Rez Ball
The Rough Cut
Editor - Jessica Baclesse REZ BALL editor, Jessica Baclesse says she got the job for the film through a chance encounter with a not-so-stranger across a crowded room. Random or not, Jess already had plenty of editing experience under her belt, including time logged cutting a big sports movie with Michael B. Jordan's directorial debut, CREED III (2023). REZ BALL was directed by Sydney Freeland and co-written by Freeland and Sterlin Harjo (RESERVATION DOGS). It tells the story of the Chuska Warriors, a Native American high school basketball team from New Mexico who, after losing...
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TRC Book Club - The Documentarian
The Rough Cut
The Documentarian - Roger Nygard, ACE Roger Nygard's The Documentarian is the ultimate go-to source for making and selling documentaries, answering every question and containing crucial strategies every filmmaker needs to know to succeed as a documentarian. Included are insights from experts and award-winning documentary filmmakers such as Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth), Liz Garbus (Ghosts of Abu Ghraib), Rachel Grady (Jesus Camp), Freida Lee Mock (Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision), Errol Morris (The Fog of War), Sam Pollard (4 Little Girls), Michael Tollin (The Last Dance), Frederick...
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TRC Book Club - Art of the Cut: Vol II
The Rough Cut
Editor and Author - Steve Hullfish, ACE This is the second volume of the widely acclaimed Art of the Cut book published in 2017. This follow-up text expands on its predecessor with wisdom from more than 360 interviews with the world’s best editors (including nearly every Oscar winner from the last 30 years). Because editing is a highly subjective art form, and one that is critical to the success of motion picture storytelling, it requires side-by-side comparisons of the many techniques and solutions used by a wide range of editors from around the world. That is why this book...
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Alien: Romulus
The Rough Cut
Jake Roberts ACE, Will Files, Polly McKinnon and Lee Gilmore Although the ALIEN: ROMULUS postproduction team of Jake Roberts ACE, Will Files, Polly McKinnon and Lee Gilmore came into this project with a wealth of knowledge and experience amongst them, they still learned a thing or two from director Fede Álvarez, including Fede's not-so-secret formula for jump scares, as well as the notion that clear dialogue isn't always as important as gripping action. Plus, they reveal the hidden intent of Álvarez to split ALIEN and ALIENS into the two sides of the REMUS/ROMULUS space station. ALIEN:...
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Furiosa
The Rough Cut
Editor - Eliot Knapman FURIOSA editor Eliot Knapman is no stranger to the post-apocalyptic postproduction of a Mad Max movie, having previously worked as ACE editor Margaret "Margie" Sixel's second assistant on MAD MAX: FURY ROAD. For director George Miller's latest film in the franchise, not only was Eliot tapped to be co-editor with Sixel, but was there on set with Miller throughout production doing the first assembly under what had to be fun, but arduous, conditions. FURIOSA is the fifth installment in Miller's Mad Max franchise, and the first not focused on series...
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Deadpool & Wolverine
The Rough Cut
Editors Dean Zimmerman ACE and Shane Reid DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE editors, Dean Zimmerman ACE and Shane Reid are the "buddies" in the cutting room of what is shaping up to be the biggest, R-rated buddy movie of all time. Zimmerman joined this film with two other Shawn Levy / Ryan Reynolds films to his credit, but it would be Mrs. Pool (Blake Lively) who would be Shane Reid's connection into the "Merc With a Mouth" franchise. Deadpool's peaceful existence comes crashing down in DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE when the Time Variance Authority recruits him to help safeguard the multiverse. ...
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Twisters
The Rough Cut
Editor - Terilyn A. Shropshire, ACE TWISTERS editor Terilyn Shropshire has more than a few action movies under her belt, but those films mostly featured action in the style of man (or woman) vs. man; films like THE OLD GUARD and THE WOMAN KING. This time Teri takes on Mother Nature in a film where the visual effects are front and center in the set pieces. A standalone "spiritual" sequel to TWISTER (1996), TWISTERS tells the story of scientist and storm chaser, Kate Cooper. Haunted by a devastating encounter with a tornado, Kate gets lured back to the open plains by her friend,...
