NBA Appoints Young Woman as Senior Editor To Lead Post Production for the 2020 Season
By Akiya Mcknight
69th American Cinema Editors Eddie Awards at Hiton Los Angeles, 2019 | Photo: Peter Zakhary
Chassidy Jade, a brilliant 31 year old African - American filmmaker from South Florida, is set to lead the post production team for the 2020 NBA season. The NBA franchise has decided to restart their season in Orlando’s Disney landscape on a strict quarantine bubble. With remote & limited onsite staffing, video editor Chassidy Jade will orchestrate a series of promotional content and highlight reels for the 3 month period as Senior Editor. Jade is amongst the youngest and only female on staff editor via contract which speaks volumes for this historic season.
“This is an unique opportunity. Editing is one of the most demanding and important parts of filmmaking, being the glue that puts everything together. People don’t think of us behind the scenes on a mainstream level. Being a young black female editor makes me a unicorn versus just a good editor. I just love what I do and grateful to be working. I’m not trying to be the first or the only so this moment is bigger than me”
Chassidy Jade is a rising indie director, producer, and video editor with over 9 years experience as a commercial editor in Hollywood. Born a military brat, her roots are in Delray Beach and Memphis. As a teenager she worked local concerts and conventions under a beloved mentor and fell in love with being behind the camera. Chassidy went on to receive a scholarship to The Arts Institute and later graduated top of her class. Her professional journey began with clientele such as Steve Harvey, the Miami Heat, and Gucci Mane as well as multiple major brands like Armani Exchange, Converse, and networks under Viacom and Warner Brothers. Chassidy’s pollard yet elegant editing style has demanded the attention of many elite producers behind the scene.
Jade made her directorial debut with her self written short film Brown Ballerina, which had huge success as a selection in 2013’s Toronto Shorts, completed a US screening tour and screened before the The Black Panthers: Vanguard of a Revolution in 2015. She later launched her own production company Crown Me Royal Labs in 2015 which produces content for independent visual artists. Jade is widely known for her extravagant peculiar art shows highlighting female designers, visual artists & filmmakers.
“ I believe it’s important for people to understand all aspects of success and take ownership of their creativity on all levels, even in a dark editing suite. It’s even more interesting that editing started off a women’s job being that film was sewed together. It’s considered “an old man’s job” now and rare to see females and millennials in post production. If more people were exposed to it, it would be more popular.”
Akiya Mcknight
Emerging vibrant creative professional with over five years in experience producing, content creation, screenwriting and budgeting. Under self-made production company VisionarHer, she’s created several successful short films, podcast, and blogs. McKnight is currently executive support at Shondaland and Netflix.
www.visionarher.com
The NBA has started their scrummage preseason and will officially kick off July 30, 2020 through Mid-October. In a time of social justice, this is refreshing news as the NBA dedicates its efforts to embracing change.