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Editing · Stage 1

Edit Assistant

Keep the editor cutting: how the cutting room works, and how you get your first day at the assistant's desk.

Most people picture the editor's chair; this course is about the room that makes it possible. What a cutting room does from rushes to picture lock, the assistant's day, the Avid workflows to know before you apply, where Stage 1 experience comes from, and the CV and approaches that get a first day.

2 hours · 6 modules · 18 lessons

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What you’ll learn

  • Be able to describe the cutting room hierarchy (editor, 1st and 2nd assistant, trainee) and what the room does in pre-production, during the shoot and in post, through to picture lock and the turnovers.
  • Know what an assistant's day contains (ingest, checking against the reports, sync, bins and metadata, backups, outputs, AAFs, EDLs and change lists) and what good looks like on day one.
  • Have a list of the Avid Media Composer assistant workflows to learn, know how to practise them free with Resolve and real rushes, and have an honest scored skills audit.
  • Know the seven places cutting room experience comes from at Stage 1, the UK rules on pay, unpaid placements, hours and confidentiality, and how to look after yourself at the desk.
  • Have drafted a one-page Stage 1 CV titled for the job, with a software section a 1st assistant would believe, and know how to approach 1sts and post supervisors without annoying them.
  • Know the map of UK editing (studios, Soho, the factual clusters, commercials and trailers), the ladder from runner to editor, where else the same skills get you hired, and be able to certify honestly against MFJF's five Stage 1 exit statements.

Where this leads

By the end you will have written your own Stage 1 plan, checked yourself against MFJF's five Stage 1 statements, and know exactly what to do next: a mentor clinic, an Academy workshop, and Stage 2, the HotList.

Finish the course and you can build your personal plan: MFJF's three-stage planner for this role, ticked from Your Profile and your CV, with dated next steps and the CV line each one becomes.

Module 1

The role and the cutting room

20 min

What a cutting room does from the first rushes to picture lock, who is in it, and what the assistant does all day to keep the editor cutting.

  1. readThe cutting room: who is in it and what it does8 min
  2. readAn assistant's day, during the shoot and in post8 min
  3. checkCheck: the room and the job4 min
Module 2

Before day one: software, media and the words

20 min

The Avid workflows an assistant must be fluent in and how to learn them free, the paperwork the room lives on, the vocabulary, the ten tips, and an honest audit of where you are.

  1. readThe software to learn now: Avid first, Resolve free, and the rest of the kit7 min
  2. readThe reports, the words and the ten tips6 min
  3. taskTask: your skills self-audit7 min
Module 3

Getting experience at Stage 1

20 min

Where cutting room experience really comes from, the rules on pay, unpaid work, hours, confidentiality and looking after yourself, and three routes you can act on this month.

  1. readWhere cutting room experience really comes from7 min
  2. readThe rules: pay, unpaid work, hours, the union, confidentiality and safety6 min
  3. taskTask: find three routes this month7 min
Module 4

Your CV, cover letter and first approaches

20 min

What a Stage 1 edit assistant CV contains, the software section that gets it read, the email, how to approach 1sts and post supervisors, and what a reference means in this trade.

  1. readThe Stage 1 CV, the email and the approach8 min
  2. taskTask: draft your Stage 1 CV outline8 min
  3. checkCheck: the CV and the approach4 min
Module 5

The industry around the role

20 min

The map of UK editing, the departments the assistant touches, the ladder from runner to editor, where else the skills get you hired, the bodies, and the library for this course.

  1. readThe map: where the rooms are, who you deal with, and the ladder8 min
  2. resourcesThe library: do these in order8 min
  3. checkCheck: the map and the ladder4 min
Module 6

Your plan: Stage 1 to Stage 2

20 min

Turn everything into one saved plan, then certify yourself honestly against the five Stage 1 exit statements and know what to do next on MFJF.

  1. plannerPlanner: your route into the cutting room10 min
  2. readHow you know you are ready for Stage 26 min
  3. checkCheck: ready for Stage 2?4 min
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Sources and references

Where this course comes from. Open any of them yourself.

What this course was written from

Every link checked 19 September 2026.

You are not doing this alone

You have your own personal career mentor

That is us, the MFJF team. Book an MFJF Mentor Session with us every month: we guide you through this journey and answer all your questions, from which job is yours to your CV and your next application.

Book my MFJF Mentor Session

Where next

Your recommended next steps

Picked for Editing. Signed in, they follow your stage and the roles your answers point to. See your whole MFJF journey, step by step →

  1. My MFJF JourneyOne page for everything MFJF has built, in the order you need it.
  2. My Reading ListThe books, blogs and bodies you have saved, in one place.
  3. Start the Stage 1 course: EditingTwo hours on what the job is, how people get in and what to do first.
  4. Get on the HotListPut yourself in front of productions looking for crew.
  5. Join MFJF DayPlayersDay work on productions for crew with the credits and the skills.
  6. Find your role in the career plannersEvery entry-level job by department, with a three-stage planner for each.
  7. Read the career guidesWhat each job is, the day, the way in and the pay: one guide for every role.
  8. See how it all fits on the career maps17 maps of how films get made: the people, the process and the departments.
  9. Who works whereEvery department on a shoot and every kind of film company: who is in each and what they do.
  10. Industry EssentialsThe books, industry bodies, websites and blogs worth knowing, department by department.
  11. Read the MFJF Survival GuidesStraight answers to what everyone starting out asks: how long it takes, what you get paid, and what to do every day.
  12. MFJF Academy workshopsLive sessions with people who do the job, and the monthly career clinic.
  13. Build your CV with the CV BuilderThe industry's format, built from your profile and your current CV.

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