ACE Eddies 2017: ‘Arrival,’ ‘La La Land,’ ‘Zootopia’ Win Editing Awards
Denis Villeneuve’s time-bending “Arrival,” Damien Chazelle’s musical love letter, “La La Land,” and Disney’s zeitgeist-grabbing “Zootopia” took editing honors in drama, comedy, and animation at the 67th ACE Eddie Awards Friday at the Beverly Hilton.
“O.J.: Made in America” (edited by Bret Granato, Maya Mumma & Ben Sozanski), meanwhile, won for best documentary. It’s considered the frontrunner for the Documentary Oscar.
TV winners included “Veep: Morning After” (edited by Steven Rasch, ACE) for Best Edited Half-Hour Series for Television, “This is Us:Pilot” (edited by David L. Bertman, ACE) for Best Edited One-Hour Series for Commercial television, “Game of Thrones: Battle of the Bastards”(edited by Tim Porter, ACE) for Best Edited One-Hour Series for Non-Commercial Television, “All The Way” (edited by Carol Littleton, ACE) for Best Edited Miniseries or Motion Picture for Television, and “Anthony Bourdain – Parts Unknown: Seneghal” (edited by Mustafa Bhagat) for Best Edited Non-Scripted Series and “Everything is Copy – Nora Ephron: Scripted & Unscripted” (edited by Bob Eisenhardt, ACE) In the Best Edited Documentary (Television) category.
In terms of Oscar, this now heats up the editing race between “La La Land’s” Tom Cross (previous winner for Chazelle’s “Whiplash”) and “Arrival’s” Joe Walker.
For Cross, “La La Land” continued the use of alternating rhythms — only more musical, as the romance between Ryan Gosling’s struggling jazz pianist and Emma Stone’s aspiring actress transpires throughout the four seasons. “For Damien, it’s slow during courtship and with an emphasis on round angles, like Vincente Minnelli movies,” Cross told IndieWire. “But in addition, he also wanted to editorially express the fever pitch of being in love.”
For Walker, the non-linear sci-fi thriller about mixing up time and memory to unite humanity was a tricky narrative challenge. “We had the option of interspersing flashbacks in any order in the most elegant and poetic way,” Walker told IndieWire.
Other highlights of the show (hosted by “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’s Rachel Bloom, in top, zany form) included J.J. Abrams getting the ACE Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year (presented by friend and collaborator Jeff Garlin); and three-time Oscar winner Thelma Schoonmaker and Janet Ashikaga (“The West Wing”) receiving Career Achievement recognition from directors Martin Scorsese and Thomas Schlamme (“The West Wing”).
Abrams, who paid homage to editors (“There’s no magical next step”), recounted a hilarious story of his father (producer Gerald Abrams) taking him as a youngster to a test screening of John Carpenter’s “Escape From New York,” and how the two of them offered editorial suggestions that — to his astonishment — made it into the final cut.
And Scorsese described the special bond he’s had with Schoonmaker since meeting at NYU: He enjoys editing the most, has tried in vain to describe their collaboration, and, finally, “It’s nobody’s business.”
Saturday night brings the Producers Guild Awards.
A full list of winners:
BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (DRAMATIC):
Arrival
Joe Walker, ACE
BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (COMEDY):
La La Land
Tom Cross, ACE
BEST EDITED ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:
Zootopia
Fabienne Rawley & Jeremy Milton
BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE):
O.J.: Made in America
Bret Granato, Maya Mumma & Ben Sozanski
BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY (TELEVISION):
Everything Is Copy – Nora Ephron: Scripted & Unscripted
Bob Eisenhardt, ACE
BEST EDITED HALF-HOUR SERIES FOR TELEVISION:
Veep: “Morning After”
Steven Rasch, ACE
BEST EDITED ONE-HOUR SERIES FOR COMMERCIAL TELEVISION:
This is Us: “Pilot”
David L. Bertman, ACE
BEST EDITED ONE-HOUR SERIES FOR NON-COMMERCIAL
TELEVISION:
Game of Thrones: "Battle of the Bastards"
Tim Porter, ACE
BEST EDITED MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE FOR TELEVISION:
All the Way
Carol Littleton, ACE
BEST EDITED NON-SCRIPTED SERIES:
Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown: “Senegal”
Mustafa Bhagat
STUDENT COMPETITION:
Tommy Wakefield – University of North Carolina, School of the Arts
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