Sabine Hoffman
Editor/Producer
Editing (Nov. 17)
Sun, Nov 17Case studies from renowned editors will demystify the art of editing and significantly enhance your editorial toolkit. Insider tips on crafting scenes for optimal storytelling impact will be emphasized, along with practical demonstrations of advanced editing techniques. These insights will help you refine your skills and elevate the quality of your documentary projects.
In the Festival Lounge, the day starts with Breakfast (9-10AM) hosted by community partners American Cinema Editors (ACE), BIPOC Doc Editors, and the Alliance of Documentary Editors (ADE) and ends with a Happy Hour (4:30-5:30PM).
10-11:15AM
AI in the Edit Room: A Double-Edged Sword
Members of American Cinema Editors Sabine Hoffman (Coded Bias), Rabab Haj Yahya (The Feeling of Being Watched), and generative AI expert Lucien Harriot (Mechanism Digital) showcase cutting-edge AI tools that are transforming documentary editing. Through live demonstrations, they’ll explore both the exciting possibilities and the potential downsides of this evolving technology. Along with Stephanie Jenkins (Archival Producers Alliance), the panel will weigh the pros and cons of AI in editing, discussing its impact on the craft and the ethical concerns it brings. Don’t miss this deep dive into how AI is reshaping the future of filmmaking.
Sabine Hoffman
Editor/Producer
Sabine Hoffman, ACE has edited award-winning fiction feature films for over 20 years for Rebecca Miller (Personal Velocity, The Ballad Of Jack And Rose, The Private Lives Of Pippa Lee, Maggie’s Plan, She Came To Me), Richard LaGravenese (The Last Five Years), Julie Taymor (The Glorias), Rebecca Hall (Passing), A.V. Rockwell (A Thousand And One), Roger Ross Williams (Cassandro) and Tony Goldwyn (Ezra). Sabine is also an editor on Pachinko and numerous documentary films including Academy Award-nominated Ferry Tales, Thomas Allan Harris’ The Twelve Disciples Of Nelson Mandela, Laura Poitras’ Terror Contagion and is the co-producer of Shalini Kantayya’s films Catching The Sun and Emmy-nominated Coded Bias. She serves as an adjunct at Columbia University, as a consultant and mentor to film making organizations such as the Gotham, Firelight Media, Reel Works and the Sundance Institute and is a member of AMPAS.
Stephanie Jenkins
Co-founder, Archival Producers Alliance
Stephanie Jenkins
Co-founder, Archival Producers Alliance
Rabab Haj Yahya
Editor
Rabab Haj Yahya
Editor
Rabab Haj Yahya (She/Her) is a Palestinian-American documentary editor based in New York. She is best known for The Feeling of Being Watched (Tribeca, 2018 | POV, 2019), which earned her the Best Editing Award at Woodstock Film Festival (2018), and the Critic’s Choice-nominated Speed Sisters (Hot Docs, 2015 | Netflix). More recently, she edited the Emmy-nominated Another Body, which received the Special Jury Award for Innovation in Storytelling at SXSW (2023), two episodes of the Emmy-Award Winning series Through Our Eyes (HBOMax, 2024), How We Get Free (HBOMax, 2023), The Legend of the Underground (Tribeca, 2021 | HBOMax), and the Emmy-nominated Apart (Hot Docs, 2021).
Rabab serves as a Sundance Institute Documentary Edit and Story Lab advisor (2023). She has also mentored for Brown Girls Doc Mafia, Chicken & Egg, and the Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellowship (2022-2024). Fluent in English, Arabic, and Hebrew.
Lucien Harriot
Mechanism Digital Inc.
Lucien Harriot
Mechanism Digital Inc.
Lucien Harriot, President & VFX Supervisor of Mechanism Digital since 1996, has been producing award-winning visual effects, animation, and emerging media for film, TV, and marketing in New York City. Leveraging new technologies and advanced workflows including GenAI, the team at Mechanism enhances production value for professional entertainment and marketing storytellers. As a trailblazer in computer-generated imagery and visual effects, Lucien’s work spans feature films, episodic content, animation, medical education, and corporate communications. The studio has collected numerous awards by combining an expertise in animation and visual effects with clients’ deep understanding of brand, together we hold the key to the best solutions for each project.
