THE SENSITIVES wins Jury Mention at CIFF '17 + Reviews

The Sensitives, which I edited for director Drew Xanthopoulos, had a busy weekend September 15-17. It screened in Chicago, at the Newburyport Film Festival, and at the Camden International Film Festival. At CIFF, it was awarded Special Jury Mention for Cinematic Vision. It will next screen in the city where it was made: Austin, Texas, on September 29th. Details here. 

Since Premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival last spring, The Sensitives has sparked much discussion and praise. Here's a sampling of reviews:

"Observational and impressionistic" - Hollywood Reporter

"Empathetic yet nonjudgmental... Xanthopoulos allows each of the subjects to move at their own pace, but he and editor David Fabelo settle into an agreeably lilting rhythm that reflects life progressing even when the film’s subjects are threatened with being left behind."- Moveable Feast

"Xanthopoulos approaches the subject of being essentially allergic to modernity in a way that’s refreshingly non-symbolic. In addition to eschewing hard-nosed medical analysis, the film treads a line between acknowledging both its subjects’ very real symptoms and the frustration of friends and family who see them retreat into isolation." - The Verge

"[I]ntensive realism... invit[es] our empathy to stretch out wider and wider with each story." - Paste Magazine

"The Sensitives is a gentle and affecting window into the isolated prison cell that becomes a sensitive person’s life." - Vague Visages

To keep up with news and updates about The Sensitives, like it on Facebook or follow on Twitter.

Lots of Excitement For The World Premiere of THE SENSITIVES at the Tribeca Film Festival

The Sensitives - a verité documentary I edited (directed by Drew Xanthopoulos) - has its world premiere at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival this week. It's earning some buzz ahead of it's first screening. Here's a quick rundown:

Tribeca's Director of Programming calls us one of the "hidden gems" of the festival.

IndieWire calls The Sensitives one of Tribeca's 14 "must see" films.

A little birdie told No Film School that The Sensitives is "one of the most cinematic documentaries they've ever seen." I'm not going to argue with whoever said that.

I don't know what Metro is but they're looking forward to our film.

Finally, Village Voice calls The Sensitives "superb" and "poignant." You're too kind.

More info soon and a little coverage of the fest!

SXSW 2016: SLASH Gets In + Panel News

Two big announcements for this year's SXSW Film Festival:

Last fall I jumped on to help out on Clay Liford's comedy Slash. Sharing editing duties with Bryan Poyser (who is better known as a director, but here's a secret - he's also a champ editor), Slash is a coming of age movie set in the world of erotic fan fiction, aka slash fiction. Not your typical backdrop for a teenage boy's sexual awakening... which will make it all the more satisfying to unveil to audiences next month.

Shot in Austin, Slash features a cast of up and coming stars and was made possible by a hard working, dedicated Austin crew. Clay created an original sci-fi super hero to base the slash fiction on, so after a successful Kickstarter campaign, costumes were designed & tailored while sets were constructed in the desert to help create a world within the world of the movie that helps sets the story in motion. Inspired by Harry Potter, Star Trek and who knows what else, Slash will be a fun time at the movies in March.

Click here for screening times!

I will also participate in a panel on March 12th titled "In The Cut: Editing a Movie Sample." I get to share the mic with such accomplished editors: Sandra Adair, Leah Marino, and panel organizer/moderator Kyle Henry. I'm inclined to sit back and learn as much from them as anyone else in the room.

Here's the panel description:

Editing is the final stage of a film's writing. How can editing be used to reevaluate/reshape what you’ve generated during production? Learn tips and strategies from editors who work across all forms and genres to tell engaging and emotionally moving stories. Featuring Emmy and Academy Award nominated editors of films that have screened at major festivals like Sundance, SXSW, Toronto, Berlin and Cannes. We will review samples from up to three works-in-progress (5 mins max length). Participants, please post samples to Vimeo and send links to moderator Kyle Henry at least 12 hrs before panel begins for selection via SXSocial.

Click here for panel info!

Photos from the BRIGHT SHADOW world premiere

Bright Shadow - Lone Star Film Fest

If I wasn't so busy editing another documentary at the moment, I would have posted these photos sooner. On November 6th, Bright Shadow - a feature documentary about singer/songwriter Ana Egge - had its world premiere at the Lone Star Film Festival in Ft. Worth, Texas. I drove up the day of the screening, met up with director Jesse Lyda and the rest of crew - which included Ana, producer Jason Wehling, cinematographer Allen E. Ho, and executive producer Clark Lyda. After catching up over dinner, we headed over to the AMC Palace to screen the movie to festival goers.

