Christmas Gifts for Film Editors 2024

Christmas Gifts for Film and Video Editors 2024

The Best Christmas Gifts for Film Editors 2024
Post Production Year End Sales
The Free Gift of Giving

Need the perfect gift for the video editor in your life?

Here’s a shortlist of the best gift items for video editors in 2024.

There are digital gifts, analogue gifts (books) and a bunch of stuff in between, but hopefully, there’s something for everyone!

Here’s a short list of the best Christmas gifts for film editors in 2024:

Stream Deck Studio (Or Stream Deck Plus USB Hub)
Pomodoro Egg Timer (as used by Editor Joe Walker)
Conversations with Wilder + new Every Frame A Painting
Collectable Blu-ray releases – The Usual Suspects in 4K and more!
Complete access to 425+ Issues of Cut/daily!
Unreasonable Hospitality
Heat 2 Audiobook
M4 Mac Mini – with the right spec for video editing
Art of the Cut Vol 2 (+10 free chapters to read right now)
Walter Murch’s new book Suddenly Something Clicked (Coming in 2025)

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

A Free Gift To You – The Gift of Giving

Zulu Alpha Kilo are the makers of some of my favourite funny videos, but last year they smashed it with this touching and surprising video on donation dodgers.

In the spirit of giving, you should read or listen to an excellent free book on the generosity of ideas, sharing, and the monumental power of the internet to amplify good in our world.

Chris Anderson’s new book, Infectious Generosity, can be downloaded as an ebook or audio book for free here. I downloaded the audiobook which was a fast and engaging listen, read by Chris Anderson himself.

I have found myself asking a recurring question: What is the most generous version of everything I do?
Chris Anderson

I hope it inspires you to give, share and create for a better world in 2025.

More Fun Please

During 2024, this delightful mashup from The Bell Brothers, was my most shared video amongst friends and family (you’re welcome) so I’m here to share it with all of you too.

Here’s hoping for more of the same from the Bell Bros in 2025.

Post-Production Christmas and End of Year Sales for 2024

If nothing else, you can make the best cookies of your life thanks to this free excerpt from Masterclass with baker Joanne Chang.

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

You could always look in the Black Friday Post Production Sale list to see if anyone’s still running a sale (or forgotten to close a discount code!)

MASTERCLASS.COM HOLIDAY 40% OFF OFFER

Take advantage of Masterclass.com’s 40% off holiday offer to access 200+ world-class experts for an affordable monthly subscription of as low as £6 (billed annually).

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 200 amazing people to learn from, so the value of the all-access pass has skyrocketed 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 $100 DISCOUNT CODE

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?

Save $100 on the most useful Pro plan, which normally costs $288/year, but with my exclusive discount code, you can get it for $188!

Need more information? I’ve tried many other options over the years. Here’s why Riverside is the best yet.

I’ve also started using Riverside to record all my meetings and then running the transcript through an AI bot to get instant notes, summaries, and to-do lists. It makes that post-call email so much easier!

Promo Code: Save 20% on any Riverside.fm membership plan all year round with the promo code: JONNYELWYN or save 35% on any annual plan with code: JONNY35.

The Best Christmas Gifts for Film Editors 2024

#1 – Stream Deck Studio and Stream Deck Plus USB Hub Add-on

It seems like every editor and colorist I know has at least one Stream Deck in their setup, if not two.

Well, the new rack-mountable Stream Deck Studio could soon be added to the most button-hungry of Post Production Professional’s suites.

With 32 LCD buttons, two dual-function encoders and a slew of broadcast ready features such as RJ45 with PoE, cross-point routing and Native support for IS-04 and IS-05 for seamless IP-based broadcasting (whatever that means!).

At $899 for a single unit, the Stream Deck Studio is unlikely to make it into that many regular edit suites, especially when a Stre but this next item will actually be super handy:

Stream Deck + USB Hub

This will especially be useful if you’ve just bought a new 2024 M4 Mac Mini and need some extra ports for your other USBA and USB-C peripherals!

