The Rough Cut

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Minari Feb 15, 2021

Show notes

Editor, Harry Yoon ACE

Minari editor, Harry Yoon ACE joins The Rough Cut to tell us about cutting this amazing movie from Korean American writer and director, Lee Isaac Chung.

Minari is a semi-autobiographical take on Chung's upbringing and tells the story a family of South Korean immigrants who try to make it in rural America during the 1980s. Jacob Yi, the father played by Steven Yeun, dreams of a better life for himself and his family than just working as a chicken sexer, so he moves his wife and two young children from California to Arkansas to make that dream a reality. As you would imagine, they face a few challenges following that dream and those challenges and how the Yi family meets them, is what makes the film so captivating. On top of that, the performances across the board are just fantastic.

Minari had its world premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, winning both the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and the U.S. Dramatic Audience Award. Not only that It was named one of the ten best films of 2020 by the American Film Institute and the National Board of Review. Not too shabby.

We first caught up with Harry when he was working alongside editor Tom Cross on the Damien Chazelle film, First Man. It was obvious then that Harry was someone to watch and there were big moments ahead for him. Minari is, without question, a big moment for Harry.

Editing Minari

In our discussion with Minari editor, Harry Yoon ACE we talk about:

Getting ready for Sundance and the experience of having a hit film there
Editing a film largely spoken in Korean, but working with a script written in English
His working relationship with writer/director Lee Isaac Chung
Operating under a tight budget but on a film you believe in
The freedom great performances give you to stay with wide shots

The Credits

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Promising Young Woman Feb 08, 2021

Show notes

Editor, Fred Thoraval

Promising Young Woman editor, Fred Thoraval could make a claim to knowing a thing or two about editing movies about revenge. Taking a quick glance at his IMDB page not only reveals revenge tales like Unforgettable and Peppermint, but also the Liam Neeson classic...Taken. But in talking to Fred we meet an editor who readily embraces all kinds of storytelling; which comes in handy with Promising Young Woman as that film gracefully blends multiple genres at once.

Editing Promising Young Woman

In our discussion with Promising Young Woman editor, Fred Thoraval we talk about:

Building the movie around a music playlist from director Emerald Fennell
Balancing the tonal shifts between mystery, horror and romantic comedy
The differences between men and women directors
Literally slowing down time to slow down time

The Credits

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One Night in Miami Feb 01, 2021

Show notes

Editor, Tariq Anwar

One Night in Miami editor, Tariq Anwar has a career that spans over fifty years and features such memorable films as American Beauty and The King's Speech. For his latest movie, Tariq collaborated with actor and first time director Regina King to turn Kemp Powers' play into a critically acclaimed film that's currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video. With such an extensive resume, it should come as no surprise that this isn't even the first time Tariq has worked with a director who is also an actor. During the podcast Tariq recounts his time working with Robert DeNiro on The Good Shepherd. Despite being such a celebrated and formidable actor, DeNiro proved to be a humble and collaborative director who even followed Tariq's advice for reshooting a scene because the actor's eye line was off.

Editing One Night in Miami

In our discussion with One Night in Miami editor, Tariq Anwar we talk about:

Convincing Director, Regina King to let him do temp music
The skills and processes from cutting film that still hold up in the digital world
Blocking scenes in tight spaces so that the editor always has something to work with
The importance of an editor being uninhibited and working without fear
Building smooth transitions between scenes
His low success rate in job interviews

The Credits

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Sound of Metal Jan 25, 2021

Show notes

Editor - Mikkel E.G. Nielsen, Supervising Sound Editor - Nicolas Becker

Sound of Metal editor Mikkel E.G. Nielsen and Supervising Sound Editor Nicolas Becker took the aspects of collaboration between picture and sound to new levels for director Darius Marder's narrative feature debut. Despite being a scripted film, the movie has a strong documentary style and an innovative approach to immersing the audience into the experience of a man coming to grips with the loss of his hearing. Debuting at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Sound of Metal has been winning over critics and audiences with this "radically organic" approach to storytelling. The film is currently available to watch on Amazon Prime Video.

Editor Mikkel Nielsen was brought up on Danish documentary films and had previously made a name for himself on such projects as Beasts of No Nation. For Sound of Metal, he implored director Darius Marder to give him some room to do an assembly of the film near the end of production without distraction or interruption. Meanwhile, Supervising Sound Editor Nicolas Becker, who had previous experience working with the sound of silence on the film, Gravity, jumped right in on production; capturing and developing the sounds that would create the world of drummer Ruben Stone's decaying hearing and define the Sound of Metal.

