Clarinda Wong, a Los Angeles native, is the editor of "Amargosa." At an early age, her interest in films was fueled by attending Saturday matinee screenings of Japanese horror films. In addition, "King Kong" (the 1933 version) and the films of Ray Harryhausen were intriguing to her for their stop-motion animation and the notion that "films are created."

Wong went on to study film-making and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Radio-TV-Film from the California State University at Northridge. She began her editing career in the local news department of the NBC affiliate in Burbank. This led to work on documentaries, short films- such as the "Making of 'Gremlins," at the local television station KTLA, and in the Universal Pictures trailer department.

As a feature film assistant editor, her first credit was on the 3-D movie "Metalstorm." She recalls with fondness viewing dailies wearing 3-D glasses. Wong has been an assistant editor on many major motion pictures such as "Terminator 2," "True Lies," "Indecent Proposal," "9 1/2 Weeks," "Species," "That Thing You Do!," and "The Wedding Singer." James Cameron, Roger Donaldson, Mel Brooks, Joel Schumacher, Tom Hanks, and Adrian Lyne are some of the well-known directors she has worked with.

Wong has edited shorts at the American Film Institute including "Requiem," winner of a CINE Golden Eagle award. She was editor of "Little Wild One," a music video of a song from "That Thing You Do!". "My American Vacation," an independent feature film which she co-edited, recently won the Gold Medal Award for Best Dramatic Feature at the 1999 WorldFest- Houston International Film Festival. Wong was one of the editors of the 20th Century Fox film, "The Thin Red Line" directed by Terrence Malick. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Film Editing.