It was a rollicking night at the 68th annual ACE Eddie Awards as more than 1,000 guests filled the International Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton for ceremonies honoring the best editing of 2017 in ten categories of film, television and documentaries.
The black-tie gala, held January 26, was hosted by actress and comedian Tichina Arnold, best known for her roles on Martin, Everybody Hates Chris and Survivor’s Remorse. After opening remarks from the president of American Cinema Editors, Stephen Rivkin, ACE, she had the boisterous crowd rolling with laughter during her opening monologue during which she proclaimed editors as the most important people in Hollywood.
The editors of Dunkirk, I, Tonya and Coco received the top film awards while editors of TV shows including black-ish, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Fargo, The Handmaid’s Tale and Genius were awarded statuettes for their work.
“I guess I don’t have to clean out the garage tomorrow after all,” said Genius editor James Wilcox in his heartfelt acceptance speech.
Writer, producer, creator and showrunner Vince Gilligan received the ACE Golden Eddie Award for his groundbreaking career, which includes such hits as Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. It was presented to him by long-time collaborator Skip MacDonald, ACE.
The latest honor for Gilligan puts him in the illustrious company of other Golden Eddie recipients, a list which includes Norman Jewison, Nancy Meyers, Francis Ford Coppola, Clint Eastwood, Robert Zemeckis, Alexander Payne, Ron Howard, Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan, Frank Marshall and Richard Donner.
The American Cinema editors also honored two of their own, Leon Ortiz-Gil and Mark Goldblatt with career achievement awards, presented to them respectively by actress Mariska Hargitay and filmmaker Joe Dante.
Ortiz-Gil, a mentor to many other editors who choked up during his acceptance speech, has edited such shows as Law & Order, 24 and Dragnet during his prolific career, while Goldblatt’s credits include Terminator 2: Judgment Day, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award, X-Men: The Last Stand, Pearl Harbor and True Lies.
Highlights of their work were seen during clip reels showcasing each of their tremendous contributions to the craft of editing in film and television.
Other presenters at the ACE Eddie Awards included director Denis Villeneuve (Blade Runner 2049) and film editor Joe Walker, ACE, filmmaker Edgar Wright (Baby Driver), actress Parminder Nagra, Sam Lerner (The Goldbergs), actress Betty Gabriel (Get Out), actor Brett Gelman (Stranger Things, Lemon) and Lady Bird cast members Jordan Rodriguez and Marielle Scott.
Here is the full list of winners:
BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (DRAMATIC):
Dunkirk
Lee Smith, ACE
BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (COMEDY):
I, Tonya
Tatiana S. Riegel, ACE
BEST EDITED ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:
Coco
Steve Bloom
BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE):
Jane
Joe Beshenkovsky, ACE, Will Znidaric, Brett Morgen
BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY (NON-THEATRICAL)
Five Came Back: The Price of Victory
Will Znidaric
BEST EDITED COMEDY SERIES FOR COMMERCIAL TELEVISION:
Black-ish: “Lemons”
John Peter Bernardo, Jamie Pedroza
BEST EDITED COMEDY SERIES FOR NON-COMMERCIAL TELEVISION:
Curb Your Enthusiasm: “The Shucker”
Jonathan Corn, ACE
BEST EDITED DRAMA SERIES FOR COMMERCIAL TELEVISION:
Fargo: “Who Rules the Land of Denial”
Andrew Seklir, ACE
BEST EDITED DRAMA SERIES FOR NON-COMMERCIAL TELEVISION:
The Handmaid’s Tale: “Offred”
Julian Clarke, ACE & Wendy Hallam Martin
BEST EDITED MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE FOR TELEVISION:
Genius: Einstein “Chapter One”
James D. Wilcox
BEST EDITED NON-SCRIPTED SERIES:
VICE News Tonight: “Charlottesville: Race & Terror”
Tim Clancy, Cameron Dennis, John Chimples & Denny Thomas
STUDENT COMPETITION WINNER
Mariah Zenk – Missouri State University
