Tirsa Hackshaw - Film Editor

Film editor and screenwriter Tirsa Hackshaw was born in Westchester County, New York.  She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from U.C. Berkeley where she studied both pre-med and the history of drama before landing a job at Lucasfilm. She then attended USC summer film school and was accepted to the renowned American Film Institute where she was one of six editing fellows invited back to the conservatory to complete her Master of Fine Arts in film editing.

Hackshaw's first film as an assistant editor was The Taming of the Small directed by Wayne Powers (Italian Job). Since then, she has been the first assistant editor on such films as Apt Pupil and Boys and Girls; the television series Judging Amy; and television films Return to the Batcave, These Old Broads and Three Wise Guys. She continued to hone her craft as an additional editor on House on Haunted Hill before making the jump to editor on the critically acclaimed show American Family. She then went on to cut the American Idol musical From Justin to Kelly and noir thriller Edison Force (starring Morgan Freeman and Kevin Spacey), along with many other projects, including FX's Dirt and ABC's Dirty Sexy Money.

In addition to editing, Hackshaw also uses her finely honed storytelling skills as a screenwriter. A recent documentary entitled The Man of Two Havanas, which she co-wrote and co-produced, won the Fledging Award at the 2006 IFP market and the 2007 Coral Award.  She has written five feature screenplays and several short stories. She is also the author and publisher of the popular underground comic book series Killer Instinct, which she also adapted into a complete trilogy for the big screen.

Experienced and comfortable in both film and TV, she has worked with such creative talents as Bryan Singer, Tom DeSanto, Robert Iscove, Matthew Diamond, Adam Shankman, Gregory Nava, John Ottman, Nick Cassavettes and Joel Silver. She is also one of the founding members of Rising Tide Entertainment, Inc.