11:30-12:45PM
Crafting the Cut with David Teague, Part I
This two-part session explores the art of editing in documentary film, using rough cuts and final scenes from veteran editor David Teague’s films including Frida, Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields, Life, Animated, and Cutie and the Boxer. We’ll examine the techniques that create powerful openings, maintain narrative flow, and shape memorable endings, revealing the editing choices that turn raw footage into compelling stories.
David Teague
Editor
David Teague
Editor
David Teague is an Emmy-winning documentary film editor, writer and producer. His work as an editor includes the Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning Life Animated, the Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning Cutie and the Boxer, the Independent Spirit-nominated The Departure, and the Oscar-winning Freeheld. He wrote and produced Stamped from the Beginning, based on the book by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi. Stamped was shortlisted for an Academy Award and David was nominated for an Emmy and a Writers Guild Award for his work on the film. He was the supervising editor for the Sundance-winning Frida and the Emmy-nominated Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields. He wrote the fiction film Cassandro with director Roger Ross Williams, starring Gael García Bernal, which premiered at Sundance 2023 and was nominated for a GLAAD award. David has served as an editing mentor with IFP/Gotham, Firelight, Tribeca, Brown Girls Doc Mafia, Catapult True/False Rough Cut Retreat, and the Sundance Institute.
1:45-3PM
Crafting the Cut with David Teague, Part II
This two-part session explores the art of editing in documentary film, using rough cuts and final scenes from veteran editor David Teague’s films including Frida, Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields, Life, Animated, and Cutie and the Boxer. We’ll examine the techniques that create powerful openings, maintain narrative flow, and shape memorable endings, revealing the editing choices that turn raw footage into compelling stories.
David Teague
Editor
David Teague
Editor
David Teague is an Emmy-winning documentary film editor, writer and producer. His work as an editor includes the Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning Life Animated, the Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning Cutie and the Boxer, the Independent Spirit-nominated The Departure, and the Oscar-winning Freeheld. He wrote and produced Stamped from the Beginning, based on the book by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi. Stamped was shortlisted for an Academy Award and David was nominated for an Emmy and a Writers Guild Award for his work on the film. He was the supervising editor for the Sundance-winning Frida and the Emmy-nominated Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields. He wrote the fiction film Cassandro with director Roger Ross Williams, starring Gael García Bernal, which premiered at Sundance 2023 and was nominated for a GLAAD award. David has served as an editing mentor with IFP/Gotham, Firelight, Tribeca, Brown Girls Doc Mafia, Catapult True/False Rough Cut Retreat, and the Sundance Institute.
3:15-4:30PM
Case Study: Clotilda: The Return Home
The National Geographic team behind Clotilda: The Return Home will present an unfiltered look at the creative chaos that happens in the editing room. Editors Anthony Harper, Adam Lingo, producer Alex Brady and Senior Manager of Production Chaneé Patterson will share stories of how it all came together, from curveballs and unexpected moments, to the creative choices that defined the film. Guests will get a rare look behind the veil, exploring the art and craft of editing, with anecdotes that will make you laugh, cry, and see the editing process in a whole new light.
Adam Lingo
Senior Editor
Adam Lingo
Senior Editor
Adam Lingo is currently a Lead Senior Editor at National Geographic. He is excited to work on projects that challenge and explore our shared humanity. His significant credits include the one hour special Black Travel Across America premiering February 6th for National Geographic, Frontline: The Healthcare Divide (nominated for 2022 Peabody & National Emmy), the PBS verité documentary series 180 Days: A Year Inside an American High School (2014 Peabody award), numerous large and small format videos for the opening of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (2016), the PBS Frontline: Blackout in Puerto Rico (2019 Loeb Award), Robert Rauschenberg: Inventive Genius for the PBS American Masters Series (1999), and Great Books: The Autobiography of Malcolm X for the Learning Channel (1999 national Emmy nomination).
Anthony Harper
Editor
Anthony Harper
Editor
Alex Brady
Producer
Alex Brady
Producer
Chaneé Patterson
Senior Manager, Production
Chaneé Patterson
Senior Manager, Production
DOC NYC PRO is co-presented by:
