Pop-Tarts President: Tell me, how does it feel when people steal your ideas and then do whatever they want with them?

Jerry Seinfeld: You mean like Friends?

That’s one of several boffo bits in Jerry’s two-minute Pop-Tarts promo. The digital short ties in with his Netflix film Unfrosted, a fictionalized account of the toaster pastries’ rise. 

The spot’s premise: P-T execs (portrayed by actors, natch) grill the funnyman about referencing trademarked breakfast products in the flick without permission.

And they vow revenge.

Pop-Tarts President: You see, Mr. Seinfeld, you took something of ours. Now, we’re going to take something of yours.

That’s when the brand’s Tarty mascot reveals three characters from Jerry’s classic sitcom—Jackie Chiles, Schmoopie and the Soup Nazi—trapped inside a transparent cube. They’re now the “property” of Pop-Tarts. 

Next, the C-Suiters copy a more recent Seinfeld project, rolling out the woefully unfunny rip-off about chowing down in Pontiacs.

Finally, they replace him at a stand-up gig, with cringeworthy results.

Pop-Tarts President, on stage at a comedy club: Why does Frankenstein wear a sports jacket? It’s not a wine tasting. We’re terrorizing villagers.

This is a superior celebrity spot, with loads of in-jokes and memorable visuals. Tarty rocks, and Geoff Pierson does his best Bond Villain impression as the corporate president. 

The creative approach makes Pop-Tarts look hip, culturally savvy and riotously self-aware. It does nostalgia and pop culture right.

Jerry wrote the script, sharing development credits with Le Truc and Netflix Marketing Partnerships.

“Unfrosted is the ultimate flattery, and the biggest fan-fiction ever,” says Heidi Ray, Pop-Tarts senior director of brand marketing, in press materials. 

“At every level of fandom, Pop-Tarts continues to spark creativity—from the user-generated Edible Mascot memes at the Pop-Tarts Bowl to a homemade recipe from arguably the world’s biggest pop star, and now to Jerry Seinfeld’s Unfrosted film. We’ve been at the heart of culture for 60 years, and look forward to inspiring it for many, many more.”

Also, fans can win limited-edition Trat-Pops, based on a “typo” that plays into the movie’s plot:

In the spot, Phil Morris, Alexandra Wentworth and Larry Thomas reprise their roles of Jackie, Schmoopie and Soupie.

CREDITS

KELLANOVA
VP Marketing, PWS, Sarah Reinecke
Senior Director, Brand Marketing, Heidi Ray
Director, Full Funnel Marketing, Danielle Rappoport

NETFLIX / UNFROSTED TEAM
Netflix Marketing Partnerships
Jerry Seinfeld, Filmmaker
Spike Feresten, Filmmaker
Beau Bauman, Filmmaker

LE TRUC, PUBLICIS GROUPE  
Partner & CCO, Julia Neumann, Le Truc
EVP, Executive Creative Director, Nick Kaplan, Le Truc

EVP, Head of Production, Ryan Chong, Le Truc
Producer, Taylor Nisbet, PXP 

EVP, Managing Director, Megan Bundy, Le Truc
SVP, Account Director, Jonathan Linton, Leo Burnett
Account Supervisor, Abigail O’Connor, Leo Burnett 

VP, Strategy Director, Jessie Chen, Le Truc
SVP, Strategy Director, Jared Grant, Le Truc

Director, Program Management, Cassandre Dupiton, Le Truc
Manager, Project Management, Teresa Diaz, GroupeConnect 

Managing Director, Business Affairs, Tasha Royzina, PXP
SVP, Group Director, Business Affairs, Michael Shanahan, PXP
Senior Business Affairs Manager, Courtney Novotny, PXP
Senior Business Affairs Manager, Dana Willis, PXP
VP Director, Innovation & Partnerships, Peggy Walter, PXP

FURLINED
Directors, Will Speck and Josh Gordon of Speck & Gordon
President, Diane McArter
Senior EP, David Thorne 
EP & DoP, Jay Wakefield
Post Producer & Media Manager, Patrick Lopez
Line Producer: Cindy Becker

Editorial – Arcade
Executive Producer, Wendy Umanzor
Editor, Evan Henke 
Assistant Editor, Eirinn Disbrow

VFX – Harbor
Managing Director, Dan Bennett
Producer, Sarah Banks

MUSIC – Mophonics
Original music by Mophonics
Composer: Roberto Murguia
End credits: Shea Duncan
Creative Producer / Partner: Kristoffer Roggemann
Executive Creative Director / Partner: Stephan Altman
Head of Production / Partner: Shelley Altman

MCA
Production Consultant, Dan Deitchman
Production Consultant, Chrissy Riskam

PR – Weber Shandwick

Remember: “Rebel farmers are backwater space scum who don’t deserve a single grain of their wheat. YOU do. But more importantly, the Motherworld does.”

