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Celebrating the Best in Canadian Film-editing Talent – Lara Mazur, CCE

Celebrating the Best in Canadian Film-Editing Talent: Lara Mazur, CCE

Lara Mazur, CCE lifetime achievement recipient 2020

Over three decades, Lara Mazur has practiced her craft as an award-winning editor, garnering an Artistic Achievement Spotlight Award by the Women in Film and Television.

Apprenticing as an editor with the NFB in Winnipeg, Lara has moved between documentary and scripted stories. Lara sees her role as a collaborator, behind the scenes, weaving performances and artistry in the fabric of the story.

She has worked with many of Canada’s top directors and producers across the country, helping to bring stories with universal themes to audiences throughout the world. Some of her credits include: “DaVinci’s Inquest”, “Intelligence”, “Strange Empire”, “Daughters of the Country,” “Bordertown Café” – all receiving editing nominations.

Working on “Flashpoint”, garnered her both Gemini nominations and a DGC Award. Lara received a Genie award for editing “Suddenly Naked” and three editing nominations for “On the Farm”.

Currently, Lara is editing on SYFY’s “Van Helsing” and Netflix’s new series, “The Order.”
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Our Deepest Condolences to a Post-Production Legend: Gregor Hutchison

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DGC Award Winners 2019

DGC Award Winners 2019

2020 DGC Awards Banner Feature Image

Congratulations to our CCE members who won a DGC Award over the weekend!

BEST PICTURE EDITING – FEATURE FILM

Lara Johnston

Mouthpiece

BEST PICTURE EDITING – DRAMATIC SERIES

Wendy Hallam Martin, CCE

The Handmaid’s Tale, Episode 201, June

BEST PICTURE EDITING – COMEDY OR FAMILY SERIES

Michelle Szemberg

Northern Rescue, Episode 101, Qué Sera

BEST SOUND EDITING – COMEDY OR FAMILY SERIES

Janice Ierulli (and 7 others)

Northern Rescue, Episode 109, Wake Up

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2019 CCE Winner for LA Edit Fest Raffle – Nick Wong

CCE Winner for LA Edit Fest Raffle - Nick Wong

LA Edit Fest Raffle Winne Nick Wong

If I could summarize my experience at this year’s EditFest in a few words, it would be; amazing, educational and inspiring!

I would like to thank the CCE for this wonderful opportunity and Alison for taking care of the travel arrangements.

The hotel was conveniently located across a 24-hour grocery store and a great breakfast place (there was always a line-up there!). It was also in walking distance of Warner Bros Studios – so for future winners of Editfest, plan your visit accordingly. And best of all, the hotel provided a free shuttle that would take you anywhere within 3 miles, including the Disney studios where the event took place.

I arrived at the Walt Disney studios at 9 am at Riverside gate. I immediately recognized the current animation building across the street, the one shaped like Mickey’s hat from the Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Cool! Continuing through the Disney lot, I walked past some of the soundstages and the “Cutting” building, but when I reached the check-in and registration area, I realized that I was right in front of the original animation building! Having grown up with the old animated films, I was overcome with nostalgia.

This was where Cinderella, Bambi and Peter Pan were drawn, where Tim Burton and John Lasseter worked as young animators, and, during the shaky times of Disney animation in the 80’s, where the animators had to vacate to make room for the emerging live-action division.

Today, the halls of the building are decorated with conceptual artwork and background paintings to commemorate some of their most famous hand-drawn animated films. Outside, refreshments were served, and attendees mingled a bit before we were called into the historic main theatre for the first presentation.

It took me a while, but I eventually realized I was sitting right behind CCE president, Stephen Philipson! We got to chat for a while until we saw Paul Day looking for a seat and called him over. It was nice to catch up a little before the presentation started. 

PANEL #1

Our first panel was called “From the Cutting Room to the Red Carpet” and included panelists, Heather Capps (Portlandia), Nena Erb (Insecure), Robert Fisher Jr. (Into the Spider-Verse), Eric Kissack (The Good Place) and Cindy Mollo (Ozark), where each of them showed clips of their work and then talked about the process behind their work.

If you want to know more about the panelists, I’ve scanned the program as a pdf. Robert Fisher Jr showed two clips from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse. The first was the apartment scene where Uncle Aaron teaches Miles Morales some moves to win a girl over – the “shoulder touch”. It’s a sweet and funny bonding scene between the two characters.

The second was a montage where Miles Morales becomes Spiderman in his universe and leaps off a high-rise building.

