Produced with Anthem Multimedia
Bearing Witness: A Name and a Voice
“We had no ideas for this trailer. Zero. It didn’t exist. You took it from 0 to 100 and made something that actually helped us win an Emmy.”
Client· Anthem Multimedia Role·Lead Editor Duration·2 minutes Year· 2024
Bearing Witness - Trailer
Context
Anthem Multimedia came to me with a finished documentary and no trailer.
No structure. No tone. No ideas.
The film was quiet and cerebral. Beautiful, but restrained.
They needed something magnetic enough to grab festival attention.
They were aiming high. Emmy high.
Challenge
They’d worked with half a dozen editors over the years and walked away disappointed every time.
When Dina Rudick reached out, she was skeptical but hopeful.
She loved the film. She just couldn’t see how a trailer could match its depth without breaking its tone.
They needed clarity.
And they needed someone who could own it from start to finish.
Creative Approach
My first job was to take it off their plate.
Not just to cut a trailer, but to design one.
I studied comparable pieces. Built a bank of ideas.
Tested, trimmed, and rebuilt until only what mattered remained.
Ten essential pieces pulled from a thousand.
Every frame had to earn its place.
I began building it like a song, shifts in rhythm, breath, and tone guiding each section.
Outcome
The first cut landed in three days.
The second was ninety percent there.
By the final version, no one questioned it.
It worked. Clean. Clear. Honest.
The trailer went on to help Anthem secure an Emmy for the full film.
