Hot Shots 2025: Ben Butler

Life wasn’t easy for Ben Butler prior to joining Windfall four years ago as a post-production bookings co-ordinator.

Deciding to uproot from his native Gateshead to London in pursuit of work, he was earning close to minimum wage and couldn’t even afford to take trains home to help his father, who had become homeless.

While pushing for more film and TV opportunities for people in the north-east, he has thrived at Windfall, jumping a level to edit assistant then rising through the ranks as assistant editor, junior editor and now editor. He has cut promos, concept videos, reversions and shows, typically to a six-week schedule.

One key project was C4’s ABBA: 50 Years Of Pop. As assistant editor, Butler put in midnight and weekend shifts and created specific music libraries, curated B-roll footage and couriered the cut to Soho by hand to hit the deadline.

As junior editor on SBS series Venice From Above, Butler created five-minute stories to inform episode assemblies, took on script editing and fact-checked details.

Butler secured his first editor credit on series two of C4’s World’s Most Secret Hotels, fine-cutting a string of eight-minute stories over five weeks, each within two days. He is now embarking on his second project as editor with a view to taking on the role full-time.

Windfall post-production manager Philip Michael Dimaano has been impressed with his rapid ascent. “Since joining, Ben has made an impressive leap into the world of editing, bringing both technical precision and a sharp creative instinct to every project he touches,” he says.

“Whether wrangling complex footage or elevating a story in the cut, Ben has consistently delivered with style and focus. He’s the kind of talent who doesn’t just keep pace – he sets it.”