Meet David Bryant | Film & Video Editor, Postproduction Consultant

We had the good fortune of connecting with David Bryant and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi David, how do you think about risk?
In a way, I don’t understand the concept of risk when it comes to what has become my career. What most people describe as risk I see as opportunity assessment and choice. You either step into the circle and announce a willingness to participate or you stand back and hope opportunity presents itself to you.

This approach has little to do with PR or Marketing or Personal Branding. It has more to do with being open and curious when meeting people, identifying key interests in oneself and key practitioners in the field that one wants to work with, and being direct in requests for assistance or advice on how to achieve those ends. Recently, with the passing of Dean Stockwell, I read about how he ended up working for David Lynch the first time. Stockwell showed up in Mexico at the lunchroom for the DUNE shoot. He introduced himself to Lynch and expressed his interest in being in the film. Lynch responded, “I thought you were dead” and that there was no part available. Then the actor who had the part Stockwell wanted to play quit, and Lynch hired Stockwell to replace him.

Looking back on past years I’d say the two greatest opportunities (not risks) I pursued were moving to New York after 8 months of unemployment in my hometown of Portland, Oregon. I had never been to New York before deciding to move there after selling all my possessions and borrowing $1000. Three days later I had a job that paid four times what I’d been earning in Portland. A year later I was working for three of the finest stock film libraries in the US. A year after that my first employer called me out of the blue to see if I might be interested in a job they heard about that made them think of me. I was interested and that led to me being hired by one of the largest ad agencies in the world to run AV in the Board Room. My second week on that job I was asked by the Department Head if I wanted to look at the blueprints for the new Production, Postproduction and Casting Studios. Knowing the skills of my fellow employees I asked, “who is going to operate the editing equipment” and immediately realized that no one had asked that question yet. I was the only one on staff who had any editing experience. Within six months my editorial work had generated more income for the agency than the Production, Casting and Duplication Departments combined. Knowing that, I felt confident in asking to have my salary doubled, and it was. So this is why I say I see opportunity where others see risk.

With all that said, I’d say the greatest risk I take with every job I work on is when I ask the people I’m working with, “what if we tried this instead?”

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
“I believe in being really prepared, working hard, doing everything I can think of to improve it, but staying on budget, staying on schedule, and when it’s over, it’s over and I’m onto the next thing. I’m really dispassionate about it, in that regard.” ~ Steven Soderbergh

When I read this quote my first thought was, someone else in my profession thinks like me! In my case this realization was a product of my work schedule during my New York years, which were always at least 60 hours a week and sometimes reached 100 hours a week. There was just too much work to become ego-attached. This detachment benefited myself and my clients because it gave me the mental space to switch between being an observer and a participant in the creative process. It also created trust in my clients that I had their interests as my first priority, even when I disagreed with any choices they were making.

As for what sets me apart, I must let former clients speak on that:
– “David is a generous & thoughtful conduit. He has a gentle way of getting the job done and has the highest standards as far as quality filmmaking is concerned.”
– “David’s work is thoughtful and creative and he contributes to each project as if it were his own.”
– “David? Extremely creative with a passion for expressing things in new and unusual ways. Easy going but a deep thinker. Open and accessible but drawn to the experimental and avant garde. A great guy. Get to know him!”

What gets me most excited is collaborating with others who fully embrace that process and who are open to changes that improve the end result. An experience that illustrates this was being tasked to create 15, 30, and 90 second commercials for a new business pitch. The footage was gorgeous and the intent was to encourage people to vacation in a particular location. The writer created three spots and in each case they were non-stop dialogue from beginning to end. There was nothing relaxing about the pace of the dialogue but there was in the image edit. I proposed dropping the 90 second script completely, and using the 30-second copy for the 90 and the 15-second copy for the 30, which definitely perturbed the writer. But he trusted me enough to let me give it a try, and when he saw the results he agreed with me.

I had to work hard with every client to generate such levels of trust. Some were unable, others struggled with the process. But those willing to open themselves to the process saw both their bottom line and the quality of their work soar in every case. I’m uncomfortable with the concept of pride because it is frequently deeply entwined with ego, but definitely experienced extreme pleasure when a client or collaborator has thanked me for helping them achieve or exceed their expectations.

What do I want the world to know about my story? If you want a button pusher who only follows orders, swipe left or double your edit budget. If you want a collaborator who completely dedicates themself to the success of the project during the creation process rather than the accolades hoped for after it’s done, that’s where I’m coming from as an editor.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Coming at this spontaneously:

I’d take them to Hoyt Arboretum, Washington Park, The Japanese Garden and the Chinese Garden, the Main Library to see the engraved stairs and Reading Tree sculpture, the extinct volcano in SE Portland for a sunset over the city, and probably a walk across the Tilikum Bridge on the way to see the downtown parks designed by Laurence Halprin. I’d find out if PICA (Portland International Center for the Arts) had anything scheduled and visit their reading room. I’d walk with them through Old Town (purposely skipping Voodoo Donuts), give them a tour of smaller Downtown/Inner Eastside clubs and hopefully end up dancing until the early morning. Restaurants/Cafes I’d take them to include Thien Hong (Chinese/Thai cuisine), Bison Coffee House (Native-owned and operated), Delta Cafe (Cajun), Sengaterra (Ethiopian), Nicolas (Lebanese), Crema Coffee (for their Thai Iced Coffee). We would also spend some time walking the Alberta and St Johns neighborhoods.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
So many people deserve credit for helping me achieve the successes I have realized. Peter Blegvad who picked up the phone when I called him out of the blue my second day in NY because I found his name in the phone book while bored and who commended me for being so bold and helping me realize I wasn’t in Portland anymore. Tom T Taylor, my former filmmaking instructor, who put me in touch with Bob Summers and the stock film library world, which connected me with broadcasters and post facilities. Bob Ratso who hired me at the Ad Agency, Jan Strassenreiter who authorized the salary increase, and Gerard McConville for trying to keep the workload reasonable. Gary Sharfin, who funneled projects to me he didn’t want to do, which led to editing with Van Cliburn at my side for three days and the first feature I worked on. Larry Testa for being both friend and my most consistent client. All the people I worked with at the Agency (I remember your names but you are too many to list) who challenged me and allowed me to challenge them. We opened ourselves to each other and grew individually through our mutual support of each other.

I do have a few book recommendations:
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s ‘Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life’
Joris Ivens’ -The Camera and I’
‘Paul Hammond’s ‘Marvellous Melies’

Other: voxoculi@gmail.com

Image Credits
Design by voxOculi postproduction