Christmas Gifts for Film Editors 2023

Christmas Gifts for Film and Video Editors 2023

The Best Christmas Gifts for Film Editors 2023
Post Production Year End Sales

Need the perfect gift for the film editor in your life? Look no further! This is the best list of gifts for film editors available online today!*

This year, I’ve selected a range of gifts that will suit every budget, from $10 all the way up to $299. There are digital gifts, analogue gifts and a bunch of stuff in between, but hopefully, there is something for everyone!

Here’s a short list of the best Christmas gifts for film editors in 2023:

Monogram Keyboard
Walter Murch’s new book Suddenly Something Clicked (Coming in 2024)
XenceLabs Quick Keys Tablet Keypad
Collectable Blu-ray releases – True Romance in 4K and more!
The Bear Merch – The Original Berf of Chicagoland T-Shirt
Complete Access to 370+ issues of Cut/daily!
Steve Hullfish’s Art of The Cut Vol 2. (Coming in 2024)
AI Credit – Runway.ml, ChatGPT, ElevenLabs, etc.

Need further inspiration? Check out every previous Christmas Gift list here.

*C’est juste une blague, mon ami

Christmas Giveaway – Win Xencelabs Gear!

The good folks at Xencelabs have offer my dear readers the chance to win one of three XenceLabs products in this year’s Christmas giveaway!

There are three prizes to be won for three lucky readers:

2 x XenceLabs Quick Keys
1 x XenceLabs Small Tablet

The Quick Keys is number 3 in my Christmas wishlist this year and sure to be an excellent addition to any editor’s desktop, regardless of whether you already own a tablet or not!

To be in it to win it all you need to do is sign up to my free Post Production newsletter, Cut/daily, which delivers a weekly nugget of Post Insight direct to your inbox every Friday.

I will then pick 3 winners at random from the list of subscribers on Christmas Eve (Dec 24th 2023).

Sign up for free below and either win some excellent XenceLabs hardware or head into 2024 learning a little more about Post Production on a weekly basis!

A Free Gift To You – The Gift of Laughter

This is without doubt, my favourite funny video of 2022, but I wanted to include it here again.

The team at Zulu Alpha Kilo, created this bitingly funny short, delightfully skewering competition case studies. Having edited some of these kinds of case studies myself in the early days of working for different Ad agencies, the whole thing is superbly crafted.

For 2023, this lovely edit from The Bell Brothers, of Elaine’s ‘Little Kicks’ dance transported through cinematic history, is a highlight of editorial creativity.

Post-Production Christmas and End of Year Sales for 2023

I’ll update this section when the sales start rolling in… watch this space.

You could always have a rummage in the Black Friday Post Production Sale list and see if anyone’s still running their sale?

MASTERCLASS.COM HOLIDAY 2-4-1 OFFER

If nothing else, you can make the best cookies of your life…

Take advantage of Masterclass.com’s 2-for-1 holiday offer and get two of their annual all-access subscription for the price of one. That’s a year of creative instruction and inspiration for just $60!

The Math: Masterclass $120/year subscription + free subscription / with a friend = $60.

So find a friend and split the cost to double the learning at half the price!

I am a HUGE fan of Masterclass.com and include a subscription in my best gifts for film editors list almost every single year because learning something new is surely preferable to getting something new?

I have also reviewed many of their existing film courses on the blog, including:

But there are over 180 world-class experts to learn from, so the value of the all-access pass has sky-rocketed in recent years, with new classes added every month.

Here are some of my favourite non-film courses on Masterclass.com

Get inspired and learn from the best; it will help broaden your creative horizons!

RIVERSIDE.FM 20% DISCOUNT CODE

What is it? Riverside.fm is the best way to record a video call when you need pristine quality video and audio and fool-proof ease of use, for even the most technologically nervous end users.

How much do I save? The top tier Pro plan normally costs $288/year but with my exclusive discount code you can save $57!

More info? Over the years I’ve tried lots of other options, here’s why Riverside is the best yet.

I’ve also started using Riverside to record all my meetings and then thrown the transcript through an AI-bot to get instant notes, summaries and to-do lists.

Promo Code? Save 20% on any Riverside.fm membership plan with the promo code: jonnyelwyn

Guess what? Holiday Deals are here! So… now's your chance to save up to 80€ on all Loupedeck Consoles & Bundles.

