TOP Film Editors
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Thelma Schoonmaker was born on 3 January 1940 in Algiers, Algeria. She is an editor and producer, known for The Departed (2006), Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) and The Irishman (2019). She was previously married to Michael Powell.- Editor
- Editorial Department
- Cinematographer
Michael Kahn was born on 8 December 1935 in New York City, New York, USA. He is an editor and cinematographer, known for West Side Story (2021), Jurassic Park (1993) and Minority Report (2002).- Editor
- Editorial Department
- Producer
Though he's cut celluloid for some of the best in the business, chances are many film lovers wouldn't even recognize the name Pietro Scalia in a lineup of Hollywood's best film editors. Born in Sicily in 1960, Scalia resided in Switzerland before heading to Los Angeles to continue his education. After receiving his M.F.A. in Film and Theater Arts from U.C.L.A. in 1985, Scalia began his career as an assistant editor to Oliver Stone on such features as Wall Street (1987) and Talk Radio (1988). Later coming into his own with such films as JFK (1991) (for which he received a Best Editing Oscar) and Sam Raimi's The Quick and the Dead (1995), Scalia continued to work on such high-profile films as Stealing Beauty (1996) and G.I. Jane (1997). Scalia also received Best Editor Oscar nominations for Good Will Hunting (1997) and Gladiator (2000), though he would have to wait until the following year for his next win at the Oscars, as he received the Best Editing Award for director Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down (2001).- Editor
- Editorial Department
- Producer
Chris Lebenzon's career as an editor has spanned four decades and genres from action to drama, fantasy, musicals, comedy, and animation. He is known for his longtime collaborations with director Tim Burton and producer Jerry Bruckheimer. He has earned accolades including Oscar nominations for the iconic classic Top Gun (1986) and submarine thriller Crimson Tide (1995). He won American Cinema Editors' Eddie Awards for Tim Burton's adaptation of the musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) and live action fantasy, Alice in Wonderland (2010). The films he has edited have grossed over 13 billion dollars worldwide.
With Burton, he has edited classic films, such as: Batman Returns (1992), Ed Wood (1994), Big Fish (2003), and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005). Additionally, he has worked on stop- motion animated films such as Frankenweenie (2012), Corpse Bride 2005), and the holiday classic The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), for which he was consulting editor.
With producer Jerry Bruckheimer and the late Tony Scott he has also edited: Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), Days of Thunder (1990), and Enemy of the State (1998).
Moreover, he edited over 12 films with Jerry Bruckheimer: this included Dominic Sena's Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000), Simon West's Con Air (1997), Michael Bay's Armageddon (1998), Pearl Harbor (2001), and Joseph Kosinski's Top Gun: Maverick (2022) as the additional editor.
Lebenzon's credits also include John Hughes' Weird Science (1985), Martin Brest's Midnight Run (1988), Disney's Maleficent (2014), and Ruben Fleisher's Uncharted (2022).- Editor
- Editorial Department
- Producer
Arthur Robert "Artie" Schmidt began in films as assistant editor to Dede Allen and Jim Clark. His father, Arthur P. Schmidt, had also been a distinguished veteran in the field of film editing, acclaimed for his collaborations with Billy Wilder on masterpieces like Sunset Boulevard (1950) and Some Like It Hot (1959). He was somehow disparaging about his son following in his footsteps. Schmidt Jr. instead attended Santa Clara University, graduated with a Bachelor in English and later went on to teach English in Spain. However, following his father's sudden death from a heart attack in 1965, he was recruited by Paramount as an apprentice, and, in 1970, began his professional career as assistant editor. Five years later, he was tasked to cut the running sequences in John Schlesinger's stylish thriller Marathon Man (1976) in the capacity of associate editor under the auspices of his mentor Jim Clark. From there, he progressed to fully-fledged editor in 1977.
Schmidt varied his editing methodology according to each individual project. His motto was "I always try to let the film and story tell me where to go next." Arguably his best work was for the director Robert Zemeckis. This included both films for which he won Best Editing Oscars, Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) and Forrest Gump (1994), as well as the Back to the Future (1985) trilogy and the black comedy Death Becomes Her (1992). Who Framed Roger Rabbit may well have constituted his toughest career challenge as it required a flawless blending of hand-drawn animation with live action scenes. Schmidt said about his successful collaboration with Zemeckis in a 2014 interview "He's wonderful directing actors and great in the editing room. We always seemed to be in sync."
