Film Stories

Last update : April 20, 2024

I’ve had the good fortune, thanks to my work with various industry trade publications and websites, to interview an inspiring collection of some of the best film and video editors in the world. You can click on the “filmmakers” category on the side panel to access these stories, but I’ve aggregated them here for easy access here.

These interviews cover a wide range of feature film styles. I’ve also included editors from the commercial side as well. The interviewees were gracious enough to share their experiences with creative challenges and how they leveraged editing technology to get the job done. For those keeping tally, Avid Media Composer, Apple Final Cut Pro (old and new), Adobe Premiere Pro, Lightworks, and DaVinci Resolve are all represented as the NLE of choice. Although I don’t consider myself in the same league as most of these luminaries, I’ve included a few projects of mine, which happen to fit nicely into the world of indie filmmaking.

I hope you will take the time to revisit these articles and pick up some tips that might benefit your own personal style. Enjoy!

Life in Six Strings

Directed by Kylie Olsson

Featured in the post – Leigh Brooks and James Tonkin

Editors’ Thoughts on Documentaries

Featured in the post – Steve Hathaway, Neil Meiklejohn, Walter Murch, Kayla Sklar, Will Znidaric

A Conversation with Walter Murch, Part 1

A Conversation with Walter Murch, Part 2

A Conversation with Walter Murch, Part 3

A Conversation with Walter Murch, Part 4

Featured in the posts – Walter Murch

The Batman

Directed by Matt Reeves

Featured in the post – Anders Langlands

Last Night in Soho

Directed by Edgar Wright

Featured in the post – Paul Machliss

Blood Red Sky

Directed by Peter Thorwarth

Featured in the post – Knut Hake

The Digital Nomad

Featured in the post – Alexander Fedorov

Aviation and Final Cut Pro

Featured in the post – Sam Pittman

The Mole Agent

Directed by Maite Alberdi

Featured in the post – Carolina Siraqyan

W.A.S.P.

Directed by Jon Anderson

Kirk Baxter, ACE on editing Mank

Directed by David Fincher

Featured in the post – Kirk Baxter

COUP 53

Directed by Taghi Amirani

Featured in the post – Walter Murch

Paul McCartney’s “Who Cares”

