Best of 2024: “Shōgun” Editors Aika Miyake and Maria Gonzales on Cutting Mariko’s Heroic Path
*This interview was selected by measures having nothing to do with science as one of our standouts from 2024. Miyake and Gonzales unpack how they helped the story of Anna Sawai’s incredible Lady Mariko. The first season of Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo’s masterful Shōgun was an expertly paced slow-burn drama that plunged viewers into 17th-century ...
“Dune: Prophecy” Editors Amelia Allwarden and Anna Hauger on Weaving the Tapestry of Sisterhood’s Growing Power
No strangers to collaborating on world-building, editors Amelia Allwarden and Anna Hauger relished the chance to come together to help shape Dune: Prophecy. The Westworld alums shaped the season finale together, as well as overseeing their own episodes of the HBO magisterial new series that extends the world of Dune set into motion by director ...
How “Gladiator II” Editors and the VFX Supervisor Shaped Three Ferocious Scenes
Gladiator II picks up fifteen years following the events of Russell Crowe’s portrayal of Maximus Decimus Meridius in Gladiator (2000), an epically visceral film from Ridley Scott that not only won five Oscars, including Best Picture at the 73rd Academy Awards but is considered one of the greatest action films in movie history – a ...
“Only Murders in the Building” Editor Matthew Barbato Blends on Season 4’s Complex Delights
Only Murders in the Building began as a cozy, non-sequitur-filled whodunit anchored by three immensely winning performances by Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez, and it’s never lost sight of that winning formula. Yet season over season, the series has become funnier, more ambitious, and more heartfelt, increasing the body count, laugh count, and ...
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” Editor Jay Prychidny on Capturing a Debauched Poltergeist’s Manic Energy
36 years after he first burst onto the screen in his title film—for a grand total of 17 minutes, by the way—Michael Keaton’s debauched poltergeist is back in trademark sinister style, black and white suit and hair akimbo, in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Tim Burton’s sequel turns up the heart, laughs, and gags, a cinematic feast overflowing with gleeful ...
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” Editor Jay Prychidny on the Gospel of Ghoulish Pacing
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice isn’t a rehash of the past. Director Tim Burton revisits familiar characters and locations to tell a new story about aging, family, and regaining a sense of self that can get lost along the way through life’s trials and tribulations. It’s not just a nostalgic sequel but another personal adventure from the mind ...
Eye on the Emmys: Emmy-Winning “Shōgun” Editors Aika Miyake and Maria Gonzales on Mariko’s Heroic Journey
*After the 76th Creative Arts Emmy Winners were announced on September 8 and ahead of the 2024 Prime Time Emmy Awards on September 15, we’re looking back at our interviews with some of this year’s nominees. Editors Maria Gonzales and Aika Miyake won the Emmy for Outstanding Picture Editing for a Drama Series for the ...
“Deadpool & Wolverine” Editors Dean Zimmerman & Shane Reid on the Killer Cut
When a movie trailer makes history by snatching 365 million views in 24 hours, at the very least, the studio behind it knows they have an interested audience. Deadpool & Wolverine did so in February this year and then trickled out a treasure trove of marketing materials leading up its July release. Everything from conspiracy ...
A Symphony of Success: Emmy Nominees Talk VFX, Composing, and Editing
We had the pleasure of hosting two panels this year—check out our first panel here— ahead of the 2024 Emmy Awards, which will be held live on ABC on Sunday, September 15, from 8-11 ET. For our second panel, our Emmy nominees came from a wide-ranging group of shows—Lessons in Chemistry‘s ace director Millicent Shelton, nominated for ...
“Twisters” Editor Terilyn A. Shropshire on Whipping Up a Winning Cut
For editor Terilyn A. Shropshire, Twisters was a homecoming. Director Lee Isaac Chung shot the satisfying popcorn picture on 35mm, and Shropshire, who cut her teeth on 8mm, 16mm, and 35mm, was thrilled to see flash frames again on Twisters. Most of the excitement came in color timing and seeing the end results, but still, ...
