Wicked: Part One
The Rough Cut
Editor, Myron Kerstein ACE WICKED: PART ONE editor, Myron Kerstein ACE finds himself in the familiar positions of both cutting a musical and also collaborating with director Jon M. Chu. This is Myron's third musical in a row, following Lin-Manuel Miranda's tick, tick Boom! (2021) and Chu's IN THE HEIGHTS (2021). Prior to IN THE HEIGHTS, Myron first cut for Chu on his film, CRAZY RICH ASIANS (2018). Adapted from the venerable Broadway smash, WICKED: PART ONE follows the journey of a young woman named Elphaba. Misunderstood and often outcast because of her green skin, Elphaba forges...
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Emilia Pérez
The Rough Cut
Editor -Juliette Welfling EMILIA PÉREZ editor Juliette Welfling took on the job of editing her first musical without knowing the rigor and precision that would be required for the job. For better or worse, neither did writer/director Jacques Audiard, himself new to the world of making a musical. It turns out, experience might be overrated, as the Netflix Oscar-hopeful has won over critics since its premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. Written and directed by Jacques Audiard, EMILIA PÉREZ is based on Audiard's opera libretto of the same name. Audiard's opera was...
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A Real Pain
The Rough Cut
Editor - Robert Nassau A REAL PAIN editor Robert Nassau might be Brooklyn's secret cinematic weapon when it comes to finding an editor who knows how to cut not-too-dark dramedies. And the seems to be what writer/director/actor Jesse Eisenberg was looking for when it came time to turn over the cutting room keys to his latest project. Premiering to much fanfare at Sundance 2024, A Real Pain is now delighting critics and audiences alike in its theatrical run. A REAL PAIN follows mismatched cousins David (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin) as they reunite for a tour...
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Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
The Rough Cut
Editor - Otto Burnham Editor Otto Burnham took on the job for SUPER/MAN: THE CHRISTOPHER REEVE STORY knowing that he wouldn't be lacking for source material on his subject. Rather, the challenge would lie in processing the countless hours of material from Reeve's work and his life to find the real superhero within. Directed by Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui, who co-wrote the script with Otto, SUPER/MAN: THE CHRISTOPHER REEVE STORY is an intimate view into the life of actor Christopher Reeve. The film chronicles his rise to stardom upon landing the role of Superman in the 1970's,...
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Joker: Folie à Deux
The Rough Cut
Editor, Jeff Groth ACE JOKER: FOLIE À DEUX editor, Jeff Groth ACE had a tough act of his own to follow, coming off of his ACE Eddie and Oscar nominated work on Todd Phillips' JOKER (2019), but follow it he did. Directed by Todd Phillips from a screenplay he co-wrote with Scott Silver, the sequel follows failed comedian Arthur Fleck as he struggles with his dual identity. While incarcerated at Arkham State Hospital as he awaits his trial, Arthur meets the love of his life, Harley Quinn. JEFF GROTH, ACE Having worked previously with Phillips on such films as THE HANGOVER III...
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Challengers
The Rough Cut
Editor - Marco Costa CHALLENGERS editor Marco Costa knew one thing going into Luca Guadagnino's recent tennis movie, and that's that Luca didn't know anything about tennis. Luca would explain to Marco that this film isn't about tennis. The incredibly kinetic action in the tennis sequences that Marco cut say otherwise. CHALLNEGERS stars ZENDAYA as Tashi Duncan, a former tennis prodigy turned coach and a force of nature who makes no apologies for her game on and off the court. Tashi is married to Art, a champion on a losing streak. Tashi’s strategy for her husband’s redemption...
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Saturday Night
The Rough Cut
Editors Nathan Orloff and Shane Reid SATURDAY NIGHT editors Nathan Orloff and Shane Reid team up for the second time in 2024 with their latest Jason Reitman / Gil Keenan project about NBC's long-running sketch comedy show. Having previously cut GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE together, the pair developed a strong working relationship that certainly came in handy when Shane had to do double duty between this project and DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE (2024). SATURDAY NIGHT is a frenetic dramatization of what happened behind the scenes during the ninety minutes leading up to the first broadcast of...
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Megalopolis
The Rough Cut
Editor - Cam McLauchlin MEGALOPOLIS editor Cam McLauchlin had no idea what was waiting for him on the other side when he knocked on Francis Ford Coppola's door. Now that Coppola's decades-in-the-making passion project has become a "surreality", McLauchlin still can't quite explain everything that took place in the making of this film. One thing is clear to Cam however, this was Francis's vision and Francis IS "Cesar Catalina". MEGALOPOLIS takes place in a somewhat alternate universe, where New York City is New Rome, and stars Adam Driver as Caesar Catalina, a brilliant artist, who...
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Industry
The Rough Cut
Editor - Kyle Traynor Although INDUSTRY editor Kyle Traynor joined the series already in progress in its sophomore season, by season three he would be given the cutting room keys to half of the season's episodes, including both the series premiere and its finale. Created by Mickey Down and Konrad Kay, INDUSTRY follows a group of young graduates competing for a limited number of available full-time employment opportunities at Pierpoint, a top investment bank in London. The graduates include Harper Stern, a Black upstate New York native who uproots her life in pursuit of success despite...
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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...
info_outlineEditors - Inbal B. Lessner ACE and Ben Kaplan
STORMY editors Inbal B. Lessner, ACE and Ben Kaplan each brought their considerable experience in unscripted storytelling to this timely and unique perspective of a woman who dominated the headlines throughout and following the presidency of Donald Trump.
Directed and produced by Sarah Gibson, STORMY follows Stormy Daniels as she navigates being a mother, artist, and advocate working hard to reinvent herself following the Stormy Daniels–Donald Trump scandal. Judd Apatow serves as an executive producer under his Apatow Productions banner.
INBAL B. LESSNER, ACE
Inbal B. Lessner, ACE is an Emmy-nominated and Eddie-winning producer and editor. Prior to her work on STORMY, Inbal was most well-known for such true crime hits as Starz' Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult (2020) and Netflix's Escaping Twin Flames (2023), both of which she co-created alongside her filmmaking partner Cecilia Peck. As executive producer, showrunner, and editor, Inbal steered both shows towards nominations for Best Edited Documentary (Non-Theatrical) at the ACE Eddie Awards, nabbing a win for the latter. She was previously Eddie-nominated for her work on the "Can We All Get Along" episode of CNN's The Nineties (2017).
Inbal has worked in the cutting rooms of directors such as Davis Guggenheim, Nancy Schwartzman, R.J. Cutler, Kelly Duane, Tricia Regan, Jeremy Simmons, and Tracy Droz Tragos, as well as Natalie Portman's feature directorial debut. A member of the AFI Conservatory faculty, she has also been a Visiting Professor of Film Editing at UNCSA Film School and is a mentor in the Karen Schmeer Diversity in the Edit Room Program.
BEN KAPLAN
A multi-award nominated documentary editor with over a decade of experience in the edit suite, Ben has worked on projects for CNN, Peacock, ABC/Hulu, Viceland and MAX. When he's not cutting docs, he's usually cutting up ingredients in the kitchen, perfecting his favorite dishes.
Editing STORMY
In our discussion with STORMY editors Inbal B. Lessner, ACE and Ben Kaplan, we talk about:
- Making the most of the Miro board
- "If you can't sum it up, you must cut it out".
- Motorboating your way to authenticity
- Deconstructing one documentary for another
- Stringing together the spine of the story
The Credits
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Watch the ACE Invisible Art - Visible Artists Panel
Hear editor Inbal B. Lessner ACE discuss cutting SEDUCED: INSIDE THE NXIVM CULT
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