Directed by Brantley Gutierrez

Featured in the post – Brantley Gutierrez and Ryan P. Adams

Jezebel

Directed by Numa Perrier

Featured in the post – Tangier Clarke

Everest VR

Directed by Jonathan Griffith

Featured in the post – Matthew DeJohn

The Banker

Directed by George Nolfi

Featured in the post – Joel Viertel

Ford v Ferrari

Directed by James Mangold

Featured in the post – Michael McCusker, Andrew Buckland

Terminator: Dark Fate

Directed by Tim Miller

Featured in the post – Julian Clarke

A Conversation With Steve Bayes

Featured in the post – Steve Bayes

Rocketman

Directed by Dexter Fletcher

Featured in the post – Chris Dickens

Free Solo

Directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin

Featured in the post – Bob Eisenhardt

Black Mirror: Bandersnatch

Directed by David Slade

Featured in the post – Tony Kearns

Good Omens

Directed by Douglas Mackinnon

Featured in the post – Will Oswald and Emma Oxley

Glass – Editing an Unconventional Trilogy

Directed by M. Night Shyamalan

Featured in the post – Luke Ciarrocchi

Editing and Music Composition

Featured in the post – Simon Ubsdell

Rams

Directed by Gary Hustwit

Featured in the post – Kayla Sklar

Mary Queen of Scots

Directed by Josie Rourke

Featured in the post – Chris Dickens

Old Man & the Gun

Directed by David Lowery

Featured in the post – Lisa Zeno Churgin

Art Doesn’t Pay

Featured in the post – Mark Toia

Beyond the Supernova

Directed by ZZ Satriani

Featured in the post – ZZ Satriani

Wild Wild Country

Directed by Chapman and Maclain Way

Featured in the post – Neil Meiklejohn

Atlanta

Directed by Hiro Murai

Featured in the post – Isaac Hagy and Kyle Reiter

Molly’s Game

Directed by Aaron Sorkin

Featured in the post – Alan Baumgarten, Elliot Graham, Josh Schaeffer

Downsizing

Directed by Alexander Payne

Featured in the post – Kevin Tent

Suburbicon

Directed by George Clooney

Featured in the post – Stephen Mirrione

Mindhunter

Directed by David Fincher, Andrew Douglas, Asif Kapadia, and Tobias Lindholm

Featured in the post – Tyler Nelson

6 Below

Directed by Scott Waugh

Featured in the post – Vashi Nedomansky

Baby Driver

Directed by Edgar Wright

Featured in the post – Paul Machliss

Bricklayers and Sculptors

Featured in the post – Simon Ubsdell

The Handmaid’s Tale

Directed by Reed Morano

Featured in the post – Wendy Hallam Martin

A Conversation with Thomas Grove Carter

Featured in the post – Thomas Grove Carter

Five Came Back

Directed by Laurent Bouzereau

Featured in the post – Will Znidaric

Voyage of Time

Directed by Terrence Malick

Featured in the post – Keith Fraase

Nocturnal Animals

Directed by Tom Ford

Featured in the post – Joan Sobel

La La Land

Directed by Damien Chazelle

Featured in the post – Tom Cross

Swiss Army Man

Directed by Dan Kwan and Daniel Sheinert

Featured in the post – Matthew Hannam

Voice from the Stone

Directed by Eric Howell

Featured in the post – Clayton Condit

Deadpool

Directed by Tim Miller

Featured in the post – Julian Clarke, Vashi Nedomansky

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

Directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa

Featured in the post – Jan Kovac, Glenn Ficarra, Kevin Bailey

Hail, Caesar!

Directed by Ethan and Joel Coen

Featured in the post – Katie McQuerrey, David Smith

Vinyl

Directed by Martin Scorsese

Featured in the post – David Tedeschi

Carol

Directed by Todd Haynes

Featured in the post – Affonso Gonçalves, John J. Dowdell III

Sicario

Directed by Denis Villeneuve

Featured in the post – Joe Walker

Steve Jobs

Directed by Danny Boyle

Featured in the post – Elliot Graham

Fear the Walking Dead

Featured in the post – Tad Dennis

Fresh Dressed

Directed by Sasha Jenkins

Featured in the post – Andrea B. Scott

Focus

Directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa

Featured in the post – Jan Kovac, Glenn Ficarra, Mike Matzdorff

The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution

Directed by Stanley Nelson

Featured in the post – Aljernon Tunsil

Divine Access

Directed by Steve Chester Prince

Featured in the post – Jeff Way, Clay Glendenning, J.T. Billings

Unbroken

Directed by Angelina Jolie

Featured in the post – Tim Squyres, William Goldenberg

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu

Featured in the post – Stephen Mirrione, Douglas Crise

Gone Girl

Directed by David Fincher

Featured in the post – Kirk Baxter, Tyler Nelson

The Zero Theorem

Directed by Terry Gilliam

Featured in the post – Mick Audsley

Cold In July

Directed by Jim Mickle

Featured in the post – Jim Mickle

Lone Survivor

Directed by Peter Berg

Featured in the post – Colby Parker, Jr.

The Wolf of Wall Street

Directed by Martin Scorsese

Featured in the post – Thelma Schoonmaker, Scott Brock

American Hustle

Directed by David O. Russell

Featured in the post – Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers, Alan Baumgarten