“Beckham” Editor Michael Harte on Bending A Massive Archive Into a Must-See Doc
Directed by Fisher Stevens, the documentary miniseries Beckham has been a hit for Netflix, charting David Beckham’s rise as a Manchester United star, England team captain, and player for Real Madrid and the LA Galaxy. But football (we’ll call it that here, as Beckham, his family, his mentor Alex Ferguson, and dozens of teammates and ...
“Bad Boys: Ride or Die” Editors on Mixing Comedy, Action, Tender Moments—and Barry White
Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are back as Miami buddy cops Mike and Marcus, respectively, in Bad Boys: Ride or Die, the fourth installation of the franchise and the second directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah. In 2020’s Bad Boys for Life, Mike and Marcus dealt with the murder of their friend and ...
“Shōgun” Editors Aika Miyake and Maria Gonzales on Cutting Mariko’s Heroic Path
The first season of Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo’s masterful Shōgun was an expertly paced slow-burn drama that plunged viewers into 17th-century Japan with a passionate obsession with the rigors and wonders of the period and location. The new Shōgun shifts its center of balance from the swashbuckling but woefully out of his depth British pirate Blackthorne ...
Oscar-Nominated Editor Laurent Sénéchal’s High Wire Act in “Anatomy of a Fall”
After sweeping this awards season with trophies at the BAFTAs, France’s César Awards, Critics Choice, and the recent Spirit Awards, writer-director Justine Triet and co-writer Arthur Harari’s cerebral courtroom drama is headed for the home stretch, with five Academy Award nominations on the line. Anatomy of a Fall is a masterclass of filmmaking across the ...
Architect of Arrakis: “Dune: Part Two” Editor Joe Walker on Forging a Ferocious Masterpiece
There’s a scene in Dune: Part Two where Chani (Zendaya) tells Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), “You’ll never lose me as long as you stay who you are.” Editor Joe Walker, who won an Academy Award for his work on Dune: Part One, allowed the foretelling moment to breathe. “There’s quite a pause after that line,” ...
“The Holdovers” Oscar-Nominated Editor Kevin Tent on Creating a 70s Vibe With Timeless Performances
Kevin Tent, nominated for this year’s best editing Oscar for The Holdovers, considers himself “the luckiest editor ever” thanks to his 28-year collaboration with director Alexander Payne. Tent has edited all nine of Payne’s films dating back to his feature directing debut Citizen Ruth (1996). It’s an impressive list that includes Election (1999), About Schmidt ...
Emmy-Nominated “Succession” Editor Ken Eluto on Cutting the Roy Family Down to Size
HBO’s glorious tragicomedy Succession went on for four riveting seasons and finished at a creative zenith. The acerbic squabbling and venomous backstabbing amongst the narcissistic Roy family — led by savage patriarch and leader of the media giant, Waystar Royco, Logan Roy (Brian Cox) — culminated with the end game promised in the series title ...
“The Color Purple” Editor Jon Poll on Finding the Rhythm of This Moving Adaptation
Editor Jon Poll knows comedy structure forward and backward, having worked on such classics as Meet the Parents, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. So, how did he wind up editing The Color Purple? The deeply dramatic musical, directed by Ghanian-born rapper-turned-Beyonce collaborator (Black is King) turned filmmaker Blitz Bazawule, ...
“Maestro” Editor Michelle Tesoro on Orchestrating the Epic Bernstein Love Story
To tell the story of composer Leonard Bernstein’s (Bradley Cooper) courtship with Costa Rican-American actress Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein (Carey Mulligan), Cooper, who also directed, and his editor, Michelle Tesoro (The Queen’s Gambit, When They See Us) varied the technical aesthetic throughout Maestro. As the couple first gets to know each other at a party, ...
“May December” Editor Affonso Gonçalves on Playing With Identity in Todd Haynes’ New Film
It has been a very busy year for Brazilian-American film editor Affonso Gonçalves, from last fall’s twisted psychological drama Don’t Worry Darling to this year’s doppelgänger medical chiller Dead Ringers and queer wrestling biopic Cassandro. Last week, he returned with director Todd Haynes’ quietly disturbing psychological drama May December. They have developed a shorthand after working with ...