Specification:

2 x USB A
2 x USB-C
1 x USB-C 100W Power In
1 x USB-C 65 W Charging (e.g. for laptop)
2 x SD Card Reader (SD and Micro SD)

What’s nice about this device is that it:

Takes up less desk space as it fits neatly in the back of the Stream Deck Plus
Frees up a fast port on your MacBook Pro otherwise needed for charging
Lets you read from both SD card slots at once

Handy! Check it out for yourself at Elgato.com

#2 – Pomodoro Egg Timer

In my recent Cut/daily Meets… interview with editor Joe Walker, he mentioned that he uses a Pomodoro Egg Timer to help him focus his energies, whilst also taking little breaks to reset.

I started using a Pomodoro egg timer to keep me away from the internet.

I set it, stay on track for 50 minutes, then run free for 5, and so on.

These optimum periods were learned at school, I think
Joe Walker, Editor

There are tons of Pomodoro timers out there to choose from, but I like the look of this one, with its more simplistic analogue vibes.

If time is money then making more of the time you have through enhanced productivity and focus will either get you more money or give you back more time.

If you want even more task management support check out the products from Minimal Desk Set Ups.

Buy on Amazon Global Stores

#3 – Conversations with Wilder

To celebrate the return of Every Frame a Painting and this excellent essay on legendary director Billy Wilder, you should pick up an absolute gem of a book: Conversations with Wilder.

Edited transcripts of conversations between director Cameron Crowe (Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous, Elizabeth Town) it is filled with delightful anecdotes from scriptwriting to final screenings.

CC: I haven’t quite figured out how you were able to edit all those movies while still filming them in such quick succession.

BW: Quickly. That’s the only way to cut them. There is no other way. The Apartment was done in a week.

Cutting a 5-time Oscar-winning film in a week! (They were cutting as they shot, but still!)

On your next project try to think: if I only had a week to cut this, what choices would I have to make now?

The book is also available in a beautiful hardback that will make your edit suite coffee table look all the more refined. (Assuming it’s not already covered in the detritus of a week or two in the editing trenches.)

Buy on Amazon Global Stores

#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.

Arrow Films in the UK does a fantastic job of creating truly special editions of cinematic history, including 4K versions of:

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

It’s still on sale for only £10 on the Arrow Films official site too!

This year my top pick would be to pre-order The Usual Suspects 4K restoration, with bonus features including:

4K restoration from the original negative approved by cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel
Original lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 and 2.0
Audio commentary with director Bryan Singer and writer Christopher McQuarrie
Audio commentary with editor and composer John Ottman
The Devil in the Details, an archival interview with Newton Thomas Sigel
Archival interview with John Ottman
Round Up: Deposing the Usual Suspects, a two-part featurette delving into the creation and production of The Usual Suspects with clips, interviews with key figures, and footage from the making of the film
And much more!

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 – Complete Access to 400+ 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?

Enjoy this big list of previous issues that are out in front of the email sign-up if you’d like to try before you (don’t even) buy:

#411 – Eddie Hamilton edits $180 million movies with this?
#396 – The Best of NAB 2024
#395 – Cut/daily Meets… Sh?gun Editors Maria Gonzales and Aika Miyake
#389 – Is the Vision Pro the Future of Editing?
#386 – The Secret to Killer Sound Design
#384 – This is the best way to become a faster editor

That said, for a one-time fee of only $49 you can get lifetime access to all previous 420+ issues and every free weekly issue going forward. That’s less than 12 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

#6 – Unreasonable Hospitality

One of the best books I’ve read this year, Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara, is an essential read for anyone who works with people. Honestly.

As editors, we are responsible for serving our clients and collaborators in the best way we possibly can. Reading this book will lead you to ask the question:

How could I deliver more than they expect in a way they’ll never forget?

It’s a fast and engaging read that masterfully weaves the story of building Eleven Madison Park into a 3-star Michelin fine-dining destination, voted the best restaurant in the world in 2017, with actionable ‘business lessons’ that anyone can apply to what they do.

A testament to ghostwriter Laura Tucker’s skills, for sure.

Anyway, I’m just here to say I loved it and I think you will too.

Buy on Amazon Global Stores

Guidara served as a co-producer on The Bear, and Richie reads his book in the brilliant episode Forks (S2E7).

Watch the 3-minute video above to see how Will’s real-life experiences translated to the screen.

This also gives me a second chance to recommend the unrivaled geeky fun of wearing an Original BERF of Chicagoland T-Shirt as seen on The Bear, too.

