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In the Beginning WildChild's Yvette Pineyro recently cut a series of Louis Vuitton commercials. 18 York City and watch her go through the complicated and magical process of cutting film. Her aunt is the well-known Cuban-born editor Gloria Pineyro, who cut such films as Amigos, The Other Cuba, Fat Angels and El Super. She also had her own editing house called Gloria's Place. When Yvette Pineyro was 13, she came to live with her aunt in New York and became immersed in the elder woman's art. "I would watch her with the bins and frames, the old-school cutting," explains the younger Pineyro. "I marveled at how she was able to keep everything in place, and the intricacies of the celluloid and how everything had to match. It was fascinating to me how she ran the Moviola, Steenbecks and the uprights. That's when my fascination with editing began." In addition to working on films, her aunt also had the Bugs Bunny account, which made it all the more cool for her niece. "It was fun for me because I got to rewind it and set it up for her so she could do what she needed to do." But it was more than just watching. Pineyro's aunt would explain not only the physical aspects of the art of editing, but the all-important art of storytelling as well. In addition to films, Gloria Pineyro worked on documentaries Post • April 2013 Post0413_016-18,20-How prosRAv6FINALREAD.indd 18 and all the skits for Saturday Night Live back then. "I got to see all the forms," she says. "Then in the '70s, she got into commercials." It was the art of the short form that Yvette Pineyro gravitated toward. "How you get a message out with a beginning, middle and an end in 30 seconds is fascinating." After high school, there was little question to what Pineyro wanted to study, so she enrolled in film school at SUNY Purchase. Other inspiration for Pineyro came from filmmakers her Aunt Gloria collaborated with over the years, including acclaimed cinematographer Nestor Almendros, who took her under his wing, as well as to the movies. "I used to go with him and Mike Nichols to films. This is while I was going to college, so you could only imagine the envy of my film friends," she explains. "He came from a cinematography background, so between his vision and my aunt's editing, it was pretty informative. I used to walk around film school with Nestor Almendros's light meter!" After college Pineyro traveled a lot. "I wanted to expand my horizons," she says. When she returned, she went to work for her aunt at her office to learn about advertising. "It was great, fun times. I even directed various music videos." Almendros passed away not long after and Pineyro opened her own studio and called it WildChild, "which was the first film he ever worked on in France for François Truffaut," she says. Pineyro started small in a 2,000-square-foot space across from her aunt's studio. It was her, an assistant and a producer. From there WildChild grew and moved to its current location, a 12,000-squarefoot space on 28th Street. "We grew and hired great talent as we went." A few years back I had the pleasure of visiting the WildChild space and seeing Kanye West walking the halls. He was there while WildChild was creating the content that played in the background during his and Jay Z's concerts. WildChild did a lot of work with Hype Williams and his clients back then. Currently they are busy with TV commercials, Web content and digital work. "We did the entire digital presence for launching The Nook. We also launched the iHome." A recent project cut by Pineyro is the Justin Timberlake campaign for Givenchy and spots for Louis Vuitton. Amazingly, the tide has turned and about 60 percent of the studios' work is digital, with 40 percent broadcast projects. And the young talent she hires to work in these realms are ready for anything. "It's amazing to me because the people coming in are extremely prepared, more so than when I first started. They know so many different platforms and software systems. All the people here are directing, they edit, they do After Effects. Now having that foundation is necessary because everybody wants everything in one place." But she reminds us that knowledge of gear is only a part of it, working in a room with the client is another! BOB FESTA Bob Festa, who recently joined Santa Monica's Company 3 (www.company3.com) as a senior colorist, has a long and impressive list of facilities under his belt. Most recently he was a partner in the DI studio New Hat for five years, but since his career began, he has been with Deluxe, Hollywood Digital, Encore, Complete Post, Editel, and others. Actually, it might be more accurate to say he has rejoined Company 3, since he spent 11 years working for co-founder/president Stefen Sonnenfeld at sister company Riot. Festa had no idea he was to become an award-winning colorist. He says he was an audiophile first, playing stand-up bass in band at high school. "I played in the high school socials and at proms. So I was musical first; www.postmagazine.com 3/27/13 3:32 PM