TEC class project, Frozen River, wins at Sundance and more

Congratulations Frozen River for receiving the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature at this year's Sundance Film Festival! Frozen River, directed by Courtney Hunt, was the May/June 6-week class project. Congrats to everyone who worked on it! Also premiering at Sundance was The Recruiter (formerly An American Solider), edited by Edit Center alumni, Chad Beck and Adam Bolt. It received a positive review in VARIETY and THE ADVOCATE, "For all the talk about putting a "human face" on the war in Iraq, there may be no better vehicle than The Recruiter, the devastating new documentary from director Edet Belzburg." Congratulations are also in order for TEC Alum Michael Taylor and TEC instructor Geoffrey Richman. They edited The Order of the Myths, directed by Margaret Brown, which Manohla Dargis of the NY TIMES said was "...Handsomely shot and intelligently edited."

TEC Alumni and Instructors, Academy Award Nominees

Congratulations to alumni and instructors for their films' 2008 Oscar nominations. No End in Sight, the Iraq war documentary directed by Charles Ferguson, was edited by Edit Center alumni/instructors Chad Beck and Cindy Lee. TEC instructor, Geoffrey Richman, edited Michael Moore's Sicko. Also, TEC Alum, Kristin Lesko, co-produced the documentary Operation Homecoming. Good Luck!

Films announced for the Jan/Feb 2008 6 week class

The Edit Center is pleased to announce the class projects for the upcoming January/February 2008 six-week course. The first film will be Sorry, Thanks, starring Wiley Wiggins (Dazed and Confused, Waking Life), and Andrew Bujalski (Funny Ha Ha). Sorry, Thanks is a film about real relationships-ambiguous, underwhelming, incidental-and the people who change us...then exit just as quickly. It is directed by Dia Sokol who was the in-house producer for acclaimed director Errol Morris for four years (The Fog of War, The Thin Blue Line) and has worked as a producer for Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me). The second film will be Garbage Dreams, a feature documentary that celebrates the richness, strength and vitality of Egypt's community of indigenous garbage collectors, known as the Zaballeen or “garbage people.” Garbage Dreams is directed by Mai Iskander. Iskander has worked with legendary Academy-Award Nominee Albert Maysles on the documentary Profiles of a Peacemaker and Academy-Award Nominee Edet Belzberg on her documentary The Unofficial Man. She has also worked on dozens of features such as Men in Black and As Good as It Gets.

Two Edit Center Projects in Competition at Sundance

Two of The Edit Center's past class projects will be competing at the Sundance Film Festival in 2008. Frozen River, competing in the narrative category, was directed by Courtney Hunt and edited by TEC instructor Kate Williams (with help from the May 2007 six-week course). Competing in the documentary category is An American Soldier, which was formerly titled The Army Recruiter. Directed by MacArthur-winner Edet Belzberg, An American Soldier was a class project in both 2005 and 2006, and was edited after the class by TEC alums Adam Bolt and Chad Beck.

Edit Center Alumni and Instructors' Films to Screen at Sundance

Congratulations to the following alumni, instructors, and films premiering at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival: TEC instructor Tim Streeto (editor), alumni Riva Marker (associate producer) and Anthony Brandonisio (post-production coordinator) for Diminished Capacity; TEC instructor Andrew Blackwell (associate editor) Sugar; Alum Michael Taylor (editor) The Order of Myths; Alum Sharon Perlman (post-production assistant) The Savages; Alum Jennifer Lee (assistant editor) American Teen; Instructor Eric Kissack (editor) Birds of America.

Great World of Sound's wins and nominations

Lots of exciting news coming through for Great World of Sound, the class project of the January and March 2006 six-week classes. Director Craig Zobel won a Gotham Award last weekend for "Breakthrough Director" and actor Kene Holliday (who played Clarence) was nominated for "Breakthrough Actor." Great World of Sound is also nominated for an Independent Spirit Award in the category "Best First Feature" and Kene Holliday is nominated for "Best Supporting Male."

TEC Alum Chad Beck featured on Moviemaker.com

TEC alum and instructor, Chad Beck, is currently featured on www.moviemaker.com in the "Hands N Pages" section. He talks about his decision to be an editor, working on documentaries vs narratives, and of getting his start at The Edit Center, "...I feel so grounded here. It’s a school run by editors, and the spirit of the place is very positive and academic. I got my start as a student in the six-week class and learned the craft from some of the great editors who teach here." Congrats Chad!

Choking Man Opens at Cinema Village

Choking Man, a psychological drama edited by Edit Center alumni Jon Griggs and Todd Holmes, opens this week at Cinema Village. The film, which stars Mandy Patinkin ("Criminal Minds", The Princess Bride) and Aaron Paul ("Big Love", Mission Impossible 3) was previously featured at the Tribeca, Miami, and Deauville Film Festivals. Jon and Todd worked together on the film after teaching together at the Edit Center shortly after they finished the six-week class.

No End in Sight Short-Listed for an Oscar

No End in Sight, the Iraq war documentary directed by Charles Ferguson and edited by Edit Center alumni Chad Beck and Cindy Lee, has been short-listed for the Best Documentary prize at this year's Academy Awards. Also among the 15 films on the list is Sicko, which was edited by Edit Center instructor Geoffrey Richman and directed by Michael Moore. Both Sicko and No End in Sight were among the best reviewed documentaries of 2007, with No End in Sight being singled out in particular for its "masterful" editing.

Second class film announced for Nov/Dec 2007 6-week class!

The Edit Center is excited to announce the addition of a second class project to the November/December 2007 6-week class. Reporter: On the Ground with Nicholas Kristof is a documentary set in central Africa which chronicles, in verité fashion, the haunting, physically grueling and, at moments, shocking voyage of Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist, Nick Kristof. He is joined by two young companions—Will Okun, a 33-year old high school teacher and photographer from Chicago, and Leana Wen, a 24-year old medical student from St Louis. The reason for their trip is simple: travel to ignored conflict regions (this time Rwanda, Congo and Burundi) and report back to other Americans, via daily blogs on the New York Times website. The film will bring individual stories into rich, colorful, audible existence, thereby extending their reach and the critical issues they embody. Reporter is directed by 2007 Independent Spirit Awards Nominee, Eric Daniel Metzger, and brought to us by Stick Figure Productions who have produced numerous award-winning documentary films including, Devil’s Playground, Willie Nelson: Still Moving, and loudQUIETloud: a film about the Pixies.