Lost In Found: Scott Felsenfeld

Editing in the Age of AI

Not every guest on Lost In Found is a household name. Some are the people behind the scenes who make the work actually happen. Like editors.

Scott Felsenfeld is a Detroit-based video editor at Hogarth, cutting brand campaigns for Ford. He’s also a filmmaker on the side, running a short film competition team called 52 Scripts. In this episode, Scott joins Catch+Release ECD Tom Christmann to talk about editing as storytelling, the impact of AI on the craft, and what it takes to keep creating when the tools, and the timelines are changing fast.

Editing Is Curation. Curation Is Storytelling

For Scott, editing isn’t just about cutting clips together, it’s about choosing the shots that shape the story. “I’ve had projects where they shot all of this B-roll and interviews and just said, ‘make a story out of it,’” Scott explains. “That’s what I love. Taking the pieces of a puzzle and making something cohesive that elicits a reaction.”

That puzzle-solving mindset has carried him from local news promos, turned around overnight, to brand campaigns with bigger budgets and longer timelines. But the editor’s job is always the same: turn chaos into clarity.

AI Can’t Fake Emotion

Of course, editing today looks different than it did even five years ago. AI tools can now assemble rough cuts in minutes. Scott isn’t worried. “AI will do 80% of the work for you, but it won’t have that emotional grasp that humans do,” he says. “To cut something that I cut will look a lot different from someone who knows about pacing and emotion and how to draw a viewer in.”

For him, AI is a useful assistant, but not a replacement. “A lot of AI will just be used to pump content out for the sake of content. But if you want to make someone feel something, you still need a human.”

Finding Inspiration In A Stock World

Like many editors, Scott has spent countless hours scrolling through stock libraries—and getting frustrated. “Sometimes you’d search for ‘person walking down a path’ and it would show you giraffes eating in an African hotel window,” he laughs. “Completely useless.”

That’s why he’s drawn to real, authentic footage—whether it’s UGC from car reviewers or short films he makes with friends. “You want things that feel true, not generic,” Scott says. “That’s what connects.”

Advice for Aspiring Cutters

For anyone looking to break into editing, Scott’s advice is simple: make things. “You can’t wait for someone to pay you. You just have to love it enough to keep doing it,” he says. “Build a portfolio that shows range—sizzle reels, interviews, brand work. Be organized. Take feedback. And put yourself out there. You’ve got to keep screaming your name from the rooftops until someone listens.”

🎧 Listen to the full episode of Lost In Found wherever you get your podcasts, or stream it here.