Bright Shadow Q and A

Our Q and A after the movie was in front of a packed house, yet still felt intimate. Both Ana fans and folks unfamiliar with her music praised the movie and asked us insightful questions about the process of making it. It felt like the we connected with everyone in the room, which is what we aim to do when spending years piecing an emotional journey like Ana's.

(If you are unfamiliar with Ana's work, check out her latest album, also titled Bright Shadow, on iTunes or buy direct from her website. Past albums also available.)

Director Jesse Lyda with Ana Egge

After the movie, we walked across the street to the Flying Saucer where Ana played a set. Myself and the rest of the crew continued to talk to audience members who joined us at the screening. Great screening, great night!

Red carpet selfie

WORLD PREMIERE: Bright Shadow - a documentary about songwriter Ana Egge - debuts at the Lone Star Film Festival

Courtesy of anaegge.com

Bright Shadow, a documentary directed by Jesse Lyda, is an intimate window into the artistic journey of singer/songwriter Ana Egge. Jesse followed Ana during the run up to, making of, and release of her album Bad Blood which was produced by Steve Earle.

Jesse captured some moments on video that might be too raw for most artists to have laid bare, so it's a testament to Ana, her wife Amy, and the rest of Ana's family to let us tell their story. I think we crafted a film that is a modern, truthful meditation on artistic expression - whether that art be expressed through music, film, or family.

On a personal note, and admittedly this is a bit of inside baseball, it's the first feature I edited using Apple's Final Cut Pro X, which was much maligned by professional editors at the time we started work on the project. We used Final Cut X before it was truly, completely ready to take on a feature. The program has been improved and expanded substantially. It's my favorite NLE to use and I think its organizational features are particularly superb for documentary work.

Bright Shadow makes it's world premiere Friday, November 6th at the 2015 Lone Star Film Festival.

LONE STAR FILM FESTIVAL: Both SIR DOUG and BRIGHT SHADOW will screen this November

Two movies. One festival.

Sir Doug and the Genuine Texas Cosmic Groove will continue its film festival run when it appears at this year's Lone Star Film Festival in Ft. Worth. Directed by Joe Nick Patoski and edited by Cody Ground, I served as an additional editor during the push toward its world premiere at SXSW earlier this year.

Bright Shadow, a documentary about musician Ana Egge directed by Jesse Lyda, will make its world premiere at Lone Star and I can't wait to share it. A passion project for Lyda, it is the first feature documentary for me to serve as lead editor. I've been an assistant, an associate editor and an additional editor, but Bright Shadow goes down as the first for me to sit in the hot seat and help find the story with Lyda and producer Jason Wehling. We're looking forward to this screening and finally getting to share Ana's very personal story with everyone!

Here is the press release by the Lone Star Film Society announcing both films amongst several others.

Also worth noting (for the post production geeks out there): we edited Bright Shadow on Apple's Final Cut Pro X. We started in version 10.0.9 before it was really ready for a feature. We made the jump to 10.1 when that was released and it made a world's of difference. Hopefully, I'll be writing more on that soon!

This won't be the first time for my work to be screened at Lone Star. My short film "Do Over"  screened at Lone Star in 2012.

TRAILER: Take a look at Rick Alverson's ENTERTAINMENT ahead of its fall release

Last week, the trailer for the dark comedy Entertainment was released online. Arts + Labor - which handled post production duties on it - hired me to be post production supervisor. It was quite a handful prepping and shepherding this ambitious indie (shot entirely in ARRI RAW) through post within such a tight window on its way to a Sundance premiere earlier this year. I learned a ton, though, from Aversion and his DP Lorenzo Hagerman. It is also currently playing at NEXT Fest in LA.

Indiewire wrote up a post introducing the trailer.

So did AV Club.

So did this website, Consequence of Sound, in which they wrote: "Similar to The Comedy, Entertainment is a very meditative experience that uses startling visuals to carry its strange narrative."

Here is Indiewire's review from Sundance.

Entertainment will be released by Magnolia Pictures in select theaters and iTunes November 13.