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Clipped
The Rough Cut
Editors - Susy Benaim and Todd Downing, ACE CLIPPED editors Susy Benaim and Todd Downing are no strangers to telling true stories about real-life characters, compelling and complicated real-life characters. Those storytelling skills were put to the test for CLIPPED, a sordid soap opera about the day of reckoning for one of the NBA's most notorious owners. Created by showrunner Gina Welch and based on the ESPN 30 for 30 podcast The Sterling Affairs, CLIPPED focuses on the downfall of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling (Ed O'Neill), amid the team's drive to win a...
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Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F
The Rough Cut
Editor - Dan Lebental ACE BEVERLY HILLS COP: AXEL F editor Dan Lebental not only took on the daunting task of bringing back a beloved character that audiences haven't seen in thirty years, but he did it with one hand. The other was working simultaneously on another Bruckheimer blockbuster, BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE. With the help of his long-time assistant, Dawn Michelle King, and his trusty "embedded sound design" workflow, Dan was able to pull off making both films in fine style. BEVERLY HILLS COP: AXEL F sees the titular hero return to Beverly Hills to aid his adult daughter after...
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The Sympathizer
The Rough Cut
Editor - Viks Patel THE SYMPATHIZER editor Viks Patel was a fan of director Park Chan-wook long before they ever teamed up to work on their new MAX series. But unbeknownst to Viks, the pair had actually worked together previously, in a sense, on SNOWPIERCER (2020). Viks edited the pilot for the series which Director Park exec produced. Back together again on THE SYMPATHIZER, the two joined creative forces to bring Viet Thanh Nguyen's book to the small screen in a big way. Based on Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Sympathizer is an espionage thriller and...
info_outlineEditor - Jon Poll
THE COLOR PURPLE editor Jon Poll was sure they had the wrong guy when his agent told him they were interested in having him come aboard as the editor. He even joked they should probably call WHIPLASH and LA LA LAND editor, Tom Cross ACE. While musicals were not necessarily a big part of Jon's background coming into the project, no one who sees THE COLOR PURPLE would ever question his prowess for interweaving a powerful narrative with incredible music.
THE COLOR PURPLE is a story of love and resilience, based on the novel and the Broadway musical of the same name. It is a decades-spanning tale of one woman's journey to independence. Torn apart from her sister and her children, Celie faces many hardships in life, including an abusive husband. With support from a sultry singer named Shug Avery, as well as her stand-her-ground stepdaughter, Celie ultimately finds extraordinary strength in the unbreakable bonds of a new kind of sisterhood.
Jon Poll
Jon has cut a wide array of films, from such acclaimed features as Bombshell, The Greatest Showman and 2022’s Father of the Bride, to box office hits like Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and Goldmember, Meet the Parents and its sequel, and Scary Movie 3. Poll made his feature directorial debut with the comedy drama Charlie Bartlett.
Poll and director Jay Roach are frequent collaborators on many projects. In addition to the Austin Powers sequels, Poll co-produced, edited and directed second unit on Meet the Fockers, executive produced and edited The Campaign, executive produced, edited and directed the title sequence for Dinner for Schmucks, and edited Mystery, Alaska. Poll also executive produced Judd Apatow’s The 40-Year-Old Virgin. His editing credits include the films Forever Young and Death to Smoochy. Poll directed, edited and co-produced on the HBO series The Brink as well.
A graduate of USC’s Cinema school with a degree in film production, Poll resides in Los Angeles with Julia, his charming and lovely wife of 400 years.
Editing THE COLOR PURPLE
In our discussion with THE COLOR PURPLE editor Jon Poll, we talk about:
- The reason to remake a movie
- Paging Tom Cross
- Making a musical vs a drama with music
- Watching the movie before making a single cut
- Getting real dancers to do the dance foley
The Credits
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