I take raw camera footage and sculpt it until it meets the director's vision. Outside the screenwriter, I have arguably the most important job out of any creative professional on the film crew. Editing can make or break a film.

EDUCATION | I took beginning film classes at San Francisco State University; I took just about everything they offered to undergraduates, from Super 8 production to Perspectives in Neo Realism.

HOW TO GET STARTED | Volunteer. Get coffee. Sharpen pencils. Log rushes (make notes on footage). Have really good handwriting. Again: Have really good handwriting. Sounds silly? Nope. Editing is brain surgery; the faster the editor can find tiny pieces of film in the log sheets to (for example) preserve continuity, the faster you will rise through the ranks. Editors appreciate your help, but learn to ask questions at the right time. Apprentiship is a tradition in the movies, but learn not to get in the way of the editor's train of thought.

MUST HAVE TRAITS | Love movies. Love long hours. Love finding solutions to creative pickles.

how I got started | I fell in love with making films when I was twenty. I made Super 8 sound films of my screenplays (I was a creative writing major at San Francisco State University) and I got the best film makers on campus to help me, along the way, I started learning my craft. I was lucky enough to have a mentor, a guy who is of all things a record producer who is a huge fan of silent movies. He and his wife would go to Silent Film Festivals and dissect Chaplin and Keaton movies cut for cut, frame for frame for years, but never had the opportunity to cut a film together. I hired him as my soundman, he was totally gangbusters, the first five or so passes over my film Sarah Luger were unsuccessful to say the least. My producer came out of one of the screenings and had only one note: run the film by the soundman. Best creative choice I ever made, even though it was my producer's idea.

why this job?| It chose me. In 1989 I saw three films back to back: Drugstore Cowboy; sex, lies, and videotape; and Do the Right Thing. I like to believe that that was the starting point for this journey of mine.

why I love this job!| (1) The Eureka Moments: when picture, sound, and music come together to make something living and breathing (2) Working with talented people. (3) Having a permanent place on the Learning curve.

my typical day| It's showbiz, so there are no typical days. It depends where you are in the production. I have been an editor on location while the film editing the footage to a rough cut as it's was being shot, to uncovering film that was shot fifteen twenty years ago that has been in storage, and alot of the elements are missing. So depending what's waiting, the days are far from typical. Post production is definitely a career for the Mad Scientist type.

what they are | The competition. The fact that you may have to work on films that are terrible. And, yes, sometimes the egos are an issue.

all about growth | Editing is a craft. You have to have years of experience before you get anywhere near being considered a professional. There is a high demand for it in certain parts of the country, but more than enough people to fill the slots. The best way to get work is to have a great reel (clips of your editing work on a DVD and online) get to know the best editors out there (easier than you might think) and be persistent. Some agents in LA and NY handle editors, and they are the best people to talk to and to stay in touch with.

my website| http://greatsocietyfilmworks.com; youtube.com/corbascio; facebook.com/sarah luger