Alumni Profiles
Cami Starkman ’05
“Crossroads was fun, nurturing and challenging. It shaped who I am as a human being. There’s probably not a day that goes by that I don’t think back to some sort of Crossroads memory!”
As an award-winning film editor, Cami Starkman ’05 has a unique ability to tell stories. Her own tale started at Crossroads, which she entered in kindergarten. Cami shares, “Crossroads was fun, nurturing and challenging. It shaped who I am as a human being. There’s probably not a day that goes by that I don’t think back to some sort of Crossroads memory!”
Cami’s arts training began at Crossroads. As a Middle School student, she enjoyed the arts rotation, participated in technical theater and took a film production class. In the Upper School, she took studio art for four years, wrote film and theater reviews for the newspaper and always contributed to Cabaret.
Numerous classes at Crossroads fostered Cami’s sense of creativity; it’s difficult for her to pick a favorite course or teacher. She has fond memories of her time in Jim Hosney’s Great Books class, where she made video book reports with Alanna Glassman ’05.
“We would combine classic books with current shows or music videos to make spoofs,” she says. “For example, we made ‘The Real World: Pequod’ based on ‘Moby Dick’ and a music video to Madonna and Britney Spears’ ‘Me Against the Music’ in which we replaced all the lyrics with lines from ‘Paradise Lost.’ Jim absolutely loved the combination of high brow and low brow, and it was so fun to hear his reviews.”
When asked about the influence of Crossroads on her career path, Cami says, “Crossroads always encouraged me to be as creative as I could possibly be, which prepared me for my career as a film editor, where I create every day. The curriculum also taught me the art of collaboration, a skill which helps me constantly as I work with directors, producers and other creatives.”
Cami earned an MFA in film editing from the American Film Institute in 2012. She has edited three feature films; commercials; branded content; and music videos for major acts including Carrie Underwood, Katy Perry and Nick Jonas.
In March 2020, Cami and her husband, Moshe, welcomed their first baby, Lennon Laurence Sayada.