It’s not as yucky as some LD campaigns. But it packs a punch—many, and some kicks, too—powered by the brand’s trademark subversive style and snarky direction by Eli Snyder (son of Zack Snyder, who made Rebel Moon).

“Fantasy and sci-fi partnerships are fun places for us to play,” Liquid Death VP, creative Andy Pearson tells Muse. “The brand already feels like it comes from an alternate universe to begin with. So, it’s a fun process to imagine, ‘What if this world really existed, and Liquid Death existed in that world?'”

“We’ve done it before in partnerships with Zack’s previous Netflix film Army of the Dead, plus a few others,” he says. “In this case, our approach was: If we’re an evil beverage corporation, we would side with the bad guys. Or at least be used as a propaganda mouthpiece for them to impose some draconian measure while appearing to be good on the surface.”

Eli Snyder adds: “Leveraging the real environments used in the film allowed us to maximize the irony.”

So, it’s in-world meta stuff, with some social commentary and military oppression. Cool.

To nail the tone, “We watched a lot of pandering Americana beer commercials as well as oil and chemical commercials,” Pearson recalls. “The stuff where this mega-corp is trying to pull on the heartstrings of working-class America to trick them into thinking they’re doing this all for them, and not for their own gains.”

“I can’t wait to see how many of the Super Bowl ads this year feel just like this—but serious.”

What’s he talking about? Sounds like one of those rebel scum. Call in the troops!

CREDITS

Co-Founder/CEO: Mike Cessario
SVP of Marketing: Dan Murphy
VP of Creative: Andy Pearson
VP of Marketing: Greg Fass
VP of Design: Frank Dresmé
Creative Director: Will Carsola
Associate Creative Director: Stu Golley
Senior Brand Manager: Tia Sherwood
Senior Social Media Manager: Rachael Mumford
Senior Nihilist: Brendan Kelly
Senior Graphic Designer: Kellen Breen
Video Editor: Tyler Beasley
Director: Eli Snyder
Executive Producer (Liquid Death): Johnny Eastlund
Executive Producer (Believe): Liz Silver
Executive Producer (Believe): Vitaly Koshman
Senior Producer: Tatianna Rodriguez
Senior Producer: Cookie Walukas
Production Coordinator: Rylee Brown
Line Producer: Lindsay Feldman
Production Coordinator: Shane Palmer
Director of Photography: Jac Fitzgerald
Production Designer: Henry Arce

Soon, Norma’s partner doesn’t know who she is anymore, and she seeks help from a doctor, who prescribes a marathon of The Crown and a small dose of Elite before bed.

It’s not enough to soothe our tortured heroine.

During a wild bus ride, Norma encounters various versions of herself offering recommendations: Money Heist, Stranger Things, Bridgerton, Alpha Males and Squid Games. Ultimately, she winds up at a group therapy session … but can’t even fill out her name-tag.

The group leader encourages Norma to embrace all of her selves, including—and here’s the kicker—the one who likes Emily in Paris. (Bravo to Netflix for having a sense of humor!)

“From the beginning, we set ourselves the challenge of finding something different and memorable for the category, just as we did with Confusing Times and plant-based or with parents in our latest IKEA campaign,” says Pancho Cassis, partner and global CCO at David. 

“That’s why we put the most effort into finding a human truth and centering it around the product,” he continues. “And that’s how we end up finding Norma, a normal woman who suffers internal struggles every time she turns on Netflix and reads the famous question ‘Who are you?’ “

The agency hired Juan Cabral, the legendary MJZ-repped director known for Cadbury’s “Gorilla” and Sony’s “Balls,” for “Who’s Watching?”

“Juan Cabral is not only a great director, but he’s also possibly one of the best creatives that this industry has ever had. And we knew, from previous experiences with him, that he was the right person to bring our idea to life,” Cassis says. “A lot of what you see on screen is only possible because of how deep he went into the character struggles and how relatable he made everything feel.”

