Free Post
Production
Resources.
A fully vetted guide covering books, podcasts, YouTube channels, newsletters, communities, and courses for aspiring film and television editors. No paywall. No upsell. Built from the ground up — the same way I learned.
The r/editors thread — Free Post Production Resource Guide — has been viewed over 38,000 times and referenced in film programs worldwide. The guide itself lives in a Google Doc: open, searchable, no sign-in required.
"The community became my mentor."— On building a national career without institutional access
The Source
Why I Built This
I didn't start in Los Angeles with an agent or a film school mentor. My path ran through NFL Films as an intern handling DVC Pro tapes, then to NASCAR Productions as a logger building metadata in CatDV, then to SPEED Channel and Fox Sports 1 cutting B-roll and glitzes as an associate producer. Long-form documentary came next, and scripted features after that.
At every transition, the resource that moved me forward was a person who didn't gatekeep. The most important was a cold email I sent to Shiran Carolyn Miller ACE — who wrote back with a list of everything worth reading, watching, and listening to. That list became the foundation for this guide. I've been adding to it ever since.
The philosophy is simple: the community is the mentor. I'm on the ACE NYC Internship Committee and the ACE Education Committee specifically because I believe the pipeline matters — who gets the information determines who gets the shot.
Memberships & Committees
- American Cinema Editors — Affiliate Member · NYC Internship Committee · Education Committee
- British Film Editors — Full Member
- IATSE / CSATF — Industry Experience Roster · Available for Union Projects
Guide Contents
What's Covered
The guide is organized by category so you can go directly to what you need — whether that's a podcast for the commute, an Avid tutorial for the weekend, or a community where actual working editors talk shop without performing for an audience.
The Path
How the Career Actually Builds
There's no single route, but there are patterns. This is a rough map of how I got from intern to Emmy nomination — not as a prescription, but as evidence that the non-linear path is the normal one.
Credentials
Why This Guide Has Weight
The guide isn't academic. It's built from the same self-directed process it recommends — starting with a cold email to Shiran Carolyn Miller ACE, scraping forums and wikis and podcasts for years, and compiling what actually moved the needle. The resources in it are the ones that appear repeatedly in the conversations working editors have when they're not performing for an audience.
It has been referenced in post production curricula worldwide — programs at USC, AFI, and international film schools — not because it was pitched to them, but because editors who used it passed it on. That's the only metric that matters.
More from Corey
Related Resources
FAQ
Common Questions
Where do I actually find all the resources?
The guide lives in a Google Doc — free, open access, no login required. It's organized by category so you can scan the whole thing or go directly to what you need. The link is at the top and bottom of this page.
I have no connections. Where do I start?
Start with the community section. r/editors is where working editors have conversations they don't have in public — technical questions, honest career advice, gear debates, and the occasional moment where someone who's been doing this for 25 years explains how something actually works. Lurk first. Then ask specific questions. The community gives back when you're not just there to extract.
What's the union path — IATSE, IER, all of it?
The short version: work non-union to build hours and credits, then get on the CSATF Industry Experience Roster, which is the primary pathway to IATSE Local 700 (Motion Picture Editors Guild) work. The guide covers this in more detail, including what the ACE NYC Internship Program offers for people earlier in the pipeline. I'm currently on the IER and available for union projects.
Avid or Premiere — which should I learn first?
Avid Media Composer if your goal is long-form narrative or documentary — it's the industry standard in those spaces. Premiere Pro if you're starting in sports, unscripted, or digital content, where it's dominant. Ideally both over time. The guide has vetted resources for each, including free options before you commit to a paid course.
Is this actually free? What's the catch?
It's actually free. No email capture, no newsletter signup, no course at the end. I built it because I benefited from people who didn't gatekeep — Shiran Carolyn Miller ACE being the most direct example — and this is the version of that I can offer at scale. If it's useful, the only thing I'd ask is that you pass it forward when someone asks you the same questions.
The guide is live and open. If you're building the career without the institutional pipeline, this is where I'd start.