Meet Dana E. Glauberman, Jason Reitman's Editor Extraordinaire

Every movie carries pressure, but was there more for you following something like that?

There's always pressure. You're always trying to better yourself and the craft that you have. You're always trying to think of creative ways to make yourself better and make the story better. I think that pressure you're talking about is reserved more for people like Jason; like I said, I don't really think that far down the line. I take it as it is. The pressure just comes naturally.

On the flipside, Factory Girl was one of the more troubled films of its own year. What did you take from that experience?

Everything is a learning experience -- just dealing with different personalities. I think as an editor, we're there, of course, to support the director and to bring the director's vision to life and to the screen. I saw a lot of interesting things happen on that movie, in addition to a lot of other editors in New York who were hired to do another version of it. That was a very stressful experience; it was very interesting experience for me. It was an experience of dealing with a lot of different personalities, and I have to stay strong and be supportive of the director as much as I can. The director and editor work so closely together and almost become one, as far as the vision goes.

Most of your work has come in the service of character-driven drama or comedy, with one major exception: Pirates of the Caribbean 3, on which you were an assistant editor. Do blockbusters or effects films hold any appeal for you in the future?

Yeah! I wouldn't be opposed to it. Actually, I would absolutely love to work on a musical. I love music and dancing, so I think that would be a fun challenge. If I had a choice of effects or a musical, I'd probably choose a musical.

You put in years as an assistant editor before running your own show. What kind of advice would you pass along to anyone just starting out editing?

I think if you're really drawn to something like this, just follow your dream and really pursue it. Keep in touch with all of your contacts. That was one of the things that I did. I started out as a production assistant; I put 18,000 miles on my car in eight months. Got burned out driving around the city. Volunteered my time to learn how things go in the cutting room and really worked my way up the ladder. So I think that if someone really wants to follow their dream of becoming an editor, the best thing to do is learn and donate time if you can. Hang out in the cutting room and learn as much as you can. Try to keep in touch with the people you come in contact with. A lot of it is not necessarily what you know, but who you know. But that on-the-job training -- learning in the cutting room -- is some of the most important stuff that you end up using.

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