Cabral enlisted DP Javier Juliá, whose credits include Argentina 1985 and Wild Tales, to create a cinematic spot. Elevated production values were a must.

“When you have to create a brand campaign to the world’s best content platform, you cannot fall short on storytelling and craft,” says Saulo Rocha, agency CCO. “That was always the goal, to come up with something that could be as stunning and captivating as what you can find in Netflix. And the story of Norma, a regular person whose contradictions are perfectly represented by Netflix’s wide range of genres, was a great inspiration for us to play with photography and art direction, to have her alternating over different looks and feels: noir, VHS, anamorphic, HD, etc.”

“Who’s Watching?” was shot in Buenos Aires, and twin actors portray Norma.

“They were perfect for the job because besides delivering great performance, they also allowed to rely less on post production and much more on real interactions,” Rocha says. “That was part of Juan Cabral’s vision, and it represented an even bigger challenge when casting for the main role.”

Editor Emiliano Fardaus cut the spot, which clocks in at 1:20. “Editing was a long process because we were looking for ways to tell a story that looked like anything but traditional advertising—something that could represent Norma’s state of mind, that could take us through the complex puzzle that she’s become,” Rocha says. “And that’s how we got to this weirdly unique pace.”

CREDITS

Agency: David Madrid
Global CCO & Partner: Pancho Cassis  
Global COO: Sylvia Panico 
Chief Creative Officer: Saulo Rocha 
Managing Director: María García Herranz 
Creative Director: Jose Sancho 
Copywriter: Mario Carrillo, Jaime Ludeña, Agustín Aiassa 
Art Director: Andrea García, Julián Tedesco 
Head of Production: Alejandro Falduti 
Production Assistant: Amor Vidiella 
Head of Account: Lucila Mengide 
Account Director: Adriana González Cid 
Account Executive: Jesús Merino 
Head of Strategy: Daniela Bombonato 
Strategy Director: Gabriella Teixeira 
Strategist: Maru Gougy 
Global PR Director: Sandra Azedo 

Client: Netflix Spain  
Susana Pastor: Manager, Marketing Series 
Alexandra Martin: Marketing Production Manager 
Ander Echezarreta: Title Marketing Director  
Manuel Román: Senior Marketing Director 

Film Production: MJZ 
Director: Juan Cabral 
Executive producer MJZ: Lindsay Turnham 
Executive producer Labhouse: Flora Fernández Marengo 
Producer: Nicolás Abelovich 
DOP: Javier Juliá 
Production Manager: Pat Rzeznik 
Art Director: Charly Carnota
Wardrobe Stylist: Sol Montalvo
Makeup & Hair: Laura Delbosco 

Post
Editor: Emiliano Fardaus 
VFX: Rojo Studio
Color Grading: Alejandra Lescano 
Music: Fede Cabral 
Sound Design: Bamba Music 
Dubbing Spanish & English: Pickle Studio 
VFX Sup: Jonathan Monroig  
VFX Coordinator: Ariadna Ortiz 
Conform & Deliveries: Isla Post House 
Post Sup: Julieta Fernández Castagnino 
Music Company and Publisher: Pickle Music
Final Mix: Pickle Music 
Sound Engineer: Agustín Sebastián, Pickle Music 
Talent Recording: Jacinto González, Pickle Music 
Producer: Ana Ortiz Wienken, Pickle Music 
Executive Producer: Olivia López, Pickle Music 

Welcome to this week’s Eurovisions. We have a confession: There aren’t any hot cross buns in here, just cinnamon rolls. But they’re also kinda pretending to be something they’re not. In Åkestam Holst’s work for Swedish convenience store Pressbyrån, cinnamon buns (or “kanelbulle” in Swedish) are punted like luxury perfume. “Needless to say, we are not that good at French,” says the agency’s Henrik Billing.

Fun facts: Cinnamon rolls are Sweden’s fave pastry. They even have their own special day. Apparently much of the collateral for this work’s been stolen throughout major cities. Is it the weird French? The love of cinnamon rolls? The sparkly lady? We’ll never know, but the brand and agency call it “equally confusing and flattering.”

Last kiss goodbye from Paris Fashion Week: Christian Dior accompanies actress Souheila Yacoub ahead of her red carpet appearance for the Venice International Film Festival. She’s wearing a princessy but punk dress by the fashion house’s Maria Grazia Chiuri. This is mostly an indulgent view of Venice’s historic canals, which have become slightly less accessible.

