Meet Valeria Gualdi | Editor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Valeria Gualdi and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Valeria, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I was born in Rome, Italy. As an adolescent I began to develop a love for Italian cinema and all of its heroes and heroines both in front of and behind the camera. I also loved American films. What I didn’t know at the time was how this would begin to shape my interests in life. I consider myself lucky to be Italian because our culture of cinema and visual art is so robust and rich. I drew inspiration from a wide variety of film genres, filmmakers and visual art forms such as music videos and short clips. The types of works that were being made in the late nineties had an enormous impact on me.

In my late teens I began to experiment with editing music video clips and other short form content. There was something freeing about the medium, perhaps even more so than cinema. There is very little structure. There were no rules. Music videos were like the Wild West. I later worked at Saatchi & Saatchi in Rome and began to see how my natural interests in post-production were taking shape. A few of my friends were interested in filmmaking, some writers, others were directors. Our mutual obsessions with all things film and digital art began turn into a daily pursuit. In my early twenties I found myself committing to enrolling in film school in Los Angeles and relocating to the States. I guess, subconsciously, I intended on returning to Rome and working with people I grew up with in Italian Cinema but here I am, years later, working in film and advertisement in Los Angeles in a post-production capacity. I love it.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am an editor. I’ve been lucky enough to work with some great filmmakers and great brands. Whether it’s a commercial or film, I think my job is to help the director achieve his/her vision. Metaphorically speaking, I’ve got a number of tools in my toolbag. I’m constantly working on honing my skills so that I’m able to provide a fresh perspective. Editing is a strange but necessary art form. I think it’s about subtlety. In most cases if you can actually see the “editing,” see the cuts, something is wrong. I’m often in a situation where I must find a solution that hasn’t been articulated by the director because they may not see it, but that’s sort of what’s intriguing about the job. It’s not about putting A, B and C together in some linear fashion. It’s not that straightforward. It’s about discovery. There are so many possibilities with any given project. Editing, and post-production in general, is always evolving. The tech is always changing, but the principles of the approach remain the same. Every project is different. When there’s a little bit of “the unknown” baked in…. and we’re forced to dig deep and get creative… I’m always happy to get my hands dirty.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would start from a sunset drive on Mulholland, for me one of most iconic and romantic places in LA. I love to drive down through Blue Heights Dr and enjoy the stunning views of LA. Ending up on the Sunset Strip to enjoy some Mexican food at Pinches Tacos. Venice Beach and a pizza at Gjelina on Abott Kinney are a must as well.
I always like to show how green the city actually is, so Huntingon Gardens and Descanso are a fantastic gateway for a day as well as Griffith Park and hike to Runyon Canyon. I live few minutes away.
Downtown LA and the Gran Central Market are a perfect example of the melting pot that LA is. It’s always fun!
And of course In and Out! If you leave LA without having tried In and Out burger and FRIES you’ll regret it for the rest of your life!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
For sure my husband Travis. A fantastic person, artist, writer and director who supported me all along in this ride and thought me so much. I couldn’t be here without him. He is also the reason why I stayed in the States 😉

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Website: www.valeriagualdi.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sgu_23/

Image Credits
Featured Photo: photo by Alexo Wandael for italiany.us