I’m Kristina Lyons, and I’m an editor & screenwriter based in Los Angeles.
I grew up in western Massachusetts, and received my BA in Film Studies & Studio Art from Vanderbilt University in Nashville TN. I then earned my MFA in Film & TV Production from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts.
My editing work has covered a wide range of projects, including features, documentaries, PSAs, commercials and short films, with a focus in recent years on independent feature films in the horror space. Some projects I’ve worked on have appeared at film festivals around the world, including SXSW, Cannes, Screamfest, Sitges, FrightFest, Inside Out, Frameline, LA Shorts Fest, and the Newport Beach Film Festival. I’ve worked on short form material for a variety of clients including Giorgio Armani, Salesforce, the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, and PBS.
I’m passionate about independent filmmaking, and through my experience in this realm I’ve developed a bit of a reputation among my collaborators as a “dailies scavenger.” When working with low budgets, we often don’t have the luxury of reshoots or pickups to solve problems that arise in the editing phase, so I enthusiastically search for creative solutions in the dailies — and I mean all the dailies. Before “action,” after “cut,” in other scenes or rejected takes, every frame is fair game — I dig through it all to find ways to accomplish our goals. And when picture isn’t the solution, I’ve written plenty of ADR lines to clarify and enhance storytelling.
As an editor, I’m the third person to “write” a movie — but sometimes I like to be the first. My screenplay GO HEAVY, the story of an amateur powerlifter grappling with chronic illness, made it to the second round at the Austin Film Festival screenwriting competition, the quarterfinals at the BlueCat and Final Draft Big Break screenplay contests, and the second round of consideration for the Sundance Screenwriters Lab.