Self-effacing, or self-defacing? Ikea Norway’s “Life is Not a Catalog” spent the past month making waves in its home country, and is doing victory laps through English-speaking ad publications. The work depicts aesthetic homescapes sullied by pee, vomit and parties. (Kinda feels like a documentary.) A nice reminder that Ikea products are backdrops and supports for life, which takes precedence. Ikea’s spent years honing that message. Below is “Puke.”

Netflix France and agency Jellyfish promote the return of Lupin, a series about a gentleman burglar, with out-of-home ads that look like luxury jewelry promotions. Except all the jewelry is missing.

Meta tapped BETC Paris to create an ad for the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France. “Passion Is Meant to Be Shared” leverages cartoony social network representations of every country, like a wallaby for Australia and a shamrock for Ireland. France’s is a rooster, which you’ll see plenty of in this work. 

More from BETC Paris: For a client called Morning, which rethinks corporate spaces with collaboration at the center, the agency revisited stock imagery of offices.

To plug Icelandair’s stopover offering—where people can book stops in Iceland between European and North American destinations—agencies Kubbco and Hvíta Húsið conceived “The Polite Tourist Bouncer.” The premise is that the stopover thing is so popular that people aren’t catching their connecting flights, so a bouncer is needed. Imagine if ICE were just one guy and a cute dog, and all those naughty “overstayers” weren’t treated like potential illegal immigrants, and Europe weren’t in the middle of a migrant crisis. Fun! Absolutely no notes.

With help from VCCP London, Domino’s revels in tearing loved ones apart. Sidenote: Apparently pizza boxes are awful? We are not experts on this topic.

BBH London supersized women for the new season of Barclay’s Women’s Super League. 

Responding to EU scrutiny around data gathering and sales (which is becoming an existential issue), Meta’s proposed charging EU citizens something like $17 a month for Facebook and Instagram experiences that don’t sell data. That’s pricier than your average OTT, and doesn’t even include linked accounts. (Of note: EU residents never even got access to the short-lived Threads because it failed to comply with data protection laws, indicating policymakers are increasingly confident that unfettered access to social networks is less important to people than once believed. Many EU countries have banned Google Analytics, unthinkable a handful of years ago.)

We’ll wrap with something weird, in the spirit of everything being weird now. Prettybird’s Sophie Muller recently directed the music video for “Mosquito” by PinkPantheress. It’s opulent and pretty, an escapist story about girlfriends going no-holds-barred shopping in London. Commercial catnip, very Gossip Girl, lots of brand-dropping. Amidst it all, PinkPantheress persists in carrying what appears to be a clay pigeon. (A Nikola Tesla reference? Probably not.)

“Don’t watch this if you’re busy.” That’s a tall statement for a video that looks like a Disney cartoon, but Above & Beyond CCO Dom Goldman is right: This is worth it. Narrated by Olivia Coleman, it burrows into the happily-ever-after meant for a prince and princess. We won’t give anything away by revealing the client. It went live yesterday on the UK’s Channel 4 news … and as Goldman points out, “They don’t air ads on the news. They made an exception.” The ending twists up all our innards. (For bonus weeping, spend six hours listening to this.)

A lot of fun tourism stuff popped up this week … right as tourism season slows to a crawl. This director’s cut for Burgenland Tourism, by Wien Nord Serviceplan and starring stage actor Nicholas Ofczarek, is indie-film surreal. Was it supposed to make us hungry?

Less method, more mirth: Our Finland’s on Instagram punting a free “Masterclass of Happiness,” using an ad that starts like a meme about being a reclusive (or just tired) thirty-something. There’s never been a more Finnish punchline.

Also on Insta: Awkward but legit questions, like “How do I know if I like girls or boys? Is foreplay sex? My pregnancy test is positive … what do I do?” (We asked ourselves that last question recently. The first answer we found was “stop drinking but act natural.” Six months in, we still haven’t found a better one.) In this collab between Netflix France, Gaze Magazine, Media.Monks Paris and Le Planning Familial (the French Planned Parenthood), kiosk ads all over Paris are promoting a “Sex Education hotline.” You can guess what this is for, but also, this marks the first time Le Planning Familial’s had its number broadcast on such a large scale. Vive sex ed! And if you speak French, you might find this fun:

Less fun, more fear: Apply here. Swedish amusement park Liseberg is seeking volunteers for a “peak fear experiment,” which sounds literally unbearable, but we will never judge your kink.

