Editors In The Movies

As I attempt to fulfill the Managing Editor's responsibilities with the N. Q. I am of course inspired by the Amanda Priestly character from
The Devil Wears Prada (played by the limitlessly talented Meryl Streep and inspired, in turn, it is rumoured, by legendary Vogue editor Anna Wintour, known to her staff as 'Nuclear' Wintour). This means throwing fur coats around with alacrity, throwing exquisite and expensive food away untouched, throwing tantrums at the drop of an Armani cloche. It's great fun and essential to the editing process.
Something else I learned from the movie was the necessity of creating and keeping 'A Book', a version of the magazine constantly updated as it moves through the production process. Ours isn't quite the fancy-pants gear of film fame (we use a couple of my daughter's old school binders) but it does mean that, at this stage in our schedule - three weeks or so until copy deadline - we've got the issue fairly blocked out and there are no gaps in the page content. One less reason to bolt awake at three in the morning.
(Photo: La Streep in Prada, via blogwaybaby.)