Australian Screen Editors (ASE) was founded in 1996 by Henry Dangar (who became its first president) and Jenny Ward. The guild is "dedicated to the pursuit and recognition of excellence in the arts, sciences and technology of motion picture and televisual post production. It aims to promote, improve and protect the role of editor as an essential and significant contributor to all screen productions." The current President of ASE is Fiona Strain. Immediate past presidents include Deborah Peart, Dany Cooper, Jason Ballantine, Karen Pearlman, Lindi Harrison and Peter Whitmore. It currently has about 500 members in all Australian states, predominantly in NSW and Victoria.

Membership

Applications for ASE membership are invited from professional screen editors, assistant editors, students of screen editing and associated film industry professionals. Applicants must have a folio of significant editorial work in film and/or television. There are three types of memberships: Full members, associate members and student members. Some notable members such as Jill Bilcock are members of both the Australian Screen Editors and American Cinema Editors. Members are not permitted to use the acronym "ASE" after their names on screen credits until they obtain ASE accreditation.

Accreditation

ASE accreditation is like an honorary degree given to members who have made a significant contribution to editing. There are currently 46 accredited members. Accreditation is presented at the annual ASE awards night and are given under the following guidelines.

Guild structure

The ASE has an executive committee based in Sydney (New South Wales) and sub committees in Melbourne (Victoria), Brisbane (Queensland),Perth (Western Australia) and Adelaide (South Australia), who meet monthly to discuss issues and organise events such as talks by industry professionals, technical events and screenings.

Resources

ASE owns and operates both "Editsearch", an online based bulletin board for ASE members providing information on editorial related jobs, and a mentor scheme, where younger or less experienced members can gain work experience with senior industry professionals. In addition, ASE also provides a wealth of resources such as an online forum, technical articles and information about Australian editing culture as well as the history of editing. A newsletter is also published quarterly and distributed to members.

Awards

ASE awards and accreditation nights are held annually in Sydney. Eligible members are presented with their ASE accreditation during this ceremony. The ASE Award itself is called an "Ellie" and resembles a small bronze Elephant with its trunk up and the winning film as a rubber stamp on the bottom. It is presented in the following eleven categories: The award for TV (comedy) is the most recent addition to the categories, having been added in 2014.

Best Editing in a Feature Film

Best Editing in a Documentary Feature

Best Editing in a Documentary Program

Best Editing in a Documentary Series

Best Editing in Television Drama

Best Editing in a Television Comedy

Best Editing in Television Factual

Best Editing in a Commercial

Best Editing in a Music Video

Best Editing in a Short film

Best Editing in Open Content

Accreditations

Lifetime Membership Award