Editors Make The Cut At ACE Eddie Awards

What do an animated dragon and a hard-luck fighter from Lowell, Massachusetts have in common?  They were characters whose stories were enhanced by editors nominated at the American Cinema Editors “Eddie” Awards. 

Prior to the awards ceremony which honored editors in categories including Dramatic Feature Film, Comedy or Musical Feature Film, Animated Feature Film, Commercial Television, Non-Commercial Television, Reality Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture for Television, and Documentary, 411 Publishing had the opportunity to speak with the editing team behind the animated feature “How to Train Your Dragon,” Maryann Brandon, A.C.E. and Darren T. Holmes, A.C.E.

411 Publishing:  “How to Train Your Dragon” has been doing incredibly well.  How do you feel being part of a movie that has been recognized for its 3D production, animation, and story?

Maryann Brandon: I’m incredilbly proud of it. I think it was an incredible film.  People have come up to me to tell me how much they enjoyed it and how surprised they were.  It makes it really fun to be involved in a project like that.

Darren T. Holmes:  It’s a real reward when people come up and tell you how much they loved it, and how much their children loved it.  Those are the ones that make me feel good about having worked so hard on a story.

411 Publishing:  In regards to editing in animation, are you given extra footage to work with?

Brandon: There are no extra frames in animation.  Everything is an additive process, it is not a subtractive process.

Holmes: It’s kind of the reverse; instead of having all this extra coverage to cull down to the final best pieces, you have ideas and everybody gets to throw their best ideas into the mix.  We then have to pick and try to make sure that they all fit together.  We get to ask for coverage if we need it – there are artists that constantly draw new poses for the scenes.  There are a lot of changes that happen to the dialogue as we continue to go through the process.

M: It’s great because you are involved from day one with the blueprint of the film.  We get to say “If you want this scene to work and you want it to be exciting and have a lot of energy, these are the shots you will need, and this is the way we see it going.”

For editor Pamela Martin, being asked to edit “The Fighter” provided a great opportunity to work with an old friend and edit the type of film she’s normally not asked to edit.

“David Russell and I cut our very first movie together, seventeen to eighteen years ago.  And he kind of just reached me out of the blue, he called me up on my cell phone and said ‘Would you like to cut my next movie?’ and I was honored and floored.  I asked him to show me the script.  He was still reworking it at the time, so I read half the script and I just loved it.  I was very excited to be able to work on a drama since I’ve primarily worked on dark comedy.  And I was excited to work on a sports film.  Women don’t get those opportunities to often.  So I was excited about it!”

Below is a list of the winners of this year’s ACE Eddie Awards:

Best Edited Feature Film – Drama

“The Social Network” – Angus Wall, A.C.E. and Kirk Baxter

Best Edited Feature Film – Comedy or Musical

“Alice in Wonderland” – Ghris Lebenzon, A.C.E.

Best Edited Feature Film – Animated

“Toy Story 3” – Ken Schretzmann and Lee Unkrich, A.C.E.

Best Edited One-Hour Series for Commercial Television

“The Walking Dead: Days Gone Bye” – Hunter Via

Best Edited One Hour Series for Non-Commercial Television

“Treme: Do You Know What It Means” – Kate Sanford, A.C.E. and Alexander Hall

Best Edited  Half –Hour Series for Television

“Modern Family: Family Portrait” – Jonathan Schwartz

Best Edited Miniseries or Motion Picture for Television

“Temple Grandin” – Leo Trombetta, A.C.E.

Best Edited Reality Series

“If You Really Knew Me: Colusa High” – Bob Goubeaux, Jeremy Gantz, Hilary Scratch, Ken Yankee, Mark S. Andrew, A.C.E., Heather Miglin, John Skaare and Paul J. Coyne

Best Edited Documentary

“Exit Through the Gift Shop” – Tom Fulford and Chris King

To see additional interviews from the ACE Eddie Awards, please visit our Facebook page:

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