Behind the Screen: Abby Mutschler
Abby Mutschler, senior editor for ASR Media Productions, began her media career writing material instead of editing it. She and her brothers grew up writing and directing homemade features based on popular films such as Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. Her childhood obsession with the Lord of the Rings trilogy, as well as its behind the scenes features, sparked her interest in filmmaking.
Abby entered college as a Communications/Media major; however, after watching the movie Juno in her freshman year was inspired to become a film writer. She transferred to DeSales University to study film production and writing. Many of her college days were spent putting pen to paper (or fingertips on keyboard) as a Television/Film major. While at DeSales, Abby focused on theatrical films and created TV pilots, numerous short films, and wrote a feature-length script. She also worked on sets as a director, grip and gaffer.
After graduation, Abby was hired by Clark Media in Bethlehem, PA as manager of their grip and lighting department. During her time there, she worked on infomercials, internal corporate videos, live events, commercials, and documentaries. She also gained experience as a camera operator, teleprompter operator, data manager, audio assistant, and makeup artist. Abby also received her commercial driver’s license and spent days driving large trucks filled with production equipment around New York City. Her experience certainly flourished while at Clark.
In 2013, after about 2 ½ years with Clark Media, Abby joined the ASR Media team determined to hone her skills. The company was growing quickly with needs for camera, audio, production assistant and editing. Incredibly, with all of her experience she hadn’t yet done any professional editing. She began teaching herself and fine-tuning her editing skills while working as a videographer, audio handler and accompanying the team on shoots.
“Some of the best times at the original ASR office were drinking multiple cups of coffee, asking lots of questions, and figuring it out by trial and error.”
Abby’s editing skills blossomed over the years. The challenge of cutting a two-hour long interview into a three minute cohesive and moving clip is a task she appreciates and even enjoys! Her favorite edits are stories that connect you to a person or a mission in an inspiring way. She has especially enjoyed working with Tails of Valor - an important organization that combines cute pups with helping veterans.
Abby is passionate about what she does for many reasons, but lately she enjoys coming up with fresh ideas to appropriately “brand” videos for ASR Media clients, underscoring what they represent. Corporate and nonprofit missions are integral to their operation and culture; Abby challenges herself to create videos that are custom, unique and truly reflective of each organization.
Charleston Skyline
Every element that goes into a video is crucial; color correction, audio, footage, and powerful production have a huge impact on the end product… with one of the most important being music. Abby feels strongly that choosing the right track can often make or break an entire video.
A few years ago, Abby relocated to Charleston, South Carolina where she continues remote work for ASR Media as Senior Editor and visits the Valley whenever possible. When Abby isn’t editing or mentoring her team, she can be found playing softball and flag football, laying on the beach, or binging documentaries on Netflix.
Check out more of our editors’ amazing work: