Animation Video Editor (Volunteer)

Animation Video Editor (Volunteer)

PromiseStudios | Animation, Editing & Post-Production

Organization: Mentor A Promise (MAP)

Division: PromiseStudios

Team: Animation

Location: Remote — United States

Type: Volunteer Creative Production Role

Commitment: Approximately 5–10 hours per week

Minimum Commitment: 6-month commitment required

Reports To: Creative Director, Animation

Works Closely With: Animators, Motion Designers, Illustrators, Sound Designers, Composers, Voice Actors, Writers, and PromiseStudios creative leadership

About Mentor A Promise

Mentor A Promise (MAP) is a New York City–based nonprofit supporting children and youth ages 5–18 experiencing housing instability through mentorship, education, literacy, social-emotional learning, creative expression, career development, advocacy, and community-centered opportunity.

Through PromiseStudios, MAP develops original creative work across animation, film, photography, audio, motion design, and multidisciplinary storytelling.

About PromiseStudios

PromiseStudios is MAP's multidisciplinary creative production studio.

Our teams bring stories from concept to screen through collaboration among writers, directors, illustrators, animators, editors, composers, voice performers, sound designers, and other creative professionals.

We believe post-production is not simply where a project is assembled.

It is where rhythm, emotion, performance, sound, and story finally become one experience.

Role Overview

MAP is seeking a skilled and story-driven Animation Video Editor to join the PromiseStudios Animation Team.

The Video Editor will take animation sequences, dialogue, voice-over, music, sound effects, motion graphics, titles, and other production assets and shape them into polished, emotionally engaging final pieces.

This role requires more than technical editing ability. We are looking for someone who understands timing, performance, comedy, emotion, continuity, pacing, and visual storytelling.

The strongest edit should not call attention to the editor.

It should make the audience feel the story.

Key Responsibilities

Animation Editing

• Edit animated short films, episodes, promotional pieces, trailers, teasers, and other animated content.
• Assemble animation sequences into coherent cuts.
• Refine timing, pacing, transitions, and narrative flow.
• Integrate storyboards, animatics, rough animation, and final animation as projects move through production.
• Maintain continuity across scenes and sequences.
• Incorporate creative feedback through successive revisions.

Story & Performance

• Approach editing as a storytelling discipline rather than simply technical assembly.
• Strengthen emotional beats through timing and pacing.
• Shape dialogue and performance for clarity and impact.
• Understand when a scene needs space and when it needs momentum.
• Identify moments where an edit can improve humor, tension, emotion, or comprehension.
• Protect the director's creative intent while contributing thoughtful editorial judgment.

Sound, Dialogue & Music

• Synchronize dialogue and voice performances with animation.
• Integrate temporary and final music.
• Place and refine sound effects and ambient audio.
• Maintain appropriate audio levels and transitions.
• Collaborate with composers and sound professionals as projects progress.
• Prepare organized sequences for specialized sound mixing when required.

Motion Graphics & Finishing

Depending on experience and project needs:

• Incorporate titles and credits.
• Integrate motion graphics.
• Add basic visual effects and transitions.
• Perform basic color and image adjustments where appropriate.
• Prepare versions for different platforms and formats.
• Support final quality-control review before release.

Animation Production Workflow

Collaborate across the production pipeline:

Script → Storyboard → Animatic → Animation → Editorial → Sound & Music → Finishing → Quality Control → Final Delivery

Maintain organized project files, sequences, naming conventions, media, and version histories throughout production.

Creative Collaboration

• Work closely with the Creative Director, Animation.
• Collaborate constructively with animators and other artists.
• Participate in creative reviews and production meetings.
• Receive and implement feedback professionally.
• Identify editorial problems early rather than waiting until final delivery.
• Offer creative solutions when story, timing, or technical challenges arise.

Great editing is collaborative. The objective is not to win an argument about a cut—it is to make the project better.

