Lucas Harger is a film and commercial editor, supervising editor and partner at St. Louis-based Bruton Stroube Studios and founder of Outpost, the post division of Bruton Stroube. Outpost handles editing, color and sound design across TV, film and commercial productions — everything from scripted features to documentary films and series and short-form ad spots.

“Our crew includes full-time in-house sound engineers and a colorist working day in and day out together on projects, which is priceless when working on something complex, like U.S. Against the World,” Harger says.

Let’s hear more from Harger…

What does the job of an editor these days entail?
An editor wears a lot of hats these days; the job requires so much more than simply being great at editing. At times, you’re co-director, at other times a sound designer and sometimes you’re a therapist. The days of being a “hired gun” brought on to execute a specific task are few and far between. Our most recent work has come out of deep and meaningful collaboration with filmmakers and key creatives over significant periods of time.

Every project has unique needs, so I always feel it’s crucial to start with a clear understanding of why we’ve been brought onto a project in the first place. What’s the North Star we’re working toward?

What would surprise people the most about what editors do?
That the work doesn’t begin and end with opening and closing the NLE. Especially in the documentary space, an editor’s work is a lot more comprehensive. In addition to cutting, you’re making other major creative decisions with the filmmakers throughout the process – from interview questions to story beats and coverage requests. For our new docuseries, U.S. Against the World, I was also directing original music with our composer, Hannah Parrot, and working directly with the graphics and archival teams, the sound team and more.

Describe U.S. Against the World.
It’s a new HBO Sports documentary series that follows the United States men’s national soccer team for more than four years, from the 2022 World Cup to present day and the 2026 World Cup. In five episodes, the series covers every major match, training camp and team event, as well as more personal moments and milestones for the individual players.

From the post side, it’s been one of the most demanding projects we’ve taken on creatively. The volume of footage is massive, and we wanted the show to have a very specific visual and sonic identity that we built collaboratively over time. A lot of the editorial language, sound work and design elements were developed specifically for this series rather than pulled from a familiar sports-doc playbook.

How early did you get involved with the series? How did that help?
We got in on the ground floor with this one, initially coming aboard in 2020, prior to the series going to HBO. Being in the mix that early was immensely helpful from both a storytelling and sales standpoint. Not only were we able to begin ideating creatively what the story would entail and where it could go, but we were also able to begin putting together sizzles and development materials for prospective buyers.

Do you put on a different hat when cutting for a specific genre? Can you elaborate?
I’d say the hat is the same shape but a different color. There are unique opportunities or problem sets inherent in scripted projects, as well as docs and commercial content – each activates slightly different parts of an editor’s brain.

Documentary is certainly the most demanding category for an editor. Docs require you to bring the full range of your skillset and experience to the table. If you can cut a great doc, you can probably do anything.

That said, just putting this out there, I’d love to cut a rom-com at some point.

What’s your favorite way to work with a client — your proven method?
Early and often. Whenever possible, we like to partner with creative teams from the beginning and collaborate consistently throughout a project’s life cycle.

I’ll also say that we love working with the same creative partners across multiple projects. As trust and familiarity build over time, both the process and the projects benefit. For U.S. Against the World, we were able to take on such an integral and comprehensive role due to the trust we’ve built over 10 years with the filmmakers at Park Stories and the series’ creators, Rand Getlin and Janina Pelayo.

How did you work with the director of U.S. Against the World? How often were they looking at your cut?
Again, going back to the relationship we’ve established with Park Stories over the years – they’ve seen what we’re capable of, and we know our tastes align. They really gave us the space to work with the footage they captured and to put together a first pass of each episode before sharing with them. That said, before cutting, we would also have creative conversations about storylines, arcs and specific moments, and we would all agree on the general structure and direction before diving in.

Did you have an assistant editor on this project?
We didn’t have an assistant editor, but in addition to me (I was the series’ supervising editor and creative director), we had two other amazing members of the Outpost team who were lead editors on the project, Jazzy Kettenacker and Sam Baiamonte. The three of us have been working together for many years, and I have so much respect for the work they do. It was great to band together on this one.

And later in the process, we also brought in an online editor, Ryan Bicknell, who was a great addition to the team.

What system do you edit on?
Adobe Premiere Pro.

Do you have a favorite plugin or tool within that editing system that you call on a lot?
I’d say Excalibur. The quick search and application of different effects is super-helpful.

Does AI play a role in your work?
Yeah, AI definitely offers a toolset that helps our team remove different roadblocks and just be more efficient overall. Things like automatic transcription, visual cleanups and organization are, of course, useful features that give our team more time to focus on the bigger-picture creative work.

Can you name some recent jobs?
In addition to U.S. Against the World, our most recent scripted feature, Stages, just premiered at SXSW, and our most recent feature documentary, The Story of Everything, is currently in theaters nationwide. On the commercial side, we recently worked with Traveller Whiskey on its Super Bowl spot, among other content.

What’s your favorite part of the job?
Right now, I’m enjoying running the business, developing talent and growing the creative community in St. Louis. Leading a team obviously comes with its own set of challenges, but being able to give super-talented people their dream job is a ridiculously rewarding experience.

Any tips for those just starting out?
Just cut. Finding great footage is easier than ever, and with the tools and platforms that now exist, there are more and more ways to show off your abilities and creative expression. I’d also encourage people starting out to be curious about other crafts – audio, music, graphics – and to learn as much as you can about them. It’s all within an editor’s scope.

What are three pieces of technology you can’t live without?
The custom edit keyboard I built for myself. The combination of Excalibur with an Elgato Stream Deck. And my Ember coffee mug because it keeps my coffee warmer longer.