Jake Holbrook, a third-year undergraduate student in the Department of Radio-TV-Film, quickly set himself apart while working on UTFI/Burnt Orange’s second feature film, The Cassidy Kids. Jake holds the distinction of being the first student intern to work on the entire post-production process on a UTFI film. Beginning as an Editing Intern, Jake captured footage, sub-clipped, synched sound, and cleaned up sound tracks in FCP HD for export to OMF. Eventually, Jake moved on to Sound Editing Intern, a position that allowed him to focus on editing dialogue and laid-in backgrounds.

A native Texan, Jake hails from San Antonio where he attended Judson High School. It was there that he got his “first taste of filmmaking in a class called ‘Intro to Media Technology.’ I made a ton of (good and bad) films and I was just hooked.” When Jake went hunting for compelling reasons to stick around Austin last summer, he remembered Megan Gilbride, Education Coordinator for UTFI, speaking on campus about opportunities with Burnt Orange and UTFI. Jake recalls, “I knew I wanted to work with them one day.” And when Megan sent out an email calling for various internship positions (editorial staff not included), Jake decided to contact Megan and ask if there might be an opening at some point in editorial. After submitting his resume, and, as Jake likes to joke, ten whole minutes of schmoozing, he had found his summer job in editorial.

Observing both Editor Kyle Henry and Assistant Editor Naiti Gomez in action proved an invaluable learning opportunity for Jake. “Just seeing how professionals handle the job of post work, seeing their methods of organization, prep-work, etc. really helped me figure out my own style.” Jake transformed his “disorganized system” of cutting clips from master clips and dragging them to the timeline, into a professional method for managing media and prepping assemblies. He learned, “all those things they don’t teach you in film school.” Before he worked on Sound for the film, Jake claims he’d only opened ProTools once, and by accident at that. “Going from knowing nothing, to editing sound on a feature film, has definitely been an experience.”

Jake also learned a lot about how to conduct himself like a professional, including how to keep an open mind and, most importantly, to turn constructive criticism into remarkable results.

And now, because of his work on The Cassidy Kids, graduate students in UT’s M.F.A. in Production program have asked him to edit their theses. He’s currently working on a DVD compilation of his several short films and sample commercials, including a short he edited that makes it appear as though he himself were being interviewed on “Inside the Actor’s Studio” with James Lipton.

When asked about the future and any dream directors Jake might like to edit for one day, he replied, “I think a shot with Ron Howard would be cool, but I’m afraid I’d bug him with all sorts of questions about the Fonz. It would totally make my Dad jealous.” So life post-Cassidy Kids is pretty sweet? Jake definitely thinks so, but adds, “[I] might seek group therapy or something to help me cope with the separation anxiety.””