Being a fan of the movie, I loved hearing the behind-the-scenes stories of how these scenes evolved. As it turns out, the initial cut of the apartment scene was cut fairly conventionally, using only the single CU coverage for the character’s lines. When that version was screened, the producers realized that it wasn’t getting a laugh from the audience. Robert found that the simple solution was to give the scene a little bit of breath by cutting to a wide two-shot in the middle of the exchange.
LA Edit Fest Raffle Winne Nick Wong
Nick Wong
ASSOCIATE MEMBER OF THE CANADIAN CINEMA EDITORS

And what can I say? It works, and I laugh every time I watch the scene. Next, Robert explained that the montage clip was originally scripted to be very linear, following Miles on the subway platform, going up the stairs and then seeing him on the rooftop but when the producers saw it, they felt it wasn’t working and that it was lacking something. They couldn’t quite figure out what it was, but asked Robert if there was anything he could do. The result is an energetic montage that jumps back and forth through time. When combined with the music and stunning visuals, you get something that is truly memorable.

PANEL #2

The next panel, “Reality VS. Scripted Editing: Demystifying the Difference” was probably my favourite of the whole day. It was very casual and interactive, and I loved the chemistry and witty banter that the panelists had with each other (Jamie Nelsen was hilarious!). I was also very interested in the discussion because of the common misconception that if you work in scripted, you can’t do reality and vice versa.

The presentation started with a screening of two clips. The first was from the reality series, Naked and Afraid, and follows two nude survivalists as they set up their tent and are met with a torrential downpour and flood in the middle of the night.

The second clip is an elaborate space battle sequence between the crew of The Orville and the Kaylon

The panelists then asked us what’s similar about the two clips? Answers included; they both create tension, both are telling a story through the characters POV, one person shouted “VFX budget!” (re blurring private parts in Naked & Afraid), which got a big laugh. Then we were asked, what’s different about the two scenes? One person shouted “Wardrobe!” (it might have been the same person). There were a few serious answers before the panelists finally stopped us and revealed it was a trick question.

Nick Wong

member of the Canadian Cinema Editors, Canada

The answer is: nothing. There is nothing different about the way those two clips were cut. Tom Costantino, who edited The Orville, went on to explain that original script for the sequence was two minutes and had three crashes. The final cut was seven minutes and had 11 crashes and he had to fabricate a lot of moments by creatively reusing reaction shots from different angles, a skill he learned from cutting reality and looking for any bit of usable footage. All the panelists shared incredible insight about working in both genres and really made the whole discussion relatable.

One of the audience questions regarding doing producer notes was, “Have you ever had to lock a cut that you didn’t like?” Tom’s answer was, “Yes, I call that Thursday,” which got a big laugh. Molly Shock (Naked and Afraid) shared her thoughts on this and said that if out of 1000 cuts, and there are 100 cuts you don’t like, you still have 900 cuts that you do like. That put things in a positive perspective.

Lunch was served in the cafeteria and I got a chance to talk to a few of the attendees. It was interesting to hear from a diverse group of editors and assistants in various stages of their careers from all over the U.S. One editor had just moved to L.A. a week ago from Atlanta to start a new job the Monday after EditFest!

PANEL #3

The next panel was called “Inside the Cutting Room with Bobbie O’Steen: A Conversation with Joe Walker, ACE”. I remember hearing Joe Walker speak at DGC’s Visionaries at TIFF last year, so I was excited to see him again. During the discussion, they showed some of his work on Hunger and 12 Years of Slave, but the most interesting was when they screened a progression reel of a scene from Blade Runner 2049. The scene is where Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling fight in a futuristic cabaret theatre:

We first saw a rough animatic of the scene with stiff CG models of K and Deckard. Then we saw an assembly of the live footage with roughly temped in hologram images – this got a laugh from the audience because of the crudeness of the comp. Joe Walker even joked that he was expert at temping in vfx.

But the interesting thing was the scene was quite different from the final. There were a lot more holograms and the music played constantly throughout the scene.

Joe Walker explained that the problem with the earlier version was that it felt too much like a spectacle and it didn’t match the tone of the movie. They decided to go with a different approach and in the end, built tension with silence.

They also showed a before and after progression for a scene from Widows. It was a dramatic scene with Viola Davis and Cynthia Erivo in a car with about a page of dialogue. The final sequence had absolutely no dialogue. Instead, the two characters sat in silence and exchanged a heartfelt look before Cynthia Erivo’s character exits. It was extremely effective and told the same story. The day ended with hors d’oeuvres and cocktails served right outside the main theatre. I got to chat more with Paul Day and Stephen Philipson, and fellow CCE members Christine Armstrong, Ben Allan and Gloria Tong. With more American productions making their way up north, it was great to see Canadian editors represented at events such as EditFest.

Thanks again to the CCE for making this happen! To future winners, remember to soak it all in, talk to as many people as you can, and you’ll have a blast!
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BAFTA Award Winner 2019

BAFTA Award Winner 2019

Congratulations to Pia Di Ciaula, CCE for her BAFTA win over the weekend.

Best Editing Fiction

She won for Best Editing Fiction for A Very English Scandal.

Pia is also nominated for CCE Award for A Very English Scandal and The Crown (CCE Awards May 30th, 2019).

