Authors — Filmmaker Staff
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DP Jomo Fray on Selah and the Spades and Drawing Inspiration From Rihanna’s ANTI
Tayarisha Poe is a former 25 New Face of Film; her feature debut, Selah and the Spades, teams her with another New Face, cinematographer Jomo Fray. The titular Selah (Lovie Simone) attends a prep school where, with ferocious discipline, she manages her gang, the Spades. Via email, Fray discussed his long-in-the-making collaboration with Poe. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job? Fray: The director, Tayarisha Poe, and I met a few years ago about the project and pretty quickly became totally […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 4, 2019 -
“The Very Opening is Always the Hardest to Cut “: Editors Elisa Bonora and Veronica Pinkham on David Crosby: Remember My Name
Legendary musician (and salty Twitter presence) David Crosby hits the tour road again in David Crosby: Remember My Name, an intimate biographical portrait by A.J. Eaton. The film, which premiered at Sundance, had two editors. Via email, both Elisa Bonora and Veronica Pinkham shared their perspectives on working on this film. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job? Bonora: In 2013 I edited, and was nominated for an ACE for, a documentary film called Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me. The director, […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 4, 2019 -
“Sometimes the Craziest Feedback Leads to Some Really Great Ideas in the Editing Room”: Editor Eleanor Infante on Late Night
One of the biggest acquisitions at this year’s Sundance, Nisha Ganatra’s Late Night tracks Molly (Mindy Kaling, who wrote the screenplay), a new staff writer on a long-running late night show hosted by Katherine Newbury (Emma Thompson). The film was purchased by Amazon for $13 million. Via email, its editor, Eleanor Infante, spoke to her work on the film, the latest in a long collaboration with director Ganatra. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job? Infante: Nisha Ganatra and I first […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 4, 2019 -
“As Long As I Make the Story Clear and Not Noring, Then I’m Good”: Editor Zimo Huang on The Tomorrow Man
A music video director and David Fincher protege, Noble Jones makes his feature filmmaking debut with The Tomorrow Man. John Lithgow anchors the film as Ed Hemsler, a divorced retiree with a penchant for grandiose if vague conspiracy theories about the imminent end of the world. His unexpected romance with Ronnie Meisner (Blythe Danner) begins at a grocery store, but their path is full of unexpected bumps. Via email, editor Zimo Huang discussed his work on the production. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 4, 2019 -
“Using Negative Fill to Create Unease”: DP Tom Comerford on The Hole in the Ground
The feature directorial debut from Irish filmmaker Lee Cronin, The Hole in the Ground follows the ominous goings-on after a couple and their young child move to a new cottage in rural Ireland (where their neighbors include Aki Kaurismäki regular Kati Outinen). Next to the cottage is the titular hole in the ground, and that causes all kinds of problems as their child is possibly possessed. Via email, DP Tom Comerford discussed the challenges of creating a visual atmosphere of unease on a budget. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 4, 2019 -
“The Real Ted Bundy Captivated People”: Editor Josh Schaeffer on Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile
Veteran documentarian Joe Berlinger has two films on serial killer Ted Bundy this year. One is a documentary that’s now on Netflix, Conversations With a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes. The other is a narrative take on the same story, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, with Zac Efron playing against type as Bundy and Lily Collins as his unaware girlfriend Liz. Via email, editor Josh Schaeffer spoke to his work on half of Berlinger’s year of Bundy. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job? Schaeffer: Initially I did […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 2, 2019 -
“I Initially Didn’t Think I Would Be the One to Cut This Film”: Director/DP Luke Lorentzen on Editing Midnight Family
In Mexico City, there are only 45 publicly operated ambulances for a population of nine-million-plus, creating a need filled by private labor. Luke Lorentzen, whose first feature New York Cuts premiered at IDFA in 2015, embedded himself with one privately operated ambulance run as a family business, tagging along night after night. Operating as his own shooter for Midnight Family, Lorentzen’s sophomore feature is a formally controlled, sympathetically embedded portrait of multiple instances of economic inequity (with car chases!). Via email, Lorentzen spoke about his work on the editorial side. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 2, 2019 -
“We Decided to Start Editing from Scratch”: Co-Writer/Editor Don Bernier on Always in Season
For her feature debut, Jacqueline Olive examines the death of Lennon Lacy, a black 17-year-old who was found hanging from a swing set in his North Carolina home town. Though his death was quickly ruled a suicide by the authorities, his mother, Claudia, was understandably suspicious, given America’s long, far from resolved history of racialized violence. Editor and co-writer Don Bernier (whose recent credits include Charm City) spoke via email about how he worked on the project, which he first learned of in 2014 but didn’t officially join until last year. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 1, 2019 -
“Either There is a Film or There is None. We Chose the Former”: Director Kirill Mikhanovsky | Give Me Liberty
Whenever directors watch their own films, they always do so with the knowledge that there are moments that occurred during their production — whether that’s in the financing and development or shooting or post — that required incredible ingenuity, skill, planning or just plain luck, but whose difficulty is invisible to most spectators. These are the moments directors are often the most proud of, and that pride comes with the knowledge that no one on the outside could ever properly appreciate what went into them. So, we ask: “What hidden part of your film are you most privately proud of […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 1, 2019 -
“Picture Wrapped in Early November and We Had a Cut by Mid-December”: Editors Marina Katz and Brian Goetz on The Brink
Tracking “economic nationalist” and Deplorables-rouser Stephen Bannon from summer 2017 to fall of last year, The Brink follows Bannon as he tries to rebrand himself, post-White House, as a unifier of the European alt-right, culminating in the defeat of his preferred candidates on Election Night 2018. Director Alison Klayman shot the film and edited alongside Marina Katz and Brian Goetz. Via email, the latter two editors spoke about the challenges of assembling the documentary on a tight turnaround. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 1, 2019
