Yin & Young Podcast EP 69 Daniel Tong - Editor: Finding your place in film and pursuing your passion

Yin & Young Podcast

Welcome back Yin & Young listeners! It’s been a long time since our last episode; Young was busy with his wedding (congrats!) but now that’s done, we’re happy to be back with guest Daniel Tong! Daniel is an editor based in Los Angeles, CA, U.S. Daniel has a passion for editing and shares his journey finding his place in the filmmaking industry.

Highlights:

• 01:56 Young ran into Daniel at a high school reunion.

• 05:50 Daniel’s family is ethnically Chinese from Burma.

• 07:15 Shares the start of his love for movies and the arts.

• 10:04 Young and Daniel rehash one of their early film projects in high school for French class (Godzilla appears).

• 12:07 Shares the initial push back he got from his immigrant parents about wanting to pursue filmmaking.

• 14:10 His start in film as an undergrad and then grad school.

• 21:55 Discusses his thoughts on film school and how he found his place in film there.

• 28:30 The importance of networking.

• 32:30 Gives insight into working at Pixar as a contractor.

• 42:40 Becoming a Pixar Online Editor during the pandemic.

• 44:30 The difference between an online and a offline editor.

• 47:40 Issues using different editing programs in the workflow.

• 52:20 Daniel's preferred editing application and the benefits/drawbacks of each of them.

• 57:04 Editing in the gaming industry.

• 01:01:00 His desire for leadership experience and his first leadership role at Blizzard.

• 01:02:50 Getting through the Blizzard interviews having not played the games, but now obsessed with them (World of Warcraft, Diablo, etc…).

• 01:05:40 His experience working on the documentaries for “Coco” and “Turning Red” and why he connected with them deeply.

• 01:13:49 Yin’s plans for his kids going to college.

• 01:14:43 Discussion about famous editor Walter Murch’s book “In a Blink of an Eye” and Daniel’s own approach to editing and assistant editing.

• 01:28:29 Language corner (see below). We also go over the origin of KFC popularity in Japan during Christmas and chat about Del Taco ramen and Donald Glover’s boba shop.

• 01:34:01 Projects that Daniel is working on (see below for links).

• 01:35:23 Shout outs. Pursue your passion.

Language corner:

• Young - KFC is "Kenta” (ケンタ) for short in Japanese.

• Yin -

• 渋滞 (じゅうたい juutai) - traffic jam

• 残業 (ざんぎょう zangyo) - overtime

Daniel Tong’s links:

• Website: https://danieltongeditor.weebly.com/

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danieltongeditor

Recent and current projects Daniel Tong has edited/assistant edited on:

• No Room For Love - Filipino American web series, https://www.instagram.com/noroom_forlove

• Creature Comforter - a short horror comedy mockumentary, https://www.instagram.com/bravemakerorg

• Release the Beast by Ryzo Studios - An artistic but timid boy who learns to defend himself against bullies from the characters he creates for his video games. https://www.ryzo.studio/

• Junho - a former theater actor from Korea tries to outrun his past: https://youtu.be/FShHTubEpkI?si=3SfXAK01tab4-h0_

• “Always in My Head” - music video by Filipino American music artist Garth Garcia: https://youtu.be/nv7fuOCBX_k

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