For each day in the month of February, the African American Steering Committee will be highlighting Local 700’s African American members, both past and present, and their accomplishments. We look forward to showing the contributions and influences African Americans have had on the industry.
Name: Sean Linal Peterkin
What’s your job? Picture Editor
On what show were you able to move up to a new position? I moved up on “Queen Sugar,” Season 6, Ava DuVernay’s scripted TV Series on OWN. Previously my position was an Assistant Editor under Avril Beukes for Seasons 2-4.
What are you working on right now? I’m currently an Editor on Lena Waithe’s Showtime Scripted TV Series, “The Chi,” Seasons 5 and 6.
How did you prepare for the new position? My humble beginnings actually started in high school in the early 1990’s. I worked for Geoffrey Canada’s non-profit community organization, “The Harlem Children Zone,” in New York City. There I learned how to edit, documentary style (using videotape VHS & 3/4 remote linear editing systems). The videos showed community outreach work, (i.e. protest rallies, feeding the elderly, fundraisers, talent shows, bake sales, etc) and aired on local public access television.
My editing education continued at School of Visual Arts, in New York City. I studied filmmaking and received a BFA in Fine Arts. I had passion for spending endless hours, days and weeks in dark cutting rooms editing 16mm film on the Moviola or Steenbeck, working on my own projects and other students work. I also edited Indie shorts and a couple of features on Final Cut Pro after college.
In the early 2000’s, I moved to Los Angeles, learned editing on Avid and worked for the first 12 years in Unscripted TV shows as an Assistant Editor, Promo Editor and String-out Editor. The next 5 years of my professional experience was as an Assistant Editor in Scripted TV where, over time, I edited recaps, scenes and full acts and finally episodes. Over the last 2 years I’ve worked as an Editor, editing full episodes of the series on which I was previously hired as an Assistant Editor.
Who or what helped you on this journey? Laura Vural (a community director at The Harlem Children’s Zone) was a pivotal force, teaching me the storytelling process while I was in high school. She educated me on how the art of cinema can inform and transform our community, shaping how the world sees our community. The videos we made were shown not only on local Public Access Television, but also throughout the City of New York, and at the Museum of Modern Art.
During my professional journey, Jen McClure-Metz (at the time a Post Producer for “Survivor”) bumped me up from logger to digitizer to Assistant Editor, when she saw my eagerness to learn non-linear editing on the Avid. I’d come into the Mark Burnett offices on my time off and help out the AE’s and Editors.
Erik C. Andersen, Avril Beukes, Victoria Grimsley, and Chris McGinn gave me opportunities to edit recaps, scenes and more, working with the directors of the episodes on which I assisted, as well as allowing me to sit in on sessions with the showrunner, to learn the process and politics of professional editing.
In terms of networking, Lillian Benson, Jacques Gravett, Troy Takaki and Julio Cesar Perez are my guiding mentors in the ACE Diversity Program. James Wilcox and Ed Abroms also are trusted mentors over the years.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given? Stay humble, work hard and network.
What are your black history month memories and any cultural or historical impacts on your life? When I was a child, U.S. President Bill Clinton visited my church, the First Baptist Church of Crown Heights in Brooklyn, New York. I spoke to him and the congregation about MLK, Harriet Tubman and other prominent African American historical figures that inspired me. My mom still has the “New York Daily News” article and photo that featured me.
The Reconstruction Era after the American Civil War has the biggest historical impact on me. During this time, African Americans where granted U.S. citizenship, the right to vote and enfranchisement.
Was there a television show/movie that inspired you to pursue your career? In the 1980’s, I grew up in a household where television was very prominent. I loved shows like “Moonlighting,” “20/20,” “60 minutes,” “Knight Rider,” “The A Team,” “Twin Peaks,” “Remington Steele,” etc.
What’s your personal/professional mantra? Let your passion guide you, in all that you do in life!
What’s the last show/movie that left you speechless? TV: Hulu’s Original Series, Kindred.” Movie: 12 Years A Slave.” (Which I saw five times in the movie theaters and double digits amount of times on Blu-ray disc.)
What would be your dream project to work on? LucasFilm and Marvel Television shows or movies.