This was #5 on my list last year.

Currently on sale at Memejoy.co or available for the same price on Amazon.com

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

#7 – Heat 2 Audiobook

Since having kids audiobooks have become a big part of my life.

One of my favourite listens this year was Heat 2 by Micahel Mann and Meg Gardiner. It actually made my heart, literally, pound on more than one occasion.

Once you embrace the machismo of the narrator’s voice and some of the writing, it’s a really great listen. Pretty brutal in parts, but gripping.

Apparently, the movie version is aiming to start shooting at the end of 2024 or in early 2025 —hopefully, it will be as good as the book!

I do all my audiobook listening through Audible.

Right now you can get 3 months of Audible for only $0.99 – That’s $45 worth of membership for only $0.99!

You’ll get a free ebook each month, which you keep even after you cancel your membership, plus access to thousands of other audiobooks while you maintain your subscription.

A money-saving tip – at the end of the membership just hit cancel and say it was too expensive. Audible will likely aim to get you to stay with another half-price membership offer of 3-4 months. I’ve done this a couple of times. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever paid full price for it.

If you’re an Amazon Music Unlimited subscriber you can now also borrow one audiobook a month as part of your subscription! Amazon are also running a 3 month free trial for Unlimited music and podcasts right now.

#8 – New M4 Mac Mini

The new Mac Mini is the best value desktop computer Apple makes today.

The $600 base model is amazing value especially when you throw in a Black Friday discount of up to $100. But that off-the-shelf-spec isn’t going to be your best option for video editing on the long-haul.

While these upgrades make it much more expensive, the performance boost and longevity you’ll gain as a result is definitely worth it:

M4 Pro Mac Mini – $2,199

Apple M4 Pro chip with 14-core CPU, 20-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
48GB unified memory
1TB SSD storage
Gigabit Ethernet
Three Thunderbolt 5 ports, HDMI port, two USB-C ports, headphone jack

You can read all about why these upgrades are worth paying for here.

Plus find out which Thunderbolt 5 peripherals are already available and which Thunderbolt Docks will give you enough ports for all that fancy edit suite desk-candy.

#9 – The Art of The Cut Volume 2 by Steve Hullfish

Editor and author Steve Hullfish’s Art of The Cut Vol.1 would easily be considered required reading for any modern editor and 300 interviews later so would Volume 2.

I’ve got a detailed post on Volume 2 here, including links to 10 free bonus chapters that are available to download on the book’s companion website, and a follow-up interview with author Steve Hullfish.

Bonus chapters include:

Action and Stunts
Ad Lib and Improvisation
Choosing the Project
Collaboration Amongst Editors
Cutting Room Gear and Tech
Film Grammar and Style
Giving Script Advice and On-Set Advice
NLEs and Scriptsynch
Previs and Postvis
VFX
(Bonus) Research and Reading Source Material

While you can read these chapters by themselves it goes without saying that it’s well worth buying the physical book too!

There are four main sections to AOTC Vol. 2, listed below with example chapter titles of just some of the topics in each section:

#1 – Preparation
- Organisation
- Watching Dailies
#2 – Creative – Micro-level editing decisions
- Performance
- Subtext
- Pace and Rhythm
- Music
#3 – Creative – Macro-level editing decisions
- Storytelling
- Assembling Scenes into a Story
- Editor’s Cut
- Judging Editing
#4 – Social
- Breaking in
- Collaborating with directors
- Assistant Editors

Each chapter bounces between the insights of too many talented industry-leading editors to list, yet flows in the natural conversation of peers.

If you want to have immediate access to the collective wisdom of 300 of the film industry’s leading editors, then buying Art of The Cut Volume 2 is a no brainer.

Steve is already working on a third volume in the series which will focus exclusively on the art and craft of documentary editing.

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

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

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

The best books on film editor walter murch

Scheduled to hit shelves in mid-2025, legendary editor and sound designer Walter Murch’s next book, Suddenly Something Clicked, is hotly anticipated. In fact it was on last year’s Christmas list.

You can pre-order it here.

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.

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.

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 that seems to offer the very best kind of ‘leverage’ when it comes to donations in and impact out.

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

So far they have paid off over 12 billion dollars of medical debt. Astounding.

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.