University of Miami graduate Gretchen Schroeder, B.S.C. in Motion Pictures ’15, accepted a position as an American Cinema Editors Intern. Only two recent college graduates with experience in, and a passion for, film editing are chosen nation-wide to be a part of this four-week program each year. Schroeder is one of only two UM alumni who have been offered this internship; the other UM alumna who interned at ACE is Rachel Schreibman, B.S.C. Motion Pictures ’10, in 2011.
Christina Lane, Chair of the Department of Cinema and Interactive Media, noted how having a graduate of the Motion Pictures program offered this prestigious internship is indicative of the high caliber education students receive at the School of Communication.
“Gretchen’s success shines a light on the great strengths and skills that we cultivate at the School of Communication as well as her unique talent. It has been a pleasure to watch her flourish over her time here and now the ACE award promises to open many professional doors,” says Lane.
Schroeder, a double major in Motion Pictures and Art, received the news on Sunday, January 10. She immediately packed up her life in Miami and drove for three days to Los Angeles.
Interns spend one week of the program in a scripted television, feature, and a reality television editing room. They also spend time in post-production facilities, including the lab, sound effects and music editing rooms, and the telecine room. The telecine allows a motion picture originally captured on film stock to be transferred into video, allowing the film to be viewed with standard video equipment.
Schroeder spent the first week of the internship shadowing the editor of a feature piece. The following week, she and the other intern will be going to post-production houses. The third week she will be shadowing editors of Madame Secretary, and the final week will be spent at the reality show The Voice.
ACE interns are also expected to write an article for ACE’s CinemaEditor magazine, as well as attend the Eddie Awards.
While the internship is only four weeks long, participants are expected to remain in Los Angeles afterwards to pursue their careers in editing while fulfilling other responsibilities and attending other events.
“[ACE] really drives home that the only way to edit and edit successfully is to be in LA just because of the amount of jobs here and the amount of opportunities,” Schroeder said.
According to Schroeder the goal of the program is to teach the interns assistant editing. She eventually hopes to move up the ranks from assistant editor to editor. Editors get more of the creative side, whereas assistant editing is more analytical.
“It’s a long process because you have to have experience and you have to build your skill set and the technology is constantly changing, so you have to be available to learn new things,” Schroeder said.
As for right now, Schroeder is focused on being the best assistant editor she can be.
“I am very excited to be moving to Los Angeles to begin my career in editing, and I am so thankful for all of the support of my University of Miami family,” Schroeder said.