Inside Llewyn Davis

Directed by Ethan and Joel Coen

Featured in the post – Katie McQuerrey

Particle Fever

Directed by Mark Levinson

Featured in the post – Walter Murch

The East

Directed by Zal Batmanglij

Featured in the post – Andrew Weisblum and Bill Pankow

The Hobbit

Directed by Peter Jackson

Featured in the post – Jabez Olssen

Phil Spector

Directed by David Mamet

Featured in the post – Barbara Tulliver

Zero Dark Thirty

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow

Featured in the post – Dylan Tichenor and William Goldenberg

Cloud Atlas

Directed by Andy and Lana Wachowski and Tom Tykwer

Featued in the post – Alexander Berner

Looper

Directed by Rian Johnson

Featured in the post – Ryan Thudhope

Hemingway & Gellhorn

Directed by Philip Kaufman

Featured in the post – Walter Murch

The Bourne Legacy

Directed by Tony Gilroy

Featured in the post – John Gilroy

Moonrise Kingdom

Directed by Wes Anderson

Featured in the post – Andrew Weisblum

The Descendants

Directed by Alexander Payne

Featured in the post – Kevin Tent, Mindy Elliott

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Directed by David Fincher

Featured in the post – Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter, Tyler Nelson

Hugo

Directed by Martin Scorsese

Featured in the post – Rob Legato, Thelma Schoonmaker

My Fair Lidy

Directed by Ralph Clemente

Featured in the post – Oliver Peters

Higher Ground

Directed by Vera Farmiga

Featured in the post – Colleen Sharp, Jeremy Newmark

127 Hours

Directed by Danny Boyle

Featured in the post – Jon Harris, Tamsin Jeffrey

The Social Network

Directed by David Fincher

Featured in the post – Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter, Michael Cioni, Tyler Nelson

Waking Sleeping Beauty

Directed by Don Hahn

Featured in the post – Vartan Nazarian, John Ryan, Ellen Keneshea

Casino Jack (documentary)

Directed by Alex Gibney

Featured in the post – Allison Ellwood

Tetro

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola

Featured in the post – Walter Murch

Scare Zone

Directed by Jon Binkowski

Featured in the post – Oliver Peters

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Directed by David Fincher

Featured in the post – Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter

Blindsided (documentary)

Directed by Talia Osteen

Featured in the post – Oliver Peters

Encounters at the End of the World

Directed by Werner Herzog

Featured in the post – Brian Hutchings

The Dark Knight

Directed by Chris Nolan

Featured in the post – Lee Smith

Shine A Light

Directed by Martin Scorsese

Featured in the post – David Tedeschi, Rob Legato

Sweeney Todd

Directed by Tim Burton

Featured in the post – Chris Lebenzon

Runnin’ Down A Dream

Directed by Peter Bogdanovich

Featured in the post – Mary Ann McClure

No Country For Old Men

Directed by Ethan and Joel Coen

Featured in the post – Ethan and Joel Coen

Youth Without Youth

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola

Featured in the post – Walter Murch, Sean Cullen

In the Valley of Elah

Directed by Paul Haggis

Featured in the post – Jo Francis

The Bourne Ultimatum

Directed by Paul Greengrass

Featured in the post – Chris Rouse

Charlie Bartlett

Directed by Jon Poll

Featured in the post – Jon Poll

Ratatouille

Directed by Brad Bird

Featured in the post – Darren Holmes

The Closer (TNT television)

Featured in the post – Eli Nilsen

Hot Fuzz

Directed by Edgar Wright

Featured in the post – Chris Dickens

Death To The Tinman

Directed byRay Tintori

Featured in the post – Ray Tintori, Par Parekh

Year of the Dog

Directed by Mike White

Featured in the post – Dody Dorn

Zodiac

Directed by David Fincher

Featured in the post – Angus Wall

The War Tapes

Directed by Deborah Scranton

Featured in the post – Steve James

Waist Deep

Directed by Vondie Curtis Hall

Featured in the post – Teri Shropshire

Crash

Directed by Paul Haggis

Featured in the post – Hughes Winborne

American Hardcore

Directed by Paul Rachman

Featured in the post – Paul Rachman

The Way Back Home

Directed by Reza Badiyi

Featured in the post – Oliver Peters

Jarhead

Directed by Sam Mendes

Featured in the post – Walter Murch, Sean Cullen

Chasing Ghosts

Directed by Kyle Jackson

Featured in the post – Kyle Jackson

The Aviator

Directed by Martin Scorsese

Featured in the post – Ron Ames, Rob Legato

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