Asset & File Management

• Maintain organized editing projects and media libraries.
• Follow established naming and version-control practices.
• Prevent accidental loss or overwriting of project assets.
• Properly manage linked media, exports, project files, and deliverables.
• Prepare clean project handoffs when collaboration requires another editor or post-production specialist.

Quality Control & Delivery

Before final delivery:

• Review picture and audio synchronization.
• Check transitions and visual continuity.
• Verify titles, credits, and spelling.
• Identify missing or incorrect assets.
• Review audio consistency.
• Confirm required dimensions, frame rates, codecs, and export specifications.
• Produce appropriate master and distribution versions.

A project is not finished because it exported successfully. It is finished when someone has carefully watched the final export.

Qualifications

Strong candidates should demonstrate:

• Experience editing animation, film, video, or digital media
• Strong understanding of storytelling, pacing, timing, and continuity
• Proficiency with professional editing software such as Adobe Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro, or comparable tools
• Ability to work with multiple video, image, and audio formats
• Strong organizational and file-management skills
• Ability to interpret creative direction and execute revisions
• Attention to detail
• Reliable communication and follow-through
• Ability to work independently within a collaborative production environment

Preferred Qualifications

Experience with one or more of the following is especially valuable:

• Animated short films
• Children's or family animation
• Animatics
• Adobe After Effects
• Motion graphics
• Sound editing
• Music editing
• Color correction
• Compositing
• Visual effects
• Dialogue editing
• Trailer or promotional editing
• YouTube and social-media delivery formats
• Remote animation production pipelines

A formal degree is not required when a candidate can demonstrate strong creative and technical ability through their portfolio.

Portfolio Requirement

Applicants should provide a portfolio, demo reel, website, or examples of relevant editing work.

We are particularly interested in seeing work that demonstrates storytelling and editorial judgment—not simply technical effects.

Responsible Creative Practice

Because MAP serves children and families, all editors must follow applicable organizational standards involving:

• Youth safeguarding
• Privacy
• Confidentiality
• Media permissions
• Copyright and intellectual property
• Licensed music and third-party assets
• Appropriate handling of unreleased creative material

Editors should never independently publish, distribute, or share unreleased MAP footage, animation, audio, project files, or other production assets without authorization.

What Success Looks Like

Animation projects move through post-production efficiently and with clear version control.

Cuts become stronger with each revision.

Dialogue, animation, sound, and music work together rather than competing with one another.

Creative leadership can trust that project files are organized, feedback is implemented carefully, and final exports have been reviewed before delivery.

Most importantly, audiences stop thinking about individual production elements and simply experience the story.

What You'll Gain

• Hands-on experience editing original animated productions
• Portfolio-building opportunities
• Collaboration with animators, directors, illustrators, composers, voice performers, and other creative professionals
• Experience within a multidisciplinary creative studio
• Opportunities to contribute to short films, original characters, animated stories, and other MAP creative properties
• Professional references and recommendations based on demonstrated contribution
• Opportunity to help shape the editorial language of a growing animation team

Commitment

• Approximately 5–10 hours per week
• 6-month commitment required
• Participate in regular Animation Team meetings and creative reviews
• Maintain consistent communication with the Creative Director, Animation
• Meet agreed production deadlines
• Respond constructively to creative feedback
• Maintain organized project files and version histories
• Protect confidential and unreleased creative assets

How to Apply

Interested candidates should apply directly through Idealist and submit:

• Resume or CV
• Brief cover letter
• Portfolio, demo reel, or examples of relevant editing work

Applicants should highlight experience in animation editing, video editing, film editing, post-production, motion graphics, sound, or related creative production.

This is an unpaid volunteer position.

At this time, MAP volunteer opportunities are limited to individuals based in the United States due to legal, safeguarding, data-privacy, compliance, and programmatic requirements.

Every frame has a purpose. Every cut changes the rhythm. Bring the pieces together—and make the story come alive.