Meet Sushila Love

We recently connected with Sushila Love and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Sushila, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

In my experience, purpose is something that is continually reevaluated throughout one’s journey. At times, I’ve felt like I “should” follow a particular path, but once I start moving that way, something in my periphery piques my interest and pulls me in a different, unplanned direction. However, the through line for me has always been service.

I have been privileged to receive help from the community of people around me. Whether you call it mentorship, opening a door, or providing a resource, the support I’ve received throughout my life has been one of the biggest factors in my success. I realize how important it is to have people who gift their time and advice; no one person is an island. Understanding the depth of this nurturing, my purpose has been to give back to others, whether they are my peers or people just starting their own careers. When I see someone with strong drive, work ethic, and a positive attitude, I take them under my wing and make it my mission to help them move ahead, with the goal of creating the community I want to be a part of. Recently, I completed two years of mentorship as a junior mentor in the A.C.E. Diversity program, where I had the opportunity to be part of an incredibly talented cohort in Editorial by offering advice, connecting people, and fostering friendships.

Whenever my confidence wavers, I return to service and how I can impact the lives of others. Giving always makes me feel better about what I put out into the world and allows me to take my mind off the inevitable insecurities that arise.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

In my career, I’ve often found myself surrounded by people who knew from childhood that they wanted to work in movies or television. As a kid, I loved movies but was more interested in and had shown talent in art and science, assuming that would be my career path. By the time I was a senior in high school, I had been accepted to UC Santa Cruz as a Marine Biology major. Between that acceptance letter and starting college, my mother lovingly encouraged me to “do what I knew would make me happy,” which prompted me to change my major to Fine Art.

From that point on, my journey into the art world rapidly accelerated. I graduated as a Fine Arts major with a focus in Cultural Studies from UCSC, became an Artist in Residence at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 2003, and was accepted to the dual MFA program in fine arts and academia at Tufts University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. At Skowhegan, I began experimenting with performance, video, and sound in my artwork. When I got to grad school, I decided to take a short class in Final Cut (a non-linear editing application), where I learned the basics of importing media and adding it to a timeline. I needed the program to help me exhibit my art in different gallery spaces and preserve my performances as an archive. Shortly thereafter, I moved to Dunedin, New Zealand, to continue my art practice for a year, and finally returned home to Southern California… without a job.

I knew I wanted to put my art background to work but wasn’t sure how to do that while supporting myself. Much of my previous work experience had been in corporate environments, so I started looking for administrative office work with a creative element to see how I could apply my skills. I came across a marketing job that required knowledge of Final Cut and design and layout skills. My design and layout skills were strong, but I was unqualified for the Final Cut component of the job. However, I decided to submit my resume to land an interview and gather information about what this type of company expected from a hirable candidate. Normally, I would have been very nervous in an interview, but because I was doing it purely for information, the stakes were low, and I was confident I had gotten what I came for. To my surprise, I got a call the next day asking if I’d like to join their marketing department.

While learning Final Cut on the job, I ended up cutting several trade show videos, safety videos, and even a documentary about the company that was shown at that year’s international conference. Almost no one knew me, but I heard murmurs among the employees about how impressed they were that “someone had finally spent the money to hire a professional.” I knew I was onto something.

After a year, I realized how much my perfectionism and attention to detail could be married with my creative impulses within the medium of editing. I decided to follow that feeling and break into the entertainment industry. I was lucky enough to have a connection to a reality TV company that needed entry-level workers and began working as a logger on VH1’s “Flavor of Love.” At that company, I progressed from Tape Dubber to Vault Manager to Assistant Editor. My goal then became to find a way into scripted projects. In every career move since, I’ve hustled to learn everything I can from each project while avoiding being pigeonholed in any particular genre or medium. Working in different genres offers unique insights, broadening my experience and perspective, which contributes to a holistic understanding of character and the art of storytelling. I believe my uniqueness as an editor stems from the diverse experiences I had before getting into Editorial, allowing me to approach the process in my own self-crafted way.

That being said, a couple of genres I enjoy watching and cutting most are psychological thriller and family drama. However, anything heavily focused on character is something I love getting into. I just finished cutting a family drama called “Little Mother Lies” (Short) for a non-profit called Of Substance, whose mission is to “[turn] movies into approachable and captivating tools with the sole purpose to reduce shame, improve mindset, and abolish stigma for millions at a time.” During the summer of 2023, I edited a feature-length family drama between siblings called “Where Did the Adults Go?” which will soon be in the festival submission process. My next feature is slated to begin principal photography at the end of July 2024 and is a thriller/horror centered around a mother and daughter’s grief.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

In no particular order:

**Active Listening**: One of the most important skills I’ve utilized in my career and life is the art of active listening. When you speak with someone, they communicate not only with their words but also with their eyes and bodies. These actions and reactions reveal the true story of what someone is thinking and the nuance infused in their expression. Being attentive to these factors provides a much deeper understanding, especially with people who find it difficult to express their ideas verbally.

**Being Solution-Oriented**: When plans go awry, too much time is wasted on blaming and pointing fingers. By focusing on the facts and evidence of a problem rather than on who may have caused it, you save valuable time and can quickly move on to the other tasks on your list.

**Utilizing My Community**: When I’m in a rut or don’t know the answer to a problem, I turn to my community and seek out those I trust to provide a fresh perspective. Sometimes this means asking for advice from a mentor or friend, asking someone to review something I’ve edited and provide feedback, or finding someone I can help, which often puts my own problems into perspective.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

Collaboration is one of my favorite aspects of being an Editor and Creative Producer. When I worked on “The Good Place,” I had the pleasure of being part of the crew led by Showrunner Mike Schur. I was one of the few new additions to a crew that was largely made up of people who had already been working together upwards of five years under Mike. This didn’t surprise me, seeing how Mike’s “best idea wins” policy and his egalitarian leadership flowed through all ranks and in all aspects of Production and Post. Being on that crew, I experienced first-hand a space where the experts in every position felt empowered to bring their full selves to the creative process.

My ideal collaborators deeply understand that building a team with talented individuals and giving each person the space to contribute their creative input is invaluable. Connect with me on Instagram or my website.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Headshot Photo Credit: Kaylee Colton

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