Making Sound of Metal

In our discussion with Sound of Metal editor Mikkel E.G. Nielsen and Supervising Sound Editor Nicolas Becker we talk about:

Waiting until late in production to start an assembly cut
Creating a visual and auditory language for a film
Manipulating sound to awaken the senses of the audience
Working in stereo to stay portable and show that less is more
Shooting on film to "up the game" of the cast and crew

The Credits

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Borat - Subsequent Moviefilm Jan 18, 2021

Show notes

Editors - Craig Alpert ACE, James Thomas, Michael Giambra

Borat - Subsequent Moviefilm editors; Craig Alpert ACE, James Thomas and Mike Giambra drop in on this episode of The Rough Cut to talk about bringing Sacha Baron Cohen's most notorious character back in 2020. Although Cohen had stated he was retiring his Borat character back in 2007, largely due to the fact that everybody now knows who Borat is and that it would be difficult to pull off the same feat he accomplished in the original film, current geopolitical events dictated that the world needed Borat once again.

The main question is, how do you make this film happen in secret AND during a global pandemic? For one thing, you start with three talented and experienced editors; ones who are both familiar with Sacha and his storytelling sensibilities, but who also have a proven track record in comedic filmmaking. Craig Alpert ACE not only logged some hours on the original "Borat" movie, but also has films such as Knocked Up, Pineapple Express and Deadpool 2 under his belt. Editor James Thomas goes all the way back with Sacha to the classic British comedy series, The 11 O'Clock Show, where characters like Borat and Ali G were born, and James would continue to be a mainstay on Sacha's work from them on. Rounding out the team, Michael Giambra brought his formidable editorial skills in comedy and docu-style storytelling from his experiences on Nathan For You, The Eric Andre Show, Kroll Show and Baskets.

Editing Borat - Subsequent Moviefilm

In our discussion with Borat - Subsequent Moviefilm editors; Craig Alpert ACE, James Thomas and Mike Giambra, we talk about:

When then idea for bring Borat back came about and working in secrecy
Closing the cutting rooms and their methods for going remote in the pandemic
How the story of the film evolved alongside politics and the pandemic
Balancing the workload amongst multiple editors
How crucial transcriptions are for finding footage
Cutting docu-style "man on the street" scenes vs scripted
The benefit of doing old school "KEM" string outs
Having fun temping Borat's voice

The Credits

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News of the World Jan 11, 2021

Show notes

Editor, William Goldenberg ACE

News of the World editor, William Goldenberg ACE ("Billy" to his friends), joins The Rough Cut to discuss his new film with director Paul Greengrass. News of the World is the second film Billy has done with Paul, their first being the film 22 July. Based on a book of the same name by author Paulette Jiles, News of the World follows Captain Jefferson Kidd (played by Tom Hanks), a Civil War veteran who now makes a living traveling the American south reading newspapers to townsfolk for ten cents a head. During his travels, Kidd finds a young girl who was captured by a Native American tribe as an infant and takes it upon himself to return her to her last remaining family.

A highly accomplished editor, Billy has been nominated for an OSCAR® a total of five times; The Insider, Seabiscuit, The Imitation Game, Zero Dark Thirty and Argo. The latter two nominations came on the same year, with Billy ultimately winning for Argo, directed by Ben Affleck. The two also worked together on Live By Night and Gone Baby Gone.

Editing News of the World

In our discussion with News of the World editor William Goldenberg ACE, we talk about:

Working with different assistants in different locations
How to change the audience's alignment with the characters through editing
How to create character arcs while cutting action scenes
Why everyone just wants to hear about his time on The Breakfast Club
Learning at the hands of editing legends, Dede Allen and Michael Khan
Memories of working with comedian-turned-director Richard Pryor on his autobiographical film

The Credits

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Wonder Woman 1984 Jan 04, 2021

Show notes

Editor, Richard Pearson ACE

Wonder Woman 1984 editor, Richard Pearson ACE checks in on this episode of The Rough Cut to share his experience cutting Patty Jenkins' new super hero blockbuster. Rick's no stranger to the DC Extended Universe or the Marvel Cinematic Universe either for that matter. Rick co-edited the much discussed Justice League and also cut Iron Man 2 alongside Rough Cut "three-timer" Dan Lebental.

