By A.J. Catoline
After two decades as a working picture editor, Austin Scott knew the rhythms of a freelance career — the rush of steady work, the anxiety of slowdown. What he couldn’t prepare for was the moment when the work vanished; his hometown of Altadena burned in last year’s disastrous fire, and the future felt suddenly unrecognizable.
Scott joined the Editors Guild in 2006 as an apprentice editor and moved through the assistant ranks on scripted programs before jumping to unscripted as an editor. Over the last two decades, he has edited shows like “MasterChef,” “Dancing With the Stars,” and “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.”
He served on the Local 700 board of directors from 2021 to 2024. He co-founded the Unscripted Alliance, an online group where editors shared their concern that jobs in reality TV were getting scarce as productions fled overseas. Now, 20 years after he became an MPEG member, Scott is on honorary withdrawal, whereby active membership is paused — hopefully temporarily — in hopes that steady work will return soon.
2025 was the toughest year of Scott’s career and one of the most challenging of his personal life. Last year, on January 7, Scott’s home, where he lived with his wife Emma and two kids, Reese and Wilder, survived the devastating Eaton Fire by a matter of blocks. Ten days later, their third child, Soleil, was born without a safe home to return to due to smoke damage. As if all this weren’t enough, this came less than a year after Scott and his wife lost their baby at full term in February 2024.
Our entire town burned down — I was dealing with survivors guilt.
When the ashes settled, he found himself searching not only for income, but for purpose. He found a way to transform his artistic skills into connection and uncertainty into a new path forward.
CineMontage: When the work slowed to a near stop, did it feel like a moment of reinvention — or something more forced upon you?
Austin Scott: For years, I made a consistent income editing reality competition shows, and I could always find work. However, the business has been changing, and I have been searching for a sense of purpose. I’ve also watched my kids grow up so fast, and I’ve felt depressed to have missed so many moments. I have tried to mix up the genres I work in over the years, but the writing’s been on the wall for a while. I’ve been trying to figure out how to be happier and spend more time with my family.
Then the fire happened. I was unbelievably stricken with grief. Our entire town burned down. We were spared just as they stopped the fire. Almost all of our friends’ and neighbors’ houses were destroyed, and I was dealing with survivor’s guilt.
My artwork came organically. I told myself, “I’m going to draw, I need to draw something.” I started drawing a happy bear from Altadena. And then I drew his coyote friend and his parrot buddy. I drew them around favorite Altadena places like Side Pie Pizza (which I couldn’t believe had been destroyed), Cafe de Leche, and Fox’s. Iconic landmarks like NASA JPL and the Affirmation Tree on Woodbury. Pretty soon, it was an entire illustration depicting the many iconic businesses lost in the flames… my tribute to my favorite places.
CineMontage: What happened once you started sharing the artwork with your community?
Scott: I printed out about a hundred copies of my drawing and left them at the local coffee shop, Unincorporated Coffee Roasters, where people could take them.
They were gone in two days. Everybody was talking about it. I posted it on Facebook, and then it blew up. People printed my design on shirts. I was invited to extend it to a 15×20-foot mural at the coffee shop. And that led to another mural down the street.
I was thinking: I like this mural thing. This is fun. I enjoy listening to music, being outside, and painting. Within the first few hours after I started the mural, people were walking by and were like, “Wow, that’s awesome, dude.”
When I was close to done and viewing my work in progress from across the street, I saw a lady walk by and look at it. She stopped, put her head in her hands, and just cried. It was then that I began to realize just how much my community needed my art.
CineMontage: How did those first murals lead to more opportunities around Altadena?
Scott: A public charter school, Alma Fuerte, held an art fair featuring a live mural by the most incredible experienced graffiti and street artists. I had already done two murals, and they invited me to join.
Soon they asked, “Would you like to paint other walls at the school?”
There was a massive wall on the side of the gymnasium. I asked, “Can I take this wall?”
They said, “Yes, please!”
The school was the largest space I had done, 30 feet tall! So I came up with a concept using the words “Dream Bigger.” And for this mural, I painted a peacock, because you can hear them running free in the foothills of Altadena.
CineMontage: At this point, how do you see your identity shifting? From editor to artist, or something in between?
Scott: It’s figuring out what you’re best suited for when it’s time to take on the next thing. I have three kids; there has to be something next. I’ve ended up making more money with art last year than with editing, and that’s not saying much. But for me, it’s incredible to realize that at the beginning of 2025, I had just started painting and drawing. And by the end of the year, I was published in the LA Times as one of eight featured holiday wrapping-paper artists. It was a fantastic journey.
[Scott was quoted in the Los Angeles Times: “In Altadena, community, creativity, and diversity come together to create an incomparable synergy of vibrations that you have to be here to believe. Although our town has been through the worst thing imaginable this year, the strength and connectivity of the people here are unmatched, and indicative of what will no doubt be a collective rise from the ashes,” Scott said. -ed.]
Austin’s art and merchandise can be found on his online store Altadena Forever where a portion of proceeds go to fire relief.
CineMontage: What would you say to other editors who may be struggling in the work slowdown and wondering how — or whether — to pivot?
Scott: Times are tough for some members who have no income with which to pay their dues. I can’t wait for the day when the call comes, jobs reappear, and I can be active in the union again.
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer. I think you should look inside yourself and ask — what makes you happy? I edited for 20 years; who knows if I’ll be editing full-time anymore? It’s a great unknown. I hope that’s not the case for most people in our union. I hope work continues to come back here and flourish. But if it doesn’t, we all need to find something that enables us to continue supporting ourselves and
our families.
For now, I definitely want to do a job that the community has shown me it wants. So I’m going to keep moving in that direction.