Schmidt's other contributions of note have included Ruthless People (1986), The Last of the Mohicans (1992) and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003). In 2009, he was awarded the American Cinema Editors Career Achievement Award, fittingly presented to him by Robert Zemeckis.- Editor
- Producer
- Sound Department
Sally Menke was born on 17 December 1953 in Mineola, New York, USA. She was an editor and producer, known for Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003), Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004) and Inglourious Basterds (2009). She was married to Dean Parisot. She died on 27 September 2010 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Sound Department
- Editor
- Editorial Department
Walter Murch has been editing sound in Hollywood since starting on Francis Ford Coppola's film The Rain People (1969). He edited sound on American Graffiti (1973) and The Godfather Part II (1974), won his first Academy Award nomination for The Conversation (1974), won his first Oscar for Apocalypse Now (1979), and won an unprecedented double Oscar for Best Sound and Best Film Editing for his work on The English Patient (1996). Most recently he helped reconstruct Touch of Evil (1958) to Orson Welles' original notes, and edited The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999). Mr. Murch was, along with George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola, a founding member of northern California cinema. Mr. Murch has directed --Return to Oz (1985) -- and longs to do so again, but as an editor and sound man he is one of the few universally acknowledged masters in his field. For his work on the film "Apocalypse Now (1979)", Walter coined the term "sound designer", and along with colleagues such as Ben Burtt, helped to elevate the art and impact of film sound to a new level.- Editor
- Editorial Department
- Producer
Fred Raskin was born on 26 September 1973 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He is an editor and producer, known for Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and Fast Five (2011).- Editor
- Editorial Department
- Additional Crew
- Editor
- Editorial Department
- Additional Crew
- Editor
- Producer
- Editorial Department
Bob Ducsay is known for Knives Out (2019), Glass Onion (2022) and Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017). He was previously married to Gabrielle Ducsay.- Editor
- Sound Department
- Editorial Department
Lee Smith was born in 1960 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He is an editor, known for Inception (2010), Dunkirk (2017) and The Dark Knight (2008). He is married to Kimberly.- Editor
- Editorial Department
- Camera and Electrical Department
Sidney Wolinsky was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He is known for The Shape of Water (2017), The Sopranos (1999) and Howard the Duck (1986).- Art Department
- Production Designer
- Art Director
Veteran production designer Albert Brenner has served as production designer or art director on 57 films through four decades, has received five Academy Award® nominations and the Art Directors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award. Mr. Brenner's nominations were for Beaches (1989), 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984), California Suite (1978), The Turning Point (1977), and The Sunshine Boys (1975), and nearly half of his feature film credits are with directors he worked with numerous times. He designed five films for Herbert Ross, including The Sunshine Boys, The Goodbye Girl, California Suite, I Ought to be in Pictures and The Turning Point. He designed more than five films for Garry Marshall including Frankie & Johnny, Princess Diaries II, Georgia Rule, Pretty Woman and Beaches. He also designed four features for Peter Hyams, including Capricorn One, Peeper, The Presidio and Running Scared. His collaboration with Sidney Lumet yielded Fail-Safe and The Morning After. He has also worked with Mel Brooks, Michael Crichton, Billy Crystal (for his directorial debut Mr. Saturday Night), Ron Howard, John Herzfeld and Robert Mulligan.
Born and reared in Brooklyn, Albert studied scenic design for the theater and after graduation, worked in window display for major New York department stores. After serving as an Air Force Gunner during World War II, he attended Yale Drama School of Graduate Studies as a scenic design major. Following that he taught scenic design, costume design and technical theater at the University of Kansas City in Missouri before returning to New York. While designing for the stage, he also worked on live television for the CBS and ABC networks. Albert was involved with many of the classic shows from the Golden Age of television. He worked on Car 54, Where Are You? and The Phil Silvers Show. After his experiences in theater and television, Albert segued into film as an assistant to two-time Oscar® winner Richard Sylbert, and worked with him on The Pawnbroker and with Production Designer Harry Horner on The Hustler, which won an Oscar® for Black-and-White Art Direction.
Albert Brenner's work as a production designer could be viewed as a cornucopia of motion picture styles and genres. He has designed many comedies in addition to The Sunshine Boys including Silent Movie; westerns Monte Walsh, The Legend of the Lone Ranger and Missouri Breaks; thrillers such as Coma, Bullitt, and Point Blank; sci-fi films Capricorn One and 2010: The Year We Make Contact; and dramas Scarecrow, The Morning After, Backdraft and many others.