Logan Hefflefinger

Just the facts: Age – 30; Hometown – Dallas, Texas; Education – University of Georgia, majored in Fine Art and Graphic Design; Employ – joined Final Cut in 2006, promoted to editor in 2008.

Previous experience: Surrounded from childhood by advertising, courtesy of his creative director mother, Hefflefinger’s first memories of being on set date to being eight years old on a beach shoot. Director Jeff Bednarz took him under his wing and got him his first PAing jobs, which in turn led to stints at Miramax, Inside Out and eventually as a runner at The Whitehouse. He started at Final Cut in 2006, assisting and finally cutting videos and ads for Terri Timely, Bryan Buckley and Chris Milk among others.

The toughest task: Choice is something of a poisoned chalice says Hefflefinger. “The toughest jobs are when you’re given hours of footage with no concept, because then you are creating everything from scratch. You’re the writer, art director, and storyteller in one. As the editor, you are constantly recutting, rethinking, and reworking the footage until it’s a coherent piece. These jobs are very challenging, yet rewarding. They’re the ultimate in creative collaboration.”

Best work: The LL Cool J-style hip-hop video “Hyperize” for Nike is cut with oddball moments and a woozy ’80s feel. “Wieden+Kennedy wanted it to be something brand new and attention-getting. It was supposed to be crazy, no rules. I edited the piece very freely. If something was funny, I put it in. It didn’t matter where. Sometimes putting things in the wrong spots just made things funnier so we did that. Everything had a musical cue, which kept the spot flowing while adding humor.”

The future: Cutting will become just one part of the editor’s job he says. “I think editors will be taking on more aspects of finishing on a job. Instead of going out-of-house for color correction and online, I think editors will eventually be doing their own color and effects in their own systems. I think technology is headed that way.”

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