Editors
Interviews - Editors
-
“The Feedback Screenings were Essential”: Editor Colin Campbell 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, editor Colin Campbell discussed his latest collaboration with longtime friend Lee Cronin. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to […]
-
“Treat the Material Like a Thriller”: Editor Andrea Lewis on Where’s My Roy Cohn?
Acquired by Sony Pictures Classics after its premiere at Sundance, Matt Tyrnauer’s Where’s My Roy Cohn? reexamines the life and legacy of lawyer/fixer/conservative power broker Roy Cohn. Taking its title from a quote from President Donald J. Trump, Tyrnauer’s documentary draws a line from Cohn to the present. Via email, his regular editor Andrea Lewis discussed her work on the 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? Lewis: I have worked with director Matt Tyrnauer and producer Corey Reeser on […]
-
“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 […]
-
“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 […]
-
“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 […]
-
“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? […]
-
“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 […]
-
“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 […]
-
“Those Four Frames Made the Difference Between That Interaction Being Funny and Not at All”: Editor Zach Siegel on Quarter Life Poetry
Samantha Jayne’s Quarter Life Poetry began life as a Tumblr and Instagram, transforming her millennial 20something experiences into doodles and poems. Now it’s an ambitious series set to premiere on FX Networks later this year, brought to life with director Arturo Perez Jr. helming all ten episodes. Via email, Zach Siegel gets technical about the difference ten (or even four) frames can make when timing a laugh, invisible VFX work and learning how to edit during the boom of branded content. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that […]
-
“We Had Somehow Managed to Shoot a Solid Two and a Half Hours of Movie in Only 15 Days”: Editor Kern Saxton on Mope
Lucas Heyne’s feature debut Mope is based on the lurid case of aspirant porn star Stephen Hill (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) and his best friend, whose porn name was Tom Dong (Kelly Sry). In 2010, Hill went on a rampage with a machete, a story is told in this LA Weekly story from 2011, forming the basis for this porn-milieu drama. Heyne called on his friend Kern Saxton to edit. Via email, Saxton described the challenges of cutting down two and a half hours, filmed in an improvisatory style, into a tight 105 minutes. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of […]
