CARLA GUTIERREZ
EDITOR, RBG
BRINGING SOCIAL ISSUES TO THE SCREEN
M
ontclair resident Carla Gutierrez was intro-
duced to video-making through a female
professor at Williams College, where she
majored in math and studio arts. A native of Peru,
she wanted career that connected the arts with social
issues, and documentaries fit that description.
After a post-graduation job in advertising proved
unfulfilling, she attended Stanford University’s docu-
mentary film school, and became one of 16 students
in her program. She soon recognized that she had an
affinity for editing. “I used to kill what filmmakers
call their ‘babies,’” she says, referring to the beloved
segments creators are loath to cut. “And being
bilingual has been a great asset.”
Gutierrez served as a translator on the documenta-
ry The Fall of Fujimori, and ended up being mentored
by its editor. “She started giving me scenes to edit,
and I got a second credit as an editor on the film,”
she says.
Gutierrez moved to Los Angeles to be with her
boyfriend, who is now her husband. She hit the
ground running, plugging into Stanford’s filmmaking
network and editing projects in seven weeks.
“I built my career that way, working crazy hours try-
ing to build a body of work as an editor,” she says.
“Jobs come to you based on recommendations.”
RBG, a documentary about indefatigable Supreme
Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, came about in
this way. “An African-American woman on the CNN
Films team has recommended w