Christmas Gifts for Film Editors 2025

Christmas Gifts for Video Editors 2025

The Best Christmas Gifts for Film Editors 2025
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 2025, plus a chance to win $1495 worth of VFX tools, try $2 teleportation and other fun things!

Here’s the short list of the best Christmas gifts for film editors in 2025:

From $$$ to $:

Better headphones that last for years
My favourite peripheral is 20% off
Upgrade your webcam — Human connection matters
Cut/daily Apps and Archive Access
Pomodoro Timer — Pace yourself
Desktop Mug Warmer — No more cold tea.
Suddenly Something Clicked — Walter Murch’s new book
Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions — Inside the movie biz
$45 worth of ideas for $2.98
$2 Teleportation

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

Christmas Giveaway – Win Boris FX Prizes!

A huge thank you to the good people at Boris FX for offering two annual subscriptions to the complete Boris FX Suite (worth $1495/year), in this year’s Cut/daily Christmas giveaway.

Boris FX tools are relied on by VFX artists on major movies like Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol 3 and their latest AI features include auto-tracking face detection, object detection and masking, depth maps plus they’ve added a trio of Pro audio apps.

Boris FX Suite contains every app for every host software including:

Sapphire VFX plugins
Continuuum
Mocha Pro – Industry leading tracking
Silhouette – Rotoscoping and Paint
Particle Illusion Pro – 3D particle physics
SynthEyes – 3D tracking
Samplitude – All in one audio production suite
Much more!

If you’re already a Cut/daily reader you’re automatically in with a chance to win, as I will select two random winners from our active members list.

If you’re not yet signed up, drop your email in the box below and join 2000 other editors effortlessly deepening their post-production knowledge every week.

A Free Gift To Editors Everywhere

Joe Walker is one of the best editors in the world today.

In this short documentary, created by two talented Italian filmmakers, you can enjoy a beautiful blend of biopic insights and editorial wisdom.

Just because they shot it, doesn’t mean you have to use it.

— Joe Walker, ACE

A Life in Frames – Joe Walker is a free gift to editors everywhere. Don’t let it pass you by!

You can also discover the full story behind the making of the documentary in this issue of Cut/daily.

Post-Production Christmas and End of Year Sales for 2025

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.

40% off Artlist plus two months free
30% off iZotope RX11 audio plugins
40% off Masterclass.com
20% off Riverside.com

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!)

ARTLIST MAX & AI CREDITS – BIGGEST SALE OF THE YEAR!

Artlist – Get 40% off plus two-months extra free on their new AI Creator plan and 20% off Artlist Max plans which includes unlimited music, stock footage, AI voiceovers, sound effects, templates, LUTs and plugins. All for one monthly fee.

Artlist is where I get all of my music from, and I really rate the quality of their AI voiceovers!

Plus, they now have major AI video gen models from Sora, Veo and Kling, some of which might otherwise not be available in your region, all in one place.

IZOTOPE AUDIO PLUGINS

Get 30% off iZotope’s industry-leading audio restoration plugins in the RX suite, with the RX 11 Advanced being discounted by over £340. The Elements Suite 11 is available for only £95.

MASTERCLASS.COM 40% OFF HOLIDAY 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!

20% OFF RIVERSIDE

Riverside 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.

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!

Save 20% on any Riverside membership plan all year round with the promo code: JONNYELWYN.

The Best Christmas Gifts for Film Editors 2025

#1 – Better headphones that last for years

I’ve been using the same pair of headphones for the last decade (or more) and having tried and tested many other contenders, they’re still my number one recommendation to any editor looking for accuracy, quality and comfort.

Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pros

That said, another industry favourite, the Sony MDR7506 headphones, which are also very good, are on sale with 15% off right now.

Buy on Amazon Global Stores

#2 – My most used peripheral is 20% off

As an editor I’ve seen a lot of cool gizmos and gadgets come and go. My edit suite cupboards are full of them!

But the one peripheral that’s earned a permanent fixture on the desktop due to its inherent daily usefulness is the Elgato Stream Deck.

15 buttons open up a world of time-saving workflow possibilities.

Right now you can save 20% on the Stream Deck Mark 2 or $45 off the Stream Deck XL (32 buttons)

You can even customise the look of yours with fancy dials for the Elgato Stream Deck + or custom face plates for the standard Stream Deck.

Their USB hub and XLR input expansion modules also look super handy, while the newest iteration – the Stream Deck Neo – looks kind of cute.

Anyway, I love mine and I highly recommend using one.

Click here to download a bundle of free Stream Deck presets I made.

Take This Further

#3 – Upgrade your webcam

The role of an editor is far more than just pushing the right buttons and making it look good.

There’s a ton of diplomacy, human psychology, and tact that’s required to ensure the project turns out as best it can, and you get hired again.

Given how often we’re all working and communicating remotely, investing in a decent webcam, or at least one that can be positioned correctly in your edit suite so your director can see the expression on your face, seems like a smart investment.

As long as the expression is a compassionate/enthusiastic/listening face!

The HD Osbot Meet 2 SE seems to deliver a good balance of features for a reasonable budget. There is a 4K option, which is a bit more expensive and has better microphones and noise cancelling, but both look like they’ll do a decent job.

Oh, and they’re tiny enough to be mounted wherever suits your suite layout best.

Buy on Amazon Global Stores

#4 – Post Apps and Complete Access to 480+ 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 480+ issues and every free weekly issue going forward.

That’s less than 11 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

Cut/daily Apps

I’ve also recently built a quartet of Post-Production apps to make your editorial life easier.

