This week's #WCW at MEWShop is former Sight, Sound and Story panelist and Erin Casper! Erin is an Emmy-nominated documentary editor based in New York. Erin’s recent editing credits include "The Last Season" (2015 Truer Than Fiction Independent Spirit Award nominee); and "American Promise" (POV 2014, Special Jury Prize for Achievement in Filmmaking at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, Official Selection of the 51st Annual New York Film Festival). Erin also edited "The New Black" (Independent Lens in 2014, GLAAD and NAACP Image Award nominee); "Our School," (winner of the 2011 Sterling Award for Best US Feature Documentary at AFI DOCS); and short nonfiction pieces for NY Times Op-Docs and The Intercept.
In 2011, Erin was the inaugural recipient of the prestigious Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellowship, and has had the distinct honor of attending the Sundance Documentary Edit & Story Lab in 2009, 2011 and 2015.
The film in this video, American Promise, is a documentary spanning 13 years from directors Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson. The film captures the stories of Brewster and Stephenson's 5-year-old son Idris and his best friend and classmate Seun as these families navigate their way through the rigorous prep-school process. The film is set against the backdrop of a persistent educational achievement gap that dramatically affects African-American boys at all socioeconomic levels across the country.
You can follow Erin on Twitter at @erinlcasper.