Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1545125
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 Q: Where are you currently employed? Netflix Animation. Q: Current projects? An unannounced animated feature film. Q: Describe your job. As an associate editor, I'm a hands-on part of the creative editorial team. My day- to-day really depends on where we are in the production process, which keeps things exciting. Some days, I'm building a scene entirely f ro m s c ratc h — l aye r i n g s to r y b o a rd s, scratch dialogue, temp music, and sound effects — and then refining it based on notes until it hits exactly the right beats. Other days, I might be in the theater mixing audio to prep for a screening or sitting down with creative leadership to review how the latest shots fit into our cut. No two days are the same, and I love watching a project evolve from storyboards ASSOCIATE EDITOR JOSH LEWKOWICZ to the final lit and composited shots. Q: How did you first become interested in this line of work? I've loved filmmaking for as long as I can remember, though I actually started out wanting to be a cinematographer. I was that kid who roped my friends into acting in short movies and spent hours making stop-motion videos with Legos and Hess trucks. As I kept shooting and editing my own projects through college, my focus shifted toward post-production. I would devour behind-the-scenes featurettes, completely fascinated by how an idea evolves from the page into a final film. Being an editor turned out to be the perfect way to stay hands-on throughout much of a film's evolution. Q: Who gave you your first break? My f irst real foot in the door was a summer videography internship at Dream- Works Animation, thanks to Rick Menze and Kerrin Piche Serna. As part of the Ed- ucation Department, we were responsible for shooting and editing training videos, guest speaker segments, and even behind- the-scenes content. That led to a production assistant role at DreamWorks TV, where I spent a year on two different shows: "Drag- ons: Race to the Edge" and "Trollhunters." My first big break in editorial came a bit later. A former colleague was looking to hire assistant animatic editors. Since I hadn't cut animatics before, the team had interviewees take an animatic test. We were handed all the raw materials and asked to build an animatic from the ground up. The team liked my cut, and that officially launched my career in the edit bay! Q: What was your first union job? It was on the series "Home: Adventures with Tip & Oh." I joined the team as an