Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1262492
31 S U M M E R Q 2 I S S U E F E A T U R E seemed to be more in line of what I was consistently doing," Zimmerman said. Then the 46-year-old editor — who came of age at a time when such series touchstones as "E.T. the Extra-Terres- trial" (1982), "The Thing" (1982), and "Ghostbusters" (1984) were first seen in movie theaters — sat down to read the script by the Duffer Brothers, the show's creators and frequent directors. "Every page I was reading, I was like, 'Stand by Me' — literally I kept rattling off every single movie that impacted my entire youth," Zimmerman said. "When I met the Duffers, it was not necessarily an interview of, 'Hey do you want the job?'" Instead, Zimmerman told the brothers he simply had to do the job. Z i m m e r m a n h o p p e d a b o a r d t h e "Stranger Things" train starting with Episode 1 of Season 1, "The Vanishing of Will Byers." That episode put into play many of the elements that would rivet viewers over the course of Seasons 2 and 3 (a fourth season was announced before production was suspended due to the COVID-19 outbreak earlier this year). The show revolves around the para- normal occurrences — including the disappearance of young Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) into a dimension familiar to fans as the "Upside Down" — that come close to overwhelming Hawkins, Indiana. Winona Ryder stars as the mother of Will and his sibling, Jonathan (Charlie Heaton). A group of Will's friends — Mike (Finn Wolard), Dustin (Gaten Mataraz- zo), and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) — also have major parts. Of course, "Stranger Things" has taken numerous detours and digressions since that debut episode, but Zimmer- man has been a constant presence in the cutting room; he now divides each sea- son's load of episodes with fellow picture editor Nat Fuller, who began on the series as an assistant editor on Season 1. "First and foremost, Dean is simply a great editor — he has a great grasp o f c h arac ters, to n e, h e's a l ways go t a solution, and he's full of some seri- ously mind-blowing tricks," said the Duffer Brothers (who consist of 36-year- old twins Matt and Ross Duffer). "He's half-editor, half-magician. He's also in- sanely fast, which helps — and he knows what you want halfway through your Ross Duffer and Matt Duffer (right) on the set of "Stranger Things". P H O T O : N E T F L I X