Emory DeYoung

My name is Emory DeYoung. I am a writer of fourteen years and a filmmaker of seven. I attended the Young Writers Institute at Skidmore College for three summers, and the experience led me to decide to leave high school and go to college early at Bard College at Simon's Rock. I transferred after receiving my Associate in Arts degree to Sarah Lawrence College where I graduated with a Bachelor in Arts after three years of studying editing, cinematography, directing, screenwriting, and more.

My love for storytelling began in elementary school. I was a fast reader and devoured every book at and above my age level. I developed a love for fantasy in particular thanks to stories like "The Snow Queen" by Hans Christian Anderson and films like "The Princess Bride". I began writing my own fantasy stories, developing ideas for books and planning chapters before writing them. To this day, my mom still wants me to finish these old ideas.

I always thought I'd be an author until I attended the New York State Young Writers Institute at Skidmore College. There, my love for poetry and dramatic writing blossomed, and it was the latter that stuck with me when I attended Bard College at Simon's Rock. I started taking film classes and realized just how much I adore the art of filmmaking. I developed a taste for classic films and genres, started noticing details in films that I never had before, and became very annoying to watch movies with.

At Sarah Lawrence College, I pursued more aspects of filmmaking than I'd had the resources to at Simon's Rock. I found a love for film history, film editing, cinematography, and every other aspect of film I studied. Everything I learned furthered my love and appreciation for the art form.

When I graduated from Sarah Lawrence College, I was approached by a Sarah Lawrence student to edit a short film she had written and directed. I devoted the next year to research, long hours at the computer, and even learning an entirely new program in order to bring the film to life, and I am incredibly proud of the work that I did even if the film isn't perfect. You can watch it here.

After a year of struggling to find work within the industry, I decided to return to school and attend a short, intensive workshop at the New York Film Academy to learn the industry standard editing program AVID Media Composer. The days were long, the work was hard, and there was so much to learn in such a short span of time. Despite all this, I dove into the work head first and came out the other side a better editor and confident in my abilities to edit on AVID Media Composer.

It took a lot of trial and error, but I know now that editing is where my passion and skill within film lies. Editors are the unseen force that make film and television as incredible as it is. I'm confident that I will be a well known editor one day, and until then, I will work hard in order to prove my skills to others and make a name for myself within the industry.
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