special thank you to Rachel Aberly and her team at 42 West for setting this interview up.
If you want to pursue a career like Nancy’s, I do 1-on-1 mentorship calls to help you get started. Whether it’s documentaries, scripted television, or feature films, I’ll tell you how to break into the Hollywood Editing industry and give you a realistic road map of what you need to do. You can schedule a Mentorship Call here.
Last but not least, please follow me on all social media platforms: Instagram (@askthefonz), Twitter (@askthefonz), TikTok (@askthefonz), Facebook (@askthefonz), and LinkedIn (@askthefonz) because I give weekly editing tips and advice and you don’t want to miss those!
Thanks again for checking out the blog, I hope you found something useful here, ‘til next time!
-Alfonso