Order by Dec 15th to receive by Christmas! ?Shop now: https://t.co/EkBpAcoIks #HolidayDeals #Loupedeck #giftideas2023 pic.twitter.com/MhDS4H0Qfv
— Loupedeck (@Loupedeck) December 8, 2023

The Best Christmas Gifts for Film Editors 2023

#1 – Monogram Keyboard

Monogram, creators of the popular Monogram Creative Console (originally called Palette Gear), recently kickstarted their latest product – a multifunctional keyboard with all the bells and whistles a video editor could wish for.

The keyboard features 13 customisable action keys, a control dial, mini oled displays, dedicated media controls and magnetic connectors to extend the functionality to either the new Monogram Multipad (pictured below) or previous Monogram Creative Console elements.

One of the reasons the Monogram Keyboard is on my Christmas wish list this year is not only does it look cool, but it appears that it fulfills my 5 requirements of an efficient peripheral:

The button/interface tells you what it does
The button/interface updates with a change of context
The controller can do more than a keyboard shortcut can (scripts/macros)
The interface is tactile enough to enhance the experience (dials/sliders etc.)
The controller is easy to set up and customise

As with any Kickstarter event there’s always a delay between order and delivery but with Monogram’s solid track record it should be a problem-free wait.

The keyboard will retail for $349 but you can back it on Kickstarter for $299, or get the Multipad by itself for $169 ($199 thereafter) or both for $449.

A generous gift indeed!

#2 – Walter Murch’s next book – Suddenly Something Clicked

The best books on film editor walter murch

Hopefully hitting shelves some time in 2024, legendary editor and sound designer Walter Murch’s next book, Suddenly Something Clicked, is hotly anticipated, especially as it’s been nearly 30 years since his first book, In The Blink of an Eye (1995), changed how many people thought about film editing and what makes for a powerful cut.

You an’t

Having created the Walter Murch-o-pedia, Walter kindly updates me with new resources and insights to add to it from time to time. Hopefully, I’ll also be able to review the book in detail when it’s released.

If the editor in your life hasn’t enjoyed the three books in the photo above, they’re all well worth a read, although Behind the Seen is possibly my personal favourite.

For more Walter Murch-related goodness, click here.

For every book ever reviewed on the blog click here.

#3 – Xence Quick Keys Tablet Keypad

The XenceLabs Quick Keys shortcut device gives you over 40 programmable keys per application to improve your productivity, and comes in the handy slim-line form factor that makes propping it on the side of your pen tablet a pleasant experience.

On sale at only £75/$80 it’s also a much more affordable gizmo than the Monogram Keyboard!

As a constant tablet user (currently still rocking my Wacom Intuos 4 Medium) having programmable controls available at the touch of a single button is a great help, especially when the alternative of activating multi-key keyboard shortcuts means putting your pen down and picking it up again.

It would be interesting to see what uses the physical dial could be put to when working inside of Adobe Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve.

Currently, 20% off on Amazon!

Buy on Amazon.com | Buy on Amazon.co.uk

#4 – Collectible Blu-ray Releases

As a movie fan, other than a pristine restoration of the original cut or an extended director’s vision the special features are what I’m looking for when adding (yet another) Blu-ray to my collection. And hey – owning physical media is cool again, right Mr. Nolan?!

Arrow Films in the UK does a fantastic job of creating truly special editions of cinematic history, which includes this excellent version of David Fincher’s The Game but also includes other recently added titles like Waterworld and 12 Monkeys – both available in 4K UHD.

The 4K double disc edition of Tony Scott’s epic True Romance includes four feature-length commentaries, including from director Tony Scott and writer Quentin Tarrantino, a new interview with co-editor Michael Tronick, plus many other interviews, alternative endings and deleted scenes.

Currently on sale for only £10 on the Arrow Films site too!

Other special feature-heavy Blu-rays that would be on my wishlist this year would include:

Oppenheimer
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1 (Limited Edition Steelbook)
The Creator
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Don’t miss my interview with Oppenheimer editor Jennifer Lame, ACE!

Discover more excellent special features for editors in this extensive roundup.

#5 – The Bear – The Original BERF of Chicagoland T-Shirt

I love The Bear. It’s one of the best-made shows on TV from all angles – performances, cinematography, editing, music choices etc.

So naturally, I bought this delightful T-shirt of the ‘misprint collector’s item’ of The Original BERF of Chicagoland.

Own a piece of nerdy TV in-joke history in a very comfy feeling T-shirt.

Currently on sale at Memejoy.co or available for a bit more on Amazon.com

Also, don’t miss my interview with The Bear editor Adam Epstein!

