Editors
Interviews - Editors
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“I’m a Firm Believer in the Card Wall”: Viridiana Lieberman on Editing The Sentence
In 2017, Viridiana Lieberman had two documentaries premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival: I Am Evidence, a feature on police departments’ handling of sexual assault cases, and Love the Sinner, a short on the Orlando nightclub shooting of 2016. She begins 2018 having edited The Sentence, which premieres in competition at the Sundance Film Festival. The Sentence tells the story of director Rudy Valdez’s sister Cindy, a woman who received a draconian 15-year prison sentence for crimes committed by her deceased ex-boyfriend. Below, Lieberman speaks with Filmmaker about why editing “this film has become one of the most powerful experiences of my life.” Filmmaker: […]
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“Are People Eating Popcorn or Using Their Mind?”: Editor Alex Kopit on Dead Pigs
Alex Kopit served as an assistant editor on past Sundance premieres Be Kind Rewind (2008) and The Messenger (2009). He returns to the festival in 2018 as the editor of Dead Pigs, the debut feature from writer/director Cathy Yan. The film is a mosaic of stories in modern-day Shanghai connected by a mysterious occurrence: a stream of floating pig carcasses. Below, Kopit discusses editing the film so that “the various stories could interweave and support each other.” Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your […]
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“Seeing the Seams Is a Part of the Art”: Editor Taryn Gould on Narcissister Organ Player
Narcissister is a Brooklyn-based performance artist who appeared on America’s Got Talent to, as her bio puts it, “trouble the popular entertainment and experimental art divide.” Her feature film debut, Narcissister Organ Player, is a hybrid of performance art film and personal documentary on her relationship with her family. Narcissister tapped filmmaker Taryn Gould to edit the film. Below, Gould discusses the importance of in-progress screenings, how editing the film has impacted how she thinks about her mother and the question of whether or not to show Narcissister’s face in the film. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the […]
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“It Came to Symbolize a Whole Era”: Editor Andrea Lewis on Studio 54
Andrea Lewis served as a co-editor on Citizen Jane: Battle for the City, a 2016 documentary on urban activist Jane Jacobs. The film earned strong reviews for director Matt Tyrnauer, who would hire Lewis to edit his next documentary: Studio 54. The film tells the story of the rise and fall of the iconic ’70s nightclub through the lens of its founders: Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell. Lewis spoke with Filmmaker before the film’s premiere at Sundance about the task of giving shape to this archival-heavy project. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What […]
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“We Cut Countless Versions of this Scene”: Editors Bing Liu and Joshua Altman on Minding the Gap
Joshua Altman cut his first Sundance-bound documentary in 2009 with We Live in Public. The film – Altman’s first as an editor of documentary features – went on to win the Grand Jury Prize for documentary at the festival. Since then, Altman has cut five more docs to premiere at Sundance: The Tillman Story (2010), Bones Brigade: an Autobiography (2012), We Are The Giant (2014) and, in 2018 alone, both Kailash and Minding The Gap. The latter film he cut with film’s director, Bing Liu. Liu himself appears in the film among a trio of friends who bond over skateboarding in their Rust Belt town. Below, […]
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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 […]
