Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1538125
20 C I N E M O N T A G E W H A T O U R M E M B E R S D O Paul Harb, left, with Ukranian heavyweight Wladimir Klitschko and Sylvester Stallone. PAUL NELSON HARB PICTURE EDITOR Q: Where are you currently employed? I currently work for Netflix. Q: Current projects? I ' m f i n i s h i n g u p w o r k o n t h e "Man On Fire" series starring Yahya Ab- dul-Mateen II. Q: Describe your job. I'm a storyteller. Part artist, part techni- cian, part therapist. I collaborate and help to shape a narrative in the most cohesive, compelling, and emotionally impactful way. I am the director's or showrunner's closest partner and confidant as we work together to bring out the best version of the project at hand. Q: How did you first become interested in this line of work? My mother worked in the business, first as assistant to the art department head at CBS and ultimately as head of the research department at Western Costume, so I was surrounded by theater, television, and film my whole life. My focus growing up was mu- sic. I started singing in the school choir at a young age and later got accepted into the California Boys Choir. I also took a lot of pia- no lessons but ultimately centered on guitar throughout my teens and early 20's, playing the local club circuit in Los Angeles. But in my early 20's, I also started working in pro- duction and gravitated towards — and fell in love with the power of — cinematography and especially editing. Q: Who gave you your first break? For feature work, Sylvester Stallone gave me my first big break on "Rocky Bal- boa" in 2006. Q: What was your first union job? Believe it or not, my first union job was "Rocky Balboa," which is pretty crazy. Working with someone like Sly on such a seminal character as Rocky as a first expe- rience in features isn't a typical path for feature editors. I was extremely fortunate. My very good friend Sean Albertson, who was hired as the main editor, really sold me to Stallone on what I could bring to the project. I had already been directing and editing short-form for years by this time, but this would be my first gig as a union picture editor. I was absolutely hooked after this job and started a purposeful transition from the work I had been doing as a music video/live event director and editor to long- form narrative. Q: What credits or projects are you proudest of, and why? I'm proud of some of the music videos I directed and edited before I got into fea- tures — also some of the visuals I produced for some of my favorite music acts that I toured with back in the day. I was able to work with the artists and create visual interpretations of songs utilizing footage I would find from various sources. Some of this work is pretty deep on a psychological level. After shows, I've seen — and often been thanked for — the effect it had on peo- ple. That's a satisfying feeling as an artist. I'm really proud of "Rocky Balboa" and "Rambo." On both of these projects, Sly was bringing back characters after many years.