Damon Wayans in Spike Lee's Bamboozled.

Investigate the possibilities.

The one piece of advice that I would impart to anybody who is looking to be an editor or any other aspect of this business is always remember that making movies is about investigating all possibilities. You should always be open to different options. If you get focused into making something one way, you may not make the best film.

Take your time to do it right.

I just got hired to do four weeks on a proposed reality show about comedians. They want to do a half-hour show in two weeks. That really is not, to me, the proper way to make it in the best way possible. It can be done, and with my years of experience I’ll be able to figure out how to do it. But to me it’s not the best way to do it.

Put your money where your mouth is.

I wanted to produce because as an editor for the 10 previous years I used to hear a lot of editors who do documentaries, say ‘Oh, I could do better than this guy.’ So I finally said ‘Put your money where your mouth is.’ [laughs]

The script is the template.

The thing that you learn when you’re writing a film is that it’s the template; it’s the foundation. It gives you the opportunity to have a template in front of you. Then when you go into the editing room, that process is the next level of the template. First you have it on paper, now you have it visually and then you have to make it a film.

Pain is pleasurable.

To me, what I love more than the finished film is the process of making it—even when it’s painful (and most times it is). Because it’s always an evolving process where I’m learning something, not only about the material, but about myself and my response to the material. I think it’s one of the greatest things to do.

Filmography for Samuel Pollard

Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin (2003) [Executive producer]
Time Enough at Last (2003) [Post-Production Mentor]
25th Hour (2002)
The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow (2002) [Producer]
Jim Brown All American (2002) [Editor/Producer]
Bragging Rights: Stickball (2001) [Executive producer]
Half Past Autumn: The Life and Works of Gordon Parks (2000)
The Making of 'Bamboozled' (2001) [Director]
Bamboozled (2000)
4 Little Girls (1997) [Editor/Producer]
Girl 6 (1996)
Clockers (1995)
No Dreams Deferred (1994)
Surviving the Game (1994)
Jungle Fever (1991)
Mo' Better Blues (1990)
Eyes on the Prize II (1990) [Director/Producer]
Private Resort (1985)
Body and Soul (1981)
Night of the Zombies (1981)
Just Crazy About Horses (1978)