Editing David Fincher (section)

== Early life and education ==

David Andrew Leo Fincher was born in Denver on August 28, 1962. His mother, Claire Mae Boettcher, was a mental health nurse from South Dakota who worked in drug addiction programs. His father, Howard Kelly "Jack" Fincher (1930–2003), was an author from Oklahoma who worked as a reporter and bureau chief for Life magazine. When Fincher was two years old, the family moved to San Anselmo, California, where he counted filmmaker George Lucas among his neighbors. He became fascinated with filmmaking at the age of eight and began making films on an 8mm camera.

As a teenager, Fincher moved to Ashland, Oregon, where he attended Ashland High School. He directed plays and designed sets and lighting after school, was a non-union projectionist at Varsity Theatre, and worked as a production assistant at the KOBI news station in Medford. He supported himself by working as a busboy, dishwasher, and fry cook.