Lizzie Minges is Head of Post!

Meet CAVE's Head of Post-Production, Lizzie Minges!

After over half a decade at The Cave and a recent promotion, Lizzie finally comes clean about her past lives, her role as Head of Post, and what projects she's got up her sleeves. (Hint: they involve life-size dinosaurs and an autobiographical montage of 10 years of daily clips!)

Did you always want to pursue a career in film?

Not in the least! Growing up, I actually had more of a passion for putting on live events as a musician and promoter. I sang in bands, worked as a performance artist, and was big into organizing small-scale concerts in every city I lived in. I guess organizing a seamless show for a live audience is a lot like being on set: you have your load-in schedules, your setlists, you have to keep your audience in mind, so the clues were there!

When did you know filmmaking was for you?

I graduated from SVA's Social Documentary Filmmaking program, and for my thesis film I spent a summer filming a season with the cast of the Coney Island Circus Sideshow. People had told me it was impossible to film there, that the performers carefully guarded their likenesses. Somehow, through either good timing, dumb luck, or because of my own oddball performance background, they let me into the family, and that summer at the beach was a really pivotal moment for me as a filmmaker and as a person. To this day the piece of that project I'm most proud of is how genuine my connection with the cast and crew became over time. Becoming that safe space wherein people can be fully in their element, free to share and create, is where the magic happens. I don't think a documentary (or a production company!) really stands a chance without that emotional security.

Have you worked on anything interesting lately?

Definitely! This year I edited two episodes of American Anthems, a PBS show centered around a musician crafting a surprise song for a local community hero. It was the first time I had been tasked with such a large-scale post-production project conducted almost entirely remotely, and the experience really taught me the importance of considering every voice involved in the post process.

I've also been chipping away at a project that's been near and dear to my heart: ten years ago I started a personal challenge of recording a video a day. The very first clip was the view out of my plane window as I landed at JFK for the first time in 2012, and now that it's been ten years, I'm determined to mold all those clips into a full piece!

What can you tell us about your new role as Head of Post-production?

This year I was thrilled to be promoted from editor to Head of Post at CAVE, and I really look forward to using experiences from my past lives to bring our team together even further and deliver great work. Making people feel truly understood is so crucial for any gig, but especially so at a production company. When you're tasked with generating creativity at the drop of a hat, finding a little common ground goes such a long way.

Do you have any film ideas you're just dying to make?

I think my dream project would be to make one of those on-the-road style documentary series about offbeat Americana. My favorite stop so far has been Dinosaur Land: an overgrown "educational forest" with eroding plaster dinosaurs and an inexplicable King Kong whose decaying paw you could stand in for a risky photo opp. I'm totally captivated by kitsch. (That or setting myself up to be the easiest mark in horror movie history!)