I’m Leading Editing For Connection at SXSW 2027

I’m leading a workshop at SXSW 2027 called Editing For Connection.

The workshop is about the decisions inside an edit that influence how an audience experiences a video. We’ll look at pacing, timing, structure, and visual emphasis, then examine how those choices affect curiosity, emotion, memory, and trust.

Editing is often discussed as a way to improve retention. Retention is useful, but it cannot explain the whole experience. A person can watch a video all the way through without caring about it. They can also remember a pause, a reaction, or the order of a reveal long after the video leaves their feed.

That difference is where I want to spend our time.

Every cut makes a decision for the audience

An editor decides where someone should look and how long they have to process what they see. A cut can reveal information, interrupt a thought, extend an uncomfortable pause, or let a reaction finish. Captions can clarify a line or compete with the person saying it. Music can support a feeling or tell the audience what to feel before the scene has earned it.

None of those choices are neutral.

The workshop will use real examples and practical frameworks to make those decisions easier to see. We’ll ask what the audience knows at each moment, what they are waiting to learn, and which detail deserves their attention. We’ll also look at what happens when an edit moves too quickly for a feeling to register or holds so long that curiosity becomes confusion.

The principles apply beyond one platform

The session is not a tutorial for one editing app or a collection of algorithm tricks. Short-form videos, films, branded campaigns, and educational videos have different constraints, but editors working in each format still arrange information over time.

A product demonstration needs the audience to notice the right feature. A comedy video depends on the exact placement of a reaction. A lesson has to introduce information in an order people can follow. A story may need silence before the next line can land.

The tools change. The audience still has to see, understand, feel, and remember something.

SXSW will announce the schedule details

SXSW has listed Editing For Connection as a beginner workshop in the Creator Economy track. It will be available to Platinum and Innovation badge holders during SXSW 2027, which runs March 15–21 in Austin, Texas.

The date, time, and room have not been announced. I’ll add those details to the session page on my site when SXSW publishes them. You can also follow the official SXSW listing for the latest schedule information.