In the Netherlands, Creatives for Climate is creating a coalition of agencies and industry pros dedicated to dropping greenwashy, climate-abusive clients, notably oil companies. This is big: Agencies have long argued they’re the easiest asset to fire on a client’s roster, an excuse to say they’re at the wallet guy’s mercy. The first part of that is true. The second is false. Great creative is the business of influence. That starts with your partners. Also, if you’re in Copenhagen next week, drop by a C4C meetup on the 27th to meet more creatives gone rad green.

Bottoms up: Liev Schreiber is doing a cocktail show on Insta for Sláinte Irish Whiskey. It feels unintentionally Mr. Rogersy, and is called “Cocktails with Liev.”

Looking for something to play with before your next pomodoro round? Sound boutique DLMDD redid their website, which now features kinetic typography. Created with design studio Holke79, it’s a nifty bit of sonic branding. From Holke79’s founder Borja Holke Rezola: “I always visualize my animations with rhythm and even frequencies in mind … we played with the baseline of the hero text to express DLMDD’s unique way of creating sound. Something unexpected and playful.”

Moving and shaking: Serviceplan Munich scooped up Lufthansa’s creative budget. Halal Amsterdam is repping Brazilian director Vellas, whom they hope will up their gaming creds. Alex Pineda left TBWARAAD for the CCO role at TBWAHelsinki (because he found his inner Finn). Chuck Studios added a bunch of new hires—Vince Bouchier, Martijn van de Vrie, Kim van Gelder, Fernando Garcia, and Leonardo Grassi—which we only care about because the foodvertising studio bills itself as “Where food goes to get famous.” We die.

Those Feainnewedd blossoms sure hit the high notes. Pluck them, already. Our ears dost throb! Ihuarraquax the pure white unicorn seems to dig it, though. He nearly steals the show, cast as a fantastical allusion to Old Spice’s “I’m on a horse” motif of yore.

So, it’s a commercial built on the series’ intricate world-building, true to The Witcher’s aesthetic but rocking classic Old Spice absurdity. Fans can’t ask a brand for more than that. Hail and well played!

The from Wieden+Kennedy Portland and Pulse director Aube Perrie work drops this week. It serves as a sequel to 2021’s Witcher tie-in, also from W+K, which garnered millions of views worldwide.

The team cut tiny holes in the forehead to simulate pores. A recycling system behind the board continuously pumped water through the apertures to simulate perspiration.

As we see in the video, the outing was old-school interactive, with passersby dipping their fingers in the moisture. Some giggled. Others squealed. Sweatvertising rocks—Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

This icky/intimate approach feels refreshing after some of the overblown (albeit immensely impressive) anamorphic OOH efforts we’ve seen recently.

Netflix has wielded weird billboards before, most notably with this Stranger Things Eggo tie-in (best described as a bloody good show).

For Extraction2 , Unit 9 handled production, with Rapport providing media support.

Akiko Iwakawa spent much of the past three years editing at home because of the Covid-19 pandemic, connecting via Zoom and other tools. And while she acknowledges that there are benefits to working remotely, the editor dearly missed collaborating with creatives in person.

Which is why she was thrilled to head back to an editing suite at Rock Paper Scissors’ NYC office with the creative team from Anomaly to cut Crown Royal’s Super Bowl LVII spot.

“As soon as we were sitting in the room, it was just like, ‘This is how we do it.’ It was just nice to be in that kind of collaborative environment,” Iwakawa says.

Crown Royal’s Big Game debut finds rock legend Dave Grohl thanking Canada for giving the world everything from peanut butter and poutine to Eugene Levy. Not to mention the game of football! It’s clearly comedic, though Iwakawa is best known for sculpting visually-driven work as well as documentary-style spots for clients like Pepsi, Gillette and WW.

Standouts on her reel include Dick’s Sporting Goods’ mesmerizing celebration of female athletes, and the Johnnie Walker “Black Label” commercial, an artistic, golden-hued blend of lava and cowboy culture.

Iwakawa has also edited music videos, including the Jonah Hill-directed Vampire Weekend clip for “Sunflower ft. Steve Lacy.”

Her documentary credits include the gripping Netflix series Lenox Hill, which highlights the heroism of four doctors at a New York City hospital.

Below, Iwakawa delves into her influences, shares advice on how directors and agencies can best work with editors, and explains how her career began.

MUSE: The Crown Royal spot marked the second time you’ve had work in the Super Bowl. What did it mean for you as an editor to be part of that showcase again?

