Clark Zhu is no stranger to creating incredible movie trailers that all of us have 100% seen. From major feature films such as Black Widow, Venom, West Side Story, Free Guy, Clark’s work has won numerous awards like the Webby Awards, Golden Trailer Awards and the Promax BDA Awards.
With the entertainment industry back in full swing here in Los Angeles, we caught up with Clark to get an inside look at his passion and the blueprint for an awesome trailer!
1. Explain to us your passion for trailer editing and why you went into this line of work?
Trailer editing is absolutely an art form for me. I have always appreciated the art of film editing in general – the art of montage. And I think the trailer is the best demonstration of that art, even though it is commercial in nature. When I was a kid, I remember seeing the teaser for Marvel’s The Avengers and had goosebumps throughout my entire body. Since then I am always invested in how to turn a 2 hour movie into 2 minutes and make the audience go crazy after they see it in that short period of time. That excitement is something that never fades away in me. I think that drive is what motivated me to work as a trailer editor.
2. Is there a blueprint or proper way to edit trailers? Or is it whatever you feel like?
There is definitely a proper way to edit a trailer, a process adapted by many of my peers. First we would watch the project and break down the project, then we would select the music and build out the music bed of the trailer first, then we will structure the narrative around the music bed and lastly we will fill the editing timeline with footage.
3. How has it been working on various projects during the pandemic here in Los Angeles?
It has been a fantastic experience despite the pandemic. During the past couple months I was fortunate enough to work on some of the biggest movies in 2021, such as Black Widow, Venom Let There Be Carnage, Free Guy and West Side Story. Some of these projects are truly saving movie theaters as the threat of pandemic persists. It is truly an honor to be able to contribute to the effort – to work on the marketing campaigns of these movies – and they received astonishing box office returns.
4. How has Los Angeles in general influenced how you live your life and do your work?
Being from China, I wasn’t used to driving everywhere since public transit is right around the corner, but when I moved to LA, I had to quickly adapt to the life of driving. And honestly, I love it – driving itself has always been a very fun task and I enjoy doing so (besides 405 traffic, haha). And being in LA, the heart of Hollywood production, I was given the chance to work on some of the biggest movies of the year, which I am always grateful for.
5. What are some new trailers we should be on the lookout for that you have done?
My most recent project was West Side Story, there are multiple TV Spots that I cut that have been airing across the national TV for the past few weeks.
And for the work that I did that hasn’t been released in public yet, I cannot disclose the project name due to NDA. But being on the lookout for the Winter Olympics and Super Bowl, some of my work will be aired during the prime time of those two programs.
6. What award so far have you felt most proud of?
During the past years, I was able to bring home a Golden Trailer Award, a Promax BDA award and a Webby Award. But the one I am most proud of is my Golden Trailer Award win for my TV spot for Tom Hank’s Greyhound. The reason is that I won in the best sound design in a TV spot category, and the sound design in my trailers is always I put the most time in, and I am glad that my hard work was able to be recognized by my peers and the award judges.
7. What does the future hold for you and trailer editing here in Los Angeles?
In 5 to 10 years, I would like to see myself transition into a senior editor with a portfolio that contains some of the biggest and best trailers from the past five years, and I also want to become a creative director and lead the charge in movie advertising campaigns, not just as the editor.
