Editors
Interviews - Editors
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“A Performance is Really About Digging Into the Footage”: Editor Andrew Hafitz on Beirut
Returning to Sundance long after his first appearances there with Next Stop, Wonderland and Happy Accidents, among others, Brad Anderson’s Beirut is a thriller made from a quarter-century-old script by Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton, Duplicity). Jon Hamm stars as a former diplomat, Mason Skiles, who returns to Lebanon a decade after his former posting there, getting involved in a complex hostage situation involving a standoff with his former friend-turned-terrorist Karim (Idir Chender). Editor Andrew Hafitz (The Last Days of Disco, Bully, Keane) explains how his verite background helps inform his approach to cutting and which two directors taught him the most. Filmmaker: How and why did you […]
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“The Chaos of the Race Track Was a Constant Challenge”: DP Gregory Kershaw on The Last Race
The documentary debut from fine art photographer Michael Dweck, The Last Race screens five times in competition at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. The film tells the story of Riverhead Raceway, a decades-old race track on Long Island. At one time Long Island hosted roughly 40 such tracks; today, Riverhead is the only one that remains. Filmmaker Gregory Kershaw served as both cinematographer and co-producer on the film. Below, he spoke with Filmmaker about the physical toll of filming at a loud and fume-filled race track, the influence of Errol Morris’ early films and the logistical madness of having “10 cameras mounted on […]
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“Editing Is a Process of Rewriting”: Editor and Director Jérémy Comte on Sundance Short Fauve
Montreal-based filmmaker Jérémy Comte makes his Sundance debut with Fauve, a French-language drama in the Shorts program of the festival. Comte’s previous short, Ce qu’il reste, premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2016. Comte served as writer, director and editor on both films. Below, he discusses the art of increasing tension without music, avoiding the “overdramatic” and the invisible role of VFX in 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? Comte: Being the director of the film, I had the […]
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“Balancing the Tone Between Quiet Subtlety and Flourishes of Style”: Editor Taylor Levy on Night Comes On
Jordana Spiro has appeared as an actor on Ozark, The Good Wife, Dexter and a number of other TV series. She makes her debut as a feature film director with Night Comes On, a film she also co-wrote with Angelica Nwandu, the founder of the Instagram-based company The Shade Room. The film tells the story of two troubled sisters: Angel (Dominique Fishback) and Abby (Tatum Marilyn Hall). Spiro hired Taylor Levy, an additional editor on the 2017 Sundance title Brigsby Bear, to edit the film. Before its five screenings at Sundance 2018, Levy spoke with Filmmaker about what drew him to the […]
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“I Interviewed and Emphasized My Desire for the Film to be ‘Female Gaze-y'”: Editor Catherine Haight on Puzzle
Catherine Haight worked as an assistant editor for a decade before she landed the gig to edit the pilot episode of HBO’s Girls. From there, she went on to edit for several prominent half-hour TV series, including New Girl, Mozart in the Jungle and Transparent. Haight worked as the editor on Puzzle, the new film from director Marc Turtletaub (producer of Little Miss Sunshine and Safety Not Guaranteed) and writer Oren Moverman (Love & Mercy). The film tells the story of a suburban housewife (Kelly Macdonald) who discovers a passion for puzzle-solving competitions. Below, Haight speaks with Filmmaker about the influence of Jill […]
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“As Irreverent as the Subject Herself”: Editor Paul Carlin on Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist
Premiering in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at Sundance, Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist chronicles the life of 76-year-old fashion designer Dame Vivienne Westwood. The film is the first documentary feature from UK-based filmmaker Lorna Tucker. Tucker hired doc and fiction editor Paul Carlin to cut the film. Below, Carlin discusses how the project took shape, his fondness for Walter Murch and capturing Westwood’s essence “from punk to haute couture.” 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? Carlin: I think it was […]
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“Like Most Things, We Got There After a Lot of Trial and Error”: Editor Patrick Colman on Hearts Beat Loud
In 2017, Patrick Colman edited the music video for “Holding On” by the indie rock maestros The War on Drugs. Brett Haley, the writer/director behind the 2017 Sundance hit The Hero, directed the clip. The director and editor reunite on Hearts Beat Loud, a family drama starring Nick Offerman, Kiersey Clemons and Ted Danson. Colman previously edited Sundance titles Other People (2016) and Hits (2014). Below, he shares his thoughts on cutting the music-driven Hearts Beat Loud. 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 […]
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“The Problems of Online Censorship and Social Media”: Editor Philipp Gromov on The Cleaners
German editor Philipp Gromov has cut 11 documentary features, series and shorts since 2010. He began his career on The Other Chelsea: A Story from Donetsk, which tells the story of a small mining town in Ukraine. His latest feature, The Cleaners, premieres in competition at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. The film offers a rare glimpse into the lives of digital “cleaners”: anonymous people contracted by Silicon Valley companies to scrub the internet of content deemed “inappropriate.” Gromov spoke with Filmmaker about cutting the film and why The Cleaners has inspired him to cut his own use of social media. Filmmaker: How […]
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“Hamlet from Ophelia’s POV”: Editor Luke Dunkley on Sundance Drama Ophelia
Luke Dunkley began his career 20-some years ago as an editor on the short-lived BBC show This Life. He has since gone on to work for dozens of TV series and miniseries, including Netflix’s The Crown, Channel 4’s National Treasure and Canal Plus’s The Last Panther. Dunkley served as the editor on Ophelia, the fourth feature from Australian director Claire McCarthy. Ophelia is a retelling of Hamlet as told from the perspective of the young noblewoman of Denmark. Below, Dunkley discusses how he and McCarthy sought to “not compromise the young female perspective” in their spin on Shakespeare. Filmmaker: How and why did […]
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“Blissful Madness!”: Lucas Celler on Editing Sandi Tan’s Documentary Shirkers
Twenty-some years ago, Sandi Tan and her friends shot a 16mm thriller called Shirkers. It was a guerilla-style production in her home country of Singapore. The film, however, was never finished because a member of the crew – the mysterious Georges – stole all the footage and disappeared. Tan’s new documentary, Shirkers, is an experimental dive into that footage and what it meant to her as a young filmmaker. Tan hired filmmaker Lucas Celler to edit and give shape to the film. Below, Celler discusses editing this “collage film, constructed with everything from video to film to photos to maps to […]
