Studios see art film, essentially requires editing (8)
I believe the answer is:
ateliers
'studios' is the definition.
(atelier is a kind of studio)
'film essentially requires editing' is the wordplay.
'film' becomes 'oater' (I've seen this before).
'essentially' means to look at the middle letters.
'requires editing' becomes 'liers' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
The middle letters of 'oater' are 'ate'.
'ate'+'liers'='ATELIERS'
'see art' is the link.
This may not be right. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ateliers that I've seen before include "Artists' studios" , "Accommodation" , "Artist's workrooms" , "workshops" .)