By Kristin Marguerite Doidge
The 76th Annual ACE Eddie Awards presented by American Cinema Editors (ACE) brought together a star-studded group of artists—including numerous MPEG members—as they announced this year’s winners at UCLA’s Royce Hall on February 27 in Los Angeles. The annual awards show recognized outstanding editing in 14 categories of film, television, documentaries, and for the first time in ACE Eddies history, shorts and digital content.
The ACE Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award, recognizing a filmmaker who exemplifies distinguished achievement in the art and business of film, was presented to two-time Oscar-winning filmmaker Ang Lee, while Kim Larson, managing director and head of YouTube’s Creator and Gaming team, accepted YouTube’s ACE Visionary Award. And Emmy-winning picture editor/director Arthur Forney, ACE, and Oscar-nominated picture editor Robert Leighton received ACE Career Achievement awards. Actor and comedian Asif Ali hosted and provided comic relief in between award presentations.
It was an evening that celebrated decades-long collaborations, creativity, connection, and community. Sabrina Plisco, ACE, picture editor and president of ACE, was on hand to introduce the event. She noted that last year’s wildfires in Altadena and the Pacific Palisades impacted a number of LA-based editors and led to a special tribute video called “I miss,” which was created in honor of those who suffered losses.
While pointing to the mission statement of ACE—the honorary society created in 1950 that’s committed to elevating the profile of film editing, fostering a diverse and inclusive community and educating future generations through a variety of active mentorship and scholarship programs—Plisco noted that her personal goal is to continue to help create meaningful connections for members through programs and resources from various services and committees at ACE, including the Connect-Support committee.
“Last summer, they launched a wonderful series of health and healing sessions called Summer of Support Sundays,” she said. “And one of their newest initiatives pairs editors through a coffee buddy program, connecting members who are looking for more intimate confidants and friends during what has been, let’s face it, a pretty tough time in our industry.”
The focus now, she said, is to continue to provide professionalism, respect, and dignity in the workplace—especially while supporting the next generation of editors.
With that in mind, Academy Award-winning film director Chloe Zhao, ACE, herself nominated for an Eddie this year (alongside Affonso Gonçalves, ACE) for “Hamnet,” presented the Anne V. Coates Award for Student Editing to Luis Barragan from California State University, Fullerton.
The team from “All the Empty Rooms,” a Netflix documentary about gun violence that took seven years to film and edit, won the inaugural Eddie for Best Edited Short Film.
“This award is dedicated to the memory of the four children at the heart of our film, whose lives were tragically lost in school shootings,” said picture editor Erin Casper, ACE, as she accepted the Eddie on behalf of herself, Stephen Maing, and Jeremy Medoff. “The word gun is never mentioned in our film, and this was intentional.”
On a much lighter note, the team from “Saturday Night Live: 50th Anniversary Special” won for Best Edited Variety Talk/Sketch Show or Special, while editors Matthew Shaw, ACE, and Brad Roelandt won the Eddie for Best Edited Reality Series for “Conan O’Brien Must Go.”
As Peter Jankowski, president and COO of Wolf Entertainment took the stage to give the Lifetime Achievement Award to Forney, he was joined by the actors from “Law & Order: SVU.” Jankowski explained that in his nearly 40 years of post-production work at Wolf Films, Forney has worked on a total of 132 seasons of “Law & Order” and other iconic series by Dick Wolf, which translates to 2,287 episodes of drama.
He added that Forney has helped shape the performances of over 50,000 actors and directed 42 episodes as well. “But perhaps most importantly for this room, Arthur has hired and nurtured 119 editors,” he said. “We knew deep inside he made us all look good and better at what we do—all of us. His nurturing and his eye for talent made our post-production team the best in the business.”
Forney, for his part, said, “in that dark room, you’re alone with the film for days or weeks, and you’re shaping performances. You’re finding the truth in the glance. You’re listening for rhythm, you’re turning fragments into story.”
Speaking of turning fragments into story, picture editor Mark Strand, ACE, earned the Eddie for Best Edited Drama Series for his work on “The Pitt,” the hit HBO series that shows the realities of a modern emergency room in real time, while Eric Kissack, ACE, won the Best Edited Single Camera Comedy Series Eddie for “The Studio.”
As actor/director Christopher Guest presented Leighton with the ACE Career Achievement Award, Leighton spoke about his long collaboration with the late director Rob Reiner, which started with a dinner invitation and grew into a 35-year partnership that included work on 15 acclaimed feature films, including the rock music mockumentary, “This Is Spinal Tap,” “Stand by Me,” “The Princess Bride,” and “When Harry Met Sally.” Leighton has also worked with other esteemed directors, including Guest and Nancy Meyers, whom he called “talented, creative, hilarious people.”
But as he wrapped up his speech, he started to choke up as he reflected on his enduring friendship with Reiner, saying, “Rob, I miss you, I love you. May you rest in peace,” which led to a standing ovation from the crowd.
When producer Marc Platt presented Lee with the ACE Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award, Lee said, “When you give me this award, you’re actually giving this to Tim Squyres…[he] was the first editor I interviewed and I stuck with him for 35 years.”
Lee’s films include the Oscar-winning “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “Hulk,” “Brokeback Mountain” and “Life of Pi,” the latter of which earned him the Oscar for Best Director in 2006 and 2013, respectively.
To wrap up the evening, picture editor Michael P. Shawver won the Eddie for Best Edited Feature Film (drama) for “Sinners,” while Andy Jurgensen won for Best Edited Feature Film (comedy) for “One Battle After Another,” whereupon he said: “The real secret to this job is to be kind.”
The full list of nominees and winners from this year’s Eddie Awards can be found here.
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