Rick also has plenty of experience doing sequels with other big franchises, cutting Men In Black 2, Quantum of Solace and The Bourne Supremacy. His name can also be found on monster movies like, Godzilla: King of Monsters and Kong: Skull Island.

In 2007 he was nominated for an OSCAR® for his work on United 93, so you know he can deliver the goods with historical dramas. And if it's comedy you're after, he's got those too, with his very first feature being Bowfinger, directed by Frank Oz, written by and starring Steve Martin and co-starring Eddie Murphy.

Rick is currently working at home (in his adult son's old bedroom) on his next feature.

Editing Wonder Woman 1984

In our discussion with Wonder Woman 1984 editor Richard Pearson ACE, we talk about:

His collaborative process with directory Patty Jenkins and her "hands off" approach during production
Having two opening sequences for the film
His system for maintaining multiple sequence versions and doing "beauty contests"
Playing in the visual effects sandbox to create storytelling beats
Having different assistants in different locations
The benefits of an editor visiting the set

The Credits

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The Midnight Sky Dec 28, 2020

Show notes

Editor, Stephen Mirrione ACE

The Midnight Sky editor, Stephen Mirrione ACE has spent the past twenty-five years building an impressive body of work. Unlike many editors who begin their journey into post production as assistants, Stephen made a name for himself right away as an editor in the indie film world. His work with directors Doug Liman (Getting in, Swingers, Go) and Jill Sprecher (Clockwatchers, Thirteen Conversations About One Thing) quickly established Stephen as a creative force to be reckoned with in the editing room.

Soon after Stephen would meet a director who would have a significant impact on Mr. Mirrione's career...Steven Soderbergh. Their time together would begin with the film Traffic. This would not only be the first of Stephen's three Oscar nominations, but also his first Oscar win. Following Traffic, Stephen would take on the duties of editing Soderbergh's "Ocean's" films, starring an actor that would eventually become a prominent director in his own right, George Clooney.

When Clooney began looking for an editor for his first project, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Soderbergh recommended Mirrione. The creative partnership between Clooney and Mirrione currently spans over eighteen years and encompasses seven feature films, culminating with their latest effort, The Midnight Sky. Not one to rest on his laurels too long, over that same time period Mirrione would also edit five of Alejandro G. Iñárritu's films (21 Grams, Babel, Biutiful, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) and The Revenant).

Editing The Midnight Sky

In our discussion with The Midnight Sky editor Stephen Mirrione ACE, we talk about:

How Stephen's collaborative workflow with George Clooney has evolved over the past eighteen years
Knowing how and when to offer objective opinions
Putting together the tools and the team for a film
The challenge of screenings and reshoots in a "pandemic post" workflow
Balancing the pacing of films featuring lots of quiet moments

The Credits

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Hear from Stephen's assistant editors, Patrick J Smith and Chelsea Dinsdale

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Hillbilly Elegy Dec 21, 2020

Show notes

Hillbilly Elegy editor James Wilcox, ACE joins the Rough Cut to talk about cutting Ron Howard's new film. James first collaborated with Howard on the series, Genius, and received an ACE Eddie award for his work on the episode, "Einstein - Chapter 1". Unlike most feature editors who started their journey in post as an assistant, James actually started out as an editor, but working in news and sports. This experience proved invaluable to him later in his career when he started cutting scripted shows and features.

The Crew

James D. Wilcox, ACE - Genius "Einstein - Episode 1", Hawaii 5-0, CSI - Miami, My Wife and Kids

The Coverage

Using the book as a reference for adding voice over
How editing news can help you with cutting scripted features
Acting classes for editors
The different approaches to editing film vs tv
Falling in and out of love with temp mixes
Modulating masterful performances

The Credits

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Rise of the Assistants: Ep1 Dec 14, 2020

Show notes

In this episode of The Rough Cut, we debut the first in our series of podcasts celebrating the all too often unsung heroes of post production, the assistants! Assistant editing in film and television can be a demanding, but crucial first step in an editor's journey. On hand are three very talented and experienced assistants who share their insights, advice and experiences from the cutting room.

The Crew

Patrick J. Smith - Top Gun: Maverick, The Revenant, Zero Dark Thirty

Anna Terebelo - Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Helstrom, Grace and Frankie

Chelsea Dinsdale - Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Ocean's Eight, Suburbicon

The Coverage