Last night we tweeted some teasers from our gig on the ACE Eddie Awards Red Carpet, but there were a few things we left out. Held at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, the night was a fancy affair for sure, but also a celebration of an art, that in so many ways, is invisible. As Eddie winner for “Temple Grandin” Leo Trombetta said it, “[our job] is to make sure our work doesn’t draw attention to itself,” but last night was an event meant to shine a light on the men and women who sit in small dark rooms for long long hours shaping the films that we know and love. Many of the nominees are also up for the Oscars next week, and Eddie winners have traditionally been a strong indicator of who will take home Oscar. So change those Oscar pool votes if you need to, as Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter of “The Social Network” took home the Eddie for Best Edited Feature Film (Drama) — a category whose winner has also taken home the Best Editing Oscar for the past decade.
Some of the quotes from the evening, as well as the full list of winners after the jump:
“At it’s best, editing is invisible or extremely mysterious and it’s effect is very difficult to explain, but the it is undeniable.” —Christopher Nolan accepting the ACE Golden Eddie Award.
“David shot a lot of footage as the HBO film crew and he would take the actors and sit them down on a couch and interview them. He put them in that period of time in the movie…so there’s all this wonderful material with the 7 sisters and the other characters in the film. There’s a lot of interviews that didn’t end up in the film that will be on the DVD extras. We had a hard time letting them go because I love the sisters so much…they’re a chorus you can have one without the rest!” — Pamela Martin, Oscar-nominated editor for “The Fighter” on what was left on the cutting room floor.
“When they’re pretending to have sex — the first time I assembled that scene, I couldn’t stop laughing, I thought it was really brilliant comedy.” — Susan Littenberg spills her favorite scene to edit in Eddie for Best Feature Editing (Comedy) nominee “Easy A.”
“This movie’s really all about performance, so we looked for a performance that was bringing the maximum amount of….meaning behind the words that the people are saying, so having a plethora of takes, angles just all contributed to us being able to do that better, to make sure that we cobble together the best performance possible.” — Angus Wall, who along with co-editor Kirk Baxter, won Best Edited Feature (Drama) for their work on “The Social Network.”
“I’m never quite sure what movie we’re making, but it always becomes clear by that final print.” — Chris Lebenzon, winner for Best Edited Feature (Comedy) for “Alice in Wonderland” jokes about working with frequent collaborator Tim Burton.
“Like my life flashing before my eyes.” — Kirk Baxter, the final acceptance speech of the night, sums up the evening nicely by giving props to the editors who created the evening’s montages for Career Achievement Award winners Michael Kahn and Michael Brown (just skim either of the expansive resumes for Kahn or Brown and you’ll know why.)
And lastly, the results are in:
BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (DRAMATIC):
The Social Network
Angus Wall, A.C.E. & Kirk Baxter
BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (COMEDY OR MUSICAL):
Alice in Wonderland
Chris Lebenzon, A.C.E.
BEST EDITED ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:
Toy Story 3
Ken Schretzmann & Lee Unkrich, A.C.E.
BEST EDITED HALF-HOUR SERIES FOR TELEVISION:
Modern Family: “Family Portrait”
Jonathan Schwartz
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. & Alexander Hall
BEST EDITED MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE FOR TELEVISION:
Temple Grandin
Leo Trombetta, A.C.E.
BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY:
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Tom Fulford & Chris King
BEST EDITED REALITY SERIES:
If You Really Knew Me: “Colusa High”
Rob Goubeaux, Jeremy Gantz, Hilary Scratch, Ken Yankee, Mark S. Andrew, A.C.E., Heather Miglin, John Skaare & Paul J. Coyne
Student Competition
Ruben Jacques Sebban
A.F.I.
