In college Hamsher worked as a reporter covering punk rock and politics for the San Francisco Bay Guardian. She also edited Damage, a punk rock fanzine. After college she moved to Los Angeles, where she was accepted into the Peter Stark Producing Program at the USC School of Cinema-Television.
Hamsher's work as a reporter covering punk rock and politics for the San Francisco Bay Guardian, and her editing of Damage, a punk rock fanzine, are both connected to her early career in journalism. After college, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue her passion for filmmaking by joining the Peter Stark Producing Program at USC School of Cinema-Television.