Amanda Moreau > Beast, New York
Just the facts: Age - 31; Hometown - New Orleans; Education - film at Hunter College; Employ - joined Beast in 2006.

Previous Experience: Moreau started her filmic life as a DP, but had trouble finding a mentor and wound up shooting entertainment fluff for news outlets NY1 and CNN. Not satisfied, she set her sights on editing, and landed a gig at Company X assisting editor Adam Schwartz. When he left to start Beast in late 2006, she followed and began cutting her own jobs.

Best Work: "Bubble", a sleeper spot for Samsung, was originally intended as a web viral, but the client loved it enough to air it in cinemas and on TV. A more daunting job was cutting through hours of interview footage of 50 Cent in his Connecticut home to present the rapper in a more relatable light for a Reebok ad.

On 50: She attributes the 50 Cent ad's success to its avoidance of overexposed topics such as his multiple gunshot wounds, and his Godfather-ish media personae. "I was allowed to do what I wanted with it. I really wanted it to be a personal story about him and his son," she says. "I had assisted on a spot that 50 Cent was in a year ago and he was really difficult in terms of approvals and he approved this right away... It was just a different angle on him and it went over well."

Ben Campbell > Cut+Run, London
Just the facts: Age - 31; Hometown - Liverpool, England; Education - French, Ruthin School, North Wales; Employ - with Cut+Run since 2005.

Previous Experience: The former drummer of Atomic Central ("We played Hendrix-style ballads with a folk influence") got his start "making tea" as a runner for Soho-based Williams Editing under the apprenticeship of Derek Williams. The gig led to a stint in Cairo in 2003 teaching experienced editors Final Cut Pro and riding horses around the pyramids during his downtime. He approached Cut+Run founder Steve Gandolfi and signed on as an assistant in '05. He was promoted to editor in October '07.

Best Work: Campbell cut a massive 24 spots for Sony Vaio starring eccentric actor John Malkovich. "Cutting John was really cool," he says. "On set, he was like, 'Tell me what to do, where I need to look.' We were really surprised by his lack of ego even though he's seen as an egocentric character."

editor's must-have: "I think confidence is one of the main attributes for an editor. You might be working with directors who have 20 years of experience and you, as a relative newcomer, have to tell them whether or not something looks good. If you don't have any belief in the footage you're putting together, no one else will."

Cut+Run http://www.cutandrun.tv

Terence "Biff" Butler > Rock Paper Scissors, LA
Just the facts: Age - 27; Hometown - Stratford, UK; Employ - joined Rock Paper Scissors in 2005 as an assistant.

Previous Experience: The son of Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler, Terence was part of electronic rock band Apartment 26 before moving into his other passion, film. "I'd seen some impressive music videos and the side that always intrigued me more than the photography or the set design was the way it was laid out, the storytelling."

Best Work: Butler has already flexed his cutting muscles on hefty projects for Microsoft Zune, adidas' "Basketball is a Brotherhood" web series and Frank Budgen's Live Earth spot "SOS". Daunting? Yes, but, as Butler puts it, once the job starts, "all the awards and reputation disappears for a second and it becomes two people creating stuff."

Hand of Fate: "I remember seeing the intro to David Fincher's Se7en, and I wanted to be the guy that made that shit happen. When the band came off the road I went to [Rock Paper Scissors'] offices; I thought they could be editing daytime drama or whatever. But it turned out that the owner, Angus [Wall], was the guy who had actually cut that Se7en intro. So I said, 'I'll stay here please!'"

Rock Paper Scissors, Los Angeles http://www.rockpaperscissors.com