Akiko Iwakawa: You definitely feel like you got to a certain place when you get trusted with work that matters a lot to the agency and client. I’m at a point where I have enough work and relationships out there so that this can happen. A lot of Super Bowl tends to be comedy, so it’s hard for someone [with my style] to break in.

This was my first time [working] with Jake Scott, but I have worked with the Anomaly creatives for years. Jake worked with these creatives a lot, too. So, the synergy of the team was amazing—everybody just shooting ideas around all the time. They shot a lot more than what’s shown, because Dave Grohl can riff on things. He was so natural in front of a camera and would ad lib. We had a lot of amazing footage we had to leave on the editing floor.

The Johnnie Walker “Black Label” spot is a great example of your visual prowess.

The concept was basically, visualize the taste. They wanted it to be visceral. [Director] Matt Lambert shot all these crazy images—smoke and lava and a sax player—on a bunch of different mediums.

This spot is all visuals and sound design. Did you have a script?

No. There was a map of things to hit. But they were just like, “Do whatever you want.” I don’t get that very often. The first presentation, they gave me a standing ovation. It was so sweet. I love this kind of stuff—random images that don’t necessarily connect, but they have a feeling, and I need to articulate the feeling. I did a ton of sound design to make this dreamy, sort of scary, but curious and fascinating piece of film with a rich gold palette.

How often do you have that kind of freedom?

I guess it depends on the job, you know? Sometimes, you stick with the script, and then sometimes, you get to do something like this, which is more free. Even with scripted things, my first pass is always play. I just get all my ideas out and play with everything. I just try different combinations of shots or effects, anything I can think of. Just get it out. Sometimes, none of it makes it into the actual edit. But I always need to do that for my own sake. Otherwise, we get a little too cerebral and too intellectual about edits. 

How can directors and agencies help editors do their jobs better and get the results they want?

First of all, give us a little more time. And I think they get the best result from me when they don’t over-brief me about the shoot. Some people get really specific with, “Oh, we like this take.” It just gets in your head sometimes, and it stops you from purely looking at the work. Give me a clear view of what you want it to be and what the client wants it to be. Who is the demographic you are selling it to? Who is the competitor? That information definitely helps. 

Maybe this is not directly answering your question, but I always get the best result when I edit something and present it as a work-in-progress and have a ton of collaboration on it. Sometimes, we don’t need to do that. It feels close to what it ends up being. But I think when everyone’s open, including myself, to changing—and changing it drastically if necessary—there are always better results than approaching it like, “This is the best edit!” I like to be wrong sometimes, because otherwise what’s the fun of it? You’re not always right. You are sometimes wrong, and it’s better to give yourself that permission.

Your credits also include the Netflix docuseries Lenox Hill. Can you talk about working on that project?

They showed me the pilot episode, and I was like, “I have to do it.” It’s about doctors and the medical world, and I’ve never cried so much watching footage. The directors, Adi Barash and Ruthie Shatz, bring their cameras everywhere—the operating room, the locker room where the doctors change, their homes. There were three women editors, and we collaborated. [Iwakawa cut the series with Helen Yum and Shatz.] We would swap stories for each other’s episodes. I edited this at home, and we were still in Covid.

It must have been intense editing this during the height of the pandemic.

Surreal. Very emotional. You heard those ambulances. It was a constant sound in New York City. And then I’m looking at footage of what happens when those ambulances get to the hospital. It’s incredible, the journey medical workers went through. It’s our experiences times a thousand—the fear and the chaos, trying to make sense of it and caring for people.

How did you get into editing?

I am from Japan. I came here [to the United States] for high school. I was only going to stay through high school, but I never left. I went to film school at NYU. I always knew I wanted to go into the film and TV world. My parents were theater actors. So, at some point in my life, I wanted to be an actor. But by middle school, I was like, “No, I actually want to be a director. I’m going to film school.”

And then during film school, I realized that I am most comfortable in the editing room. It was a hard thing to admit to myself. I think it’s kind of ironic that I chose a profession where I don’t work with actors. I judge the actors, and given that my parents are actors, it makes so much sense.

So it was in college that I realized I wanted to edit, and then my editing teacher recruited me to be her assistant for the documentary she was cutting. That was my first job, and then I made the move into the commercial world.

What do your parents think of you being an editor?

Whenever I show my work to them, they don’t get it. They’re like, “But you’re not in it!”