Eric Myerson ’98 spoke to a Video Art III class last week about his work editing feature films, documentaries and reality television.

Myerson was an all-around talented video student at Harvard-Westlake, Visual Arts Chair Cheri Gaulke said.

“[He was] a great director, writer, editor and cinematographer,” she said, but Myerson decided to work as an editor.

Myerson showed students clips from his various projects, including a Chinese bank heist movie and a documentary about Diana Nyad, a long-distance open-water swimmer.

Throughout the clips Myerson talked about his work, for which he was nominated for an Emmy award, and an editor’s ability to hone a writer or director’s storyline by changing what the audience sees and doesn’t see.

“The director can shoot whatever he wants, but ultimately it’s the editor that decides what goes on screen, and there’s a lot of creativity in that,” he said.
“To be an editor, you have to be willing to spend a lot of hours sitting in a dark room,” Myerson said, “but it’s a lot of fun.”