Editors for ‘Hoppers’ reflect on growing up in San Mateo County

Now working on movies professionally — most recently on the upcoming release, “Hoppers,” out March 3 — Kloezeman and Geddes are constantly considering how to get people out of their homes and into their local theaters. 

For Kloezeman and Geddes, growing up in Millbrae and San Mateo, respectively, meant having access to movie theaters in nearly every neighboring city. 

“They were everywhere, there was such easy access,” Kloezeman said. 

A favorite of the two was the Millbrae Theatre, which was Kloezeman’s local spot and Geddes’ favorite theater to bus to. Seeing “Star Wars,” “E.T.” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” on the big screen were just some of the films Geddes remembers being inspired by.

“These wondrous and fantastic movies sparked a lot of my imagination, which is where I spent a lot of my time,” Geddes said. 

The year Kloezeman was born, in 1986, Geddes recalls gathering his fellow 15-year-old friends to take the bus to see a double feature at the Millbrae Theatre. Twenty-six years later, Geddes hired Kloezeman in 2012, and since then they have worked on four feature films as editors together, including “Finding Dory” and “Toy Story 4.”

Even outside the dark rooms of theaters, there’s a cinematic ambience of simply growing up on the Peninsula, Kloezeman said. 

Whether it was Kloezeman driving Interstate 280 to school and listening to just the right music soundtracking the suburban scene, or it was Geddes taking walks with his Walkman, both agreed their childhood surroundings shaped their love for the art form. 

Even if growing up on the Peninsula might have meant “just wanting to be in San Francisco,” the proximity of the artful city also allowed both Kloezeman and Geddes increased exposure to the power of film.  

Though they both had deep appreciation for movies, Kloezeman and Geddes were not always aware of film editing as a career option. 

As a student at College of San Mateo, Geddes took a class on making movies where he worked with a Super 8 film camera. Previously, he thought “working in movies” meant acting. 

That was until one night he was cutting film in his kitchen and “suddenly it was 3 a.m.” he said. 

“I realized I was cutting for eight hours straight and was like ‘oh my god, I love editing,’” Geddes said. 

It was also in college when Kloezeman discovered a passion for filmmaking — or rather rediscovered. 

Kloezeman was a professional softball player who played for the Greek National Softball Team in the 2004 Olympics. While attending the University of California, Berkeley, afterward, Kloezeman felt it was time to step away from the sport, and she thought about what else she loved to do. 

Quickly, Kloezeman pivoted her entire college course load to reconnect with the love she once had while running around with a camera and making music videos and short films, she said. 

To both Kloezeman and Giddes, working as editors on animation films feels very similar to working on a sports team. Creating a film brings “all the art forms together” and requires incredible collaboration, Geddes said. 

“It’s the grand art, it’s everything,” Geddes said. “It was my sports. I loved working together, coming together and making something that was bigger than what any individual.” 

Collaboration is key in making a film, and community is central in experiencing it, they said. 

The pair’s most recent project, the feature film “Hoppers” is “a film to watch with a crowd,” Geddes said. 

“Watching it with an audience, hearing the audience react and laugh, it’s just more fun,” Geddes said. “There’s so many shocks and surprises in ‘Hoppers’ that reward the theatrical experience.” 

The theaters are what got both Kloezeman and Geddes into movies, and with each new film they work on they hope they can give people any excuse to buy a ticket, take a moment and enjoy. 

“Go see ‘Hoppers,’ but go see any movie,” Kloezeman said. “Save the industry, save yourself, stop looking at your phone and laugh together.”