Transcriber Translator (TT) = Foreign audio in | Translated subtitles out
Keyword Marker (KM) = Mark every instance of custom keywords in a click
Tidy Media Manager (TMM) = Deliver Consolidated projects in tidy folders
Teleport (T) = Anchor a location in your timeline and return to it in a click

Every app is a one-time purchase, with a lifetime of updates and a 2 machine installation license.

Check them out on the new Cut/daily Store.

#5 – 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

#6 – Desktop Mug Warmer

One of the pitfalls of being an editor is making a cup of tea, sitting down at your desk, getting absorbed in what you’re doing, feeling thirsty, and drinking lukewarm tea.

This desktop mug warmer, which is well reviewed on Amazon by mug-warming aficionados, looks like it will deliver a ‘quality of life update’ to my edit suite for less than $30.

It has a bunch of fancy features like a night light, automatic turn off, and a temperature range selector to ensure your beverage stays just how you like it.

Practical gifts like this are the ones that keep on giving day after day!

Just don’t rest your mouse on it.

Buy on Amazon Global Stores

#7 – Walter Murch’s new book – Suddenly Something Clicked

Legendary editor and sound designer Walter Murch’s new book, Suddenly Something Clicked, makes for a great gift.

A beautifully substantial hardback, it will look good in your edit suite, even if you never read it!

You can order it here with a 17% discount.

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.

So I was glad to be able to share some initial thoughts on the book when it came out.

Blink was first published in 1991, when I was in the middle of my career. Now I am near the end of it, at the age of eighty-one.

The two volumes of Clicked reflect that thirty-four-year difference: they cover more topics than Blink and are longer, more eclectic and speculative, looking back at the last six decades of my love affair with cinema and wondering about the future of the medium.
— Suddenly Something Clicked, p.8

Essential Stats

Walter has been working on this book in note form for about 12 years and then spent three and a half years writing it.

That process created the two volumes of Suddenly Something Clicked, with the first focusing on film editing and sound design, while the second installment (already written) will focus on ‘writing, casting, direction, production, cinema aesthetics and philosophy…’

Volume 1 Publication date UK: 8th May | US: July 15th
Price: £30/$45 (Hardback) | £14.99 (ebook)
Page count: 358
Volume 2 – Expected in 2026

The best books on film editor walter murch

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

For more Walter Murch-related goodness, click here.

For every book ever reviewed on the blog click here.

#8 – Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions by Ed Zwick

I love a good book about the movie business. This is one of them.

Director Edward Zwick’s Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions – My Fortysomething Years in Hollywood is both an entertaining read and a helpful guide to the inner workings of ‘the movie business.’

Also, given how much time editors often spend alone with directors, it makes sense to get to know what makes them tick, where they feel the heat and how best to get along with them.

Everybody else on a crew goes from one director’s set to another.

A director, meanwhile, lives in a lonely world of his own devising, reinventing filmmaking according to his unique obsessions, eccentricities, and fetishes.

— Ed Zwick, Director

If you’re looking for a fun book to read over Christmas that will also give you something to chew on, Hits, Flops and Other Illusions is a great option!

Here’s a favourite story about Ed’s long-time editor Steve Rosenblum:

Do Nothing

The director was afraid to tell the headstrong young actor his reaction shots sucked.

The editor said “Fuck it” and invited him into the cutting room.

“You look like a zombie,” he said, “I don’t care if you’re thinking about nothing, at least move your eyes.”

The actor is now a big star. The editor got nominated.

Hold Your Tongue

“I learned the painful lesson to wait a few seconds after saying “Cut!” before giving direction.

Too often, the soundman hadn’t yet turned off the machine, and for months to come, I was tortured by the sound of my wheedling, fatuous voice saying,

“That was great, but let’s go ahead, and this time…”

#9 – Audible Deal $0.99/month for 3 months

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

Here’s a shortlist of my favourites from this year:

Heat 2 by Michael Mann and Meg Gardiner
Be Useful by Arnold Schwarzenegger
Alchemy by Rory Sutherland
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
That Will Never Work by Marc Randolph
The Trading Game by Gary Stevenson
Calling Bullshit by Jevin D. West
Revenge of the Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
Company of One by Paul Jarvis

Right now you can get 3 months of Audible for only $0.99 – That’s $45 worth of membership for only $2.98!

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 your subscription is active.

Why not try out three of my favourites listed above?

A money-saving tip – At the end of the membership trial just hit cancel and say it was too expensive. Audible will likely aim to get you to stay by offering another half-price membership for 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.

#10 – Teleport is stupidly useful!

Teleport might be the most useful app I’ve built so far*.

It sounds too simple to be so valuable, and yet even after a single session with the director, it delivers real leverage. Something that delivers far more than it should.

*Although they’re all useful, this one’s the most useful for this stage of my edit.

What does Teleport do?

Drop an anchor in your timeline, teleport back to it in a click.

That’s all.

But this simple ability saves you so much wasted time zooming in and out, scrolling around, trying to move back and forth between different parts of your edit.

Every Cut/daily app is a one time purchase with a lifetime of updates and a two machine install license.

As a special Christmas Gift to you, my Cut/daily readers, I’m offering Teleport for $2 during December.

Or at least to the 75% of you who voted for genius and not stupid.

Use the code TWOBUCKS to secure your taste of the future.

Currently, Teleport is only supported in Adobe Premiere Pro.

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, a powerful investment in their lives that they will take with them wherever they go.

You can learn more about what REUK does and donate in a 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.