#6 – Complete Access to 300+ issues of Cut/daily!

Cut/daily is my weekly post-production newsletter; I’m still working insanely hard on it.

If you enjoy learning more about post-production in a bite-size weekly insight, then Cut/daily is for you.

Come for the knowledge; stay for the funny gifs.

People seem to really love it.

Want to get your feet wet before you commit your email address?

I’ve shared 5 of my favourite learnings from the first 130 issues in this post and a composite interview from the Cut/daily Meets… series which features six different Post-Pros sharing wisdom from their career journeys.

You can also check out these previous issues that are out in front of the email sign-up, if you’d like to try before you (don’t even) buy.

That said, for a one-time fee of only $49 you can get lifetime access to all previous 370+ issues and every free weekly issue going forward. That’s less than 16 cents an insight!

Get a free Post Insight fresh from your inbox every Friday, by signing up for free (no credit card required) and read 50+ previous free issues here too.

You’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain – sign up for free at Cut-daily.com

#7 – The Art of The Cut Volume 2 by Steve Hullfish (Coming in 2024)

Today, I deliver ART OF THE CUT VOL. 2 to the publisher!
8 years of hard work.
263 filmmakers represented.
Ron Howard did me the honor of writing the foreword… he's a guy who loves editing and the contributions of his editors:
Hill, Hanley, Crowder, and Wilcox!@ACEFilmEditors pic.twitter.com/BKdhFCmov9
— Steve Hullfish, ACE (@SteveHullfish) November 19, 2023

Editor and author Steve Hullfish’s Art of The Cut Vol.1 would easily be considered required reading for any modern editor and a ton of interviews later Volume 2 is on the horizon!

While you could listen or read to all of these interviews for free as part of his ongoing Art of The Cut podcast and interview series, the beauty of the books is that they’re edited (by Steve) to bring together the very best insights, differing perspectives, and contrarian opinions the pantheon of editors Steve has spoken to over the years.

Art of the cut book review by steve hullfish

You can read my full review of Art of The Cut Vol.1 here, including an interview with Steve about the book and several bonus chapters that you can freely download from the publisher’s companion site.

As a Christmas gift there’s obviously no way to pre-order this just yet, but if they don’t have Vol 1 you could snap that up instead. Or surprise them with a really late Christmas gift sometime in 2024 when Vol 2. hits the shelves!

Buy Art of The Cut Vol 1. on Amazon.com

#8 – AI Credit

The digital equivalent of shaking out a tenner or a clip-art illustrated home-made ‘gift voucher’ from your Christmas card, buy the post-production professional in your life something to keep them cooking on the cutting edge in 2024 and gift them a little ‘AI credit’.

That could be a subscription to ChatGPT, Runway.ml, Midjourney, ElevenLabs or any such service.

If you need somewhere to start, Runway are doing some really interesting things on a monthly basis and you can sign up for free to try Runway.ml or save 10% with code: ELWYNJX10

For some AI-powered post-production inspiration, check out this previous article on The Best AI Tools for Video and Audio Post Production.

Or leverage your Riverside.fm membership to get your friendly AI-bot to take notes for you, like this.

Give the Gift of Giving – Charity Options

Support Young Refugees and Asylum Seekers in the UK

I thought it best to include the incredible charity my better half works for, Refugee Education UK, who work unbelievably hard to deliver life-changing impact with some of our nation’s most vulnerable people: unaccompanied asylum seekers.

To you and I, that means teenagers who have been forced to flee conflict, torture and worse in their home countries and have come to the UK to seek refuge.

REUK helps them access, progress and succeed in education, an easy investment in their lives that they will take with them wherever they go.

You can learn more about what REUK does and donate with couple of clicks here.

Cancel Medical Debt for Pennies

If you’d rather step away from the consumer inferno that is the ‘holiday’ season and give some good (or even if it’s just virtue-signalling), then these three charities have got you covered in the UK and US.

As the majority of my readers are from the US, I thought I’d start with a charity who seems to offer the very best kind of ‘leverage’ when it comes to donations in and impact out.

RIP Medical Debt allows you to buy up the outstanding medical debt at pennies (or less than) on the dollar, meaning that a $5 donation could pay off $500 worth of medical debt.

To me this would make for an excellent stocking filler or secret Santa gift;
”I know we said the budget was only $10 but I thought I’d give you a $1000 gift instead…”

You can read more about RIP Medical Debt in this New York Times article, or watch John Oliver swear about it (a lot) and pay off nearly $15 million of debt for less than $60,000, here.