R3: Navigating Difficult Subject Matter in Post

Join our panel of acclaimed documentary editors as they discuss the unique challenges of shaping stories that confront grief, trauma, and ethical dilemmas; and how that impacts their work. Discover how these storytellers navigate sensitive material, balance truth with empathy, and make critical decisions that honor their subjects, audiences, and themselves.

Panelists:

Aika Miyake
Aika Miyake is an Emmy Award– and American Cinema Editors Eddie Award–winning TV and film editor with over 18 years of experience. Her work spans a wide range of styles and genres, from short-form branded content and documentaries to narrative television and feature films.

She most recently edited FX’s critically acclaimed limited series Shōgun, based on James Clavell’s 1975 novel. Her work on Shōgun earned her both an Emmy Award and an Eddie Award.

Aika’s previous television credits include Netflix’s Emmy-winning documentary series Chef’s Table: BBQ and Beyoncé’s Grammy-nominated and Emmy-winning visual album Black Is King. Her film work includes Coming Home, a short documentary nominated at the SXSW Film Festival, and Hafu: The Mixed-Race Experience in Japan, which won Best Documentary Feature at the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival.

Aika began her career editing commercials and music videos for brands such as Nike, Pampers, IKEA, and Spotify, building a strong foundation in storytelling through image and rhythm.

Born and raised in Japan, Aika grew up playing drums and making hundreds of mixtapes for her sisters. Her passion for photography eventually led her to discover filmmaking and the emotional power of pairing images with music.

She currently resides in Los Angeles. Outside of editing, Aika is passionate about food, travel, art, and music, and spending time with her two beloved cats, Oreo and Millie.

Dora Wu
Dora “Siyi” Wu is a BIPOC emerging editor and immigrant storyteller working across narrative and documentary films in the U.S. and internationally. 10 years ago, She moved to Los Angeles to pursue her MFA in Filmmaking at Chapman University. Her recent work includes editing the feature documentary The Rise of Electric Car (the trilogy of Who Killed the Electric Car? ), Hall of Legend: Uzi for League of Legends, and credits includes Emmy-nominated Wuhan! Wuhan!, Academy Award-qualified Harper and Academy Award nominated short Some Nerve. She has also assisted on major projects such as Netflix’s The Brothers Sun, Big Vape, and AMC’s Queer for Fear. Dora is passionate about telling heartfelt, unique stories that inform, inspire, and spark cultural and social change.

David Chang
David Chang is an American film editor best known for FX’s Emmy nominated series Reservation Dogs and Dave, Hulu’s Interior Chinatown, Netflix’s Mo, and Nat Geo’s Trafficked with Mariana Van Zeller. He has also worked on feature documentaries such as Moonage Daydream that premiered at Cannes in 2022, directed by Brett Morgen, and Where’s My Roy Cohn? that premiered at Sundance in 2019, directed by Matt Tyrnauer. He feels fortunate to have worked on a wide variety of projects both scripted and documentary that delve into themes of identity through race, gender, sexuality, and social class. Currently, David is working on another upcoming FX series created by Sterlin Harjo, starring Ethan Hawke, as well as writing and directing his first short film. He resides in Los Angeles, CA.

Moderator:
MAYSIE HOY, ACE (Editor)
Ms. Hoy began her theater training in her hometown of Vancouver, Canada. She studied improvisational theatre in San Francisco with “The Wing” and “The Committee”. Upon returning to Vancouver, she formed “The Good Will Store” an improvisational company and became the artistic director. For the next two years, her troupe performed and taught Viola Spolin’s theater games in schools and correctional institutions. It was during this time she was cast in Robert Altman’s McCABE AND MRS. MILLER.When the movie wrapped principal photography, she left for Los Angeles. For the next eight years she learned the language of cinema working for ROBERT ALTMAN. She also acted in several of his films, including CALIFORNIA SPLIT, NASHVILLE, THREE WOMEN AND A WEDDING.