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Global – Canada, ACE Magazine

Like ACE, Canadian Cinema Editors (CCE) – established a little more than a decade ago – is an honorary society with similar goals. With more than 400 members, CCE is also one of the editors organizations on the roster of ACE’s International Relations Committee.

Just as U.S.-based editors sometimes travel to Canada to edit shows, CCE editors sometimes come to the Southland to work. Among them is CCE President Stephen Philipson, CCE (American Gods, The Bold Type), who recently is editing Amazon series Sneaky Pete starring Giovanni Ribisi. Since he was working in L.A., we caught up during the recent ACE Holiday Party. To become a full CCE member, an editor needs to be nominated by a full member (each member may nominate up to two new full members a year).

She or he is responsible for making a case for a new member, before a committee, who may grant full membership. The committee considers the candidate mainly on their body of work as there isn’t a specific minimum hours of content requirement.

CCE members who nominate a prospective member may submit films, TV series or other work to support the application.

This differs considerably from the ACE procedure where the prospective member needs to have at least 60 months of verifiable credits and will be interviewed by the membership committee reporting to the ACE board.

CCE also has associate and student members that may participate in most of the organization’s activities and may later move up to a full membership if editing is their main trade. The group holds an EditCon (similar to ACE EditFest) each February and its annual CCE Awards in April or May.

CCE membership includes discounts to these events, as well as participation in podcasts and pub nights. Many of its members are based in production hubs such as Toronto and Vancouver, as well as Montreal, Quebec (where apart from producing content for the French Canadian market, it provides content for France and other French-speaking markets).

The CCE aims to have at least one board member in every region of Canada, not necessarily every province.

Stephen Philipson, CCE

member of the Canadian Cinema Editors, Canada

Stephen Philipson, CCE at edit suite ACE magazine article

These regions are British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, Prairie provinces (Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan), the Maritimes (New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland), and the territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut).

Though we don’t yet have any operations in the territories,” Stephen explains, adding that since there are fewer members in the Atlantic and prairie regions these members receive discounted membership. In order to involve all board members, monthly meetings are held via Skype video conference calls.

Stephen explains that he is very much interested in working with ACE on the global motion picture scene. Because there is such a close international relationship with all the productions moving almost freely from country to country and particularly between the borders of U.S. and Canada, there needs to be a tight communication between editors.

The editors unions in Canada mainly deal with labor and remuneration issues and are fragmented between the Atlantic and Pacific, where the bulk of the editors in the East are part of the DGC (Directors Guild of Canada) and in the West they’re represented by the IATSE Local 891. He also notes that editing unions are different for each province.

This fragmentation makes it even more important for CCE to unite the editing community in Canada on artistic, creative and technical issues. In light of this Stephen thinks that it is a great idea that ACE tries to do the same on a global scale, so that we can inform and learn from each other. He thinks that there will be a great interest among the CCE members to join ACE as International Affiliate members.

The Canadian domestic market motion pictures in the English as well as the French territories, produce highly skilled editors that would be eligible to become ACE International Affiliate members. Additionally, they can become full active ACE members if they meet the application requirements when their work is distributed in the U.S. Stephen is very aware of the fact that not everybody has the unique qualifications that he has to be able to straddle the international borders, having parents from both the U.S. and the U.K., as residents in Canada.

Stephen believes that it is in CCE and its members’ interest to tighten the lines of communication with editors in other countries since the film industry has already gone global a long time ago. He invites American editors and especially ACE members to contact CCE when they’re working in Canada.

CCE would like to invite them to participate in its events to share their knowledge, experience and stories.

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Canadian Screen Awards Winner 2019 – Sunday Event

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Winner of Best Editing Vancouver Short Film Festival 2019

Winner of Best Editing Vancouver Short Film Festival 2019

Jason Karman Vancouver Short Film Festival Winner 2019

The CCE were a proud sponsor for the Vancouver Short Film Festival.

We had the honour of presenting the Best Editing Award. The winner of the Editing Award was Jason Karman of the film Lionhood.

Jason Karman is a Vancouver-based screenwriter and director whose 16 short films have screened internationally at festivals including the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, Whistler Film Festival, and Telefilm Canada’s Not Short on Talent at Clermont-Ferrand.

Graduating in 2003 with honours in Cinematography from Capilano College, Jason has worked in documentaries, dramas, thrillers and dance on screen.

In 2011, Jason received the Gerry Brunet Memorial Award at Vancouver Queer Film Festival for I’M IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, and in 2015 was recipient of the Jury Choice Award at Reel Pride Winnipeg for KIMCHI FRIED DUMPLINGS.

He is the 2016 recipient of the James Lee Foundation Scholarship and the 2018 Normand Bouchard Memorial Bursary.

Jason Karman Vancouver Short Film Festival Winner 2019
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