Lozoya counts himself lucky to have spent time with people like Ortiz-Gil, Producers Tim DeLuca and Mark Dragin, and producer-director-editor Arthur Forney, who has executive produced hundreds of Law & Order episodes. He soaked in everything they had to say about storytelling and what did and did not work in the making of shows.
“I was able to sit in the same room as people who developed some of the most iconic television in history,” Lozoya said.
From there Lozoya worked up to assistant editor on “Law & Order: LA,” organizing footage shot the previous day, adding sound effects to scenes and getting footage to the promo department for production of teases to the next week’s episode.
“LOLA” was one of the most problematic shows Ortiz-Gil has ever worked on, he said. People were so determined to see it succeed that they shot and re-shot scenes, overwhelming the two assistant editors (including Lozoya) with work. The other assistant was a “top-notch, seasoned veteran,” and Lozoya kept up with him, Ortiz-Gil said.
When “Law & Order: LA” was canceled after one season, Lozoya hopped over to “Alcatraz,” a Fox drama that lasted one season, and “Californication,” a Showtime comedy-drama starring David Duchovny that aired for seven seasons. The latter gave Lozoya experience helping tell stories in one large chunk versus five acts broken up by commercials.
In the summer of 2012, Forney asked Lozoya to be an assistant editor on the pilot of “Chicago Fire,” a new Dick Wolf series. When the pilot was picked up, Lozoya joined it mid-way through the season.
In 2015 Lozoya was promoted to editor on “Chicago Fire,” having proved himself volunteering to cut scenes for busy editors and filling in for an editor on maternity leave. He was a “Chicago Fire” editor for 18 episodes over four seasons.
“It’s a very cool job because not only do you use your creative brain but also your technical brain,” Lozoya said. “And it really is incredible what you can do in the cutting room, you could totally reshape a story.”