10 pioneering female editors who changed the face of cinema
The film industry has always been unfairly prejudiced against women, with very few female filmmakers given the opportunities to succeed. Hollywood is overwhelmingly white and male, with marginalised communities continually pushed to the sidelines of the industry.
However, behind many of the greatest films ever made – almost all directed by men – are female editors who used their skills to transform raw footage into incredible pieces of cinema. Even the most seasoned cinema-goers might be unaware that women have edited movies like Jaws, Goodfellas and Pulp Fiction. Sadly, female editors are rarely spotlighted for their talents, yet the film industry would collapse without them.
There have been many female editors since the early days of cinema, proving that cinema is not strictly a man’s world despite the overwhelming lack of diversity that makes up award ceremonies and top 100 lists. It seems like there is still a long way to go before female editors will receive the respect they deserve, even though it’s more than apparent that most of cinema’s best editors have been women.
From Margaret Booth to Dede Allen and Joi McMillon, here are ten female editors who broke boundaries and transformed cinema.
10 female editors who changed cinema:
Anne V. Coates
One of the most prolific editors on this list is Anne V. Coates, who started working on religious short films in the 1940s. However, she eventually landed the role of editor on David Lean’s epic drama Lawrence of Arabia, considered one of the greatest movies ever made. Without a doubt, Coates’ editing is vital to the film’s brilliance, which earned her an Academy Award.
She had a long career as an editor, working on a very varied collection of films. In the 1970s, she worked on movies like Murder on the Orient Express and The Eagle Has Landed. Continuing, Coates edited The Elephant Man, Erin Brockovich and even Fifty Shades of Grey, her final project, before passing away three years later, aged 92.
Dede Allen
Dede Allen is responsible for editing some of the most groundbreaking movies from the New Hollywood era, a period that drastically changed the shape of modern cinema. She was greatly influenced by Robert Wise, who edited Citizen Kane. He gave Allen the opportunity to edit her first significant feature, Odds Against Tomorrow, in 1959, encouraging her to be experimental and bold in her choices.
From there, Allen launched into a successful career, which saw her nominated for three Academy Awards. Her most notable credits include Bonnie and Clyde, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Slaughterhouse-Five, The Breakfast Club and The Addams Family. Discussing editing, she revealed, “When I become absorbed in the material, I suddenly see all the possibilities the material contains. The unexpected. Intended and unintended possibilities. I can’t help wandering into the material.”
Dorothy Arzner
For a long period of time, Dorothy Arzner was the only female director working in Hollywood. She joined the industry in 1919 after meeting Paramount’s William DeMille. Although she realised that directing was her calling, she edited many films before she was given the chance to sit behind the camera.
Thus, Arzner was one of the earliest female editors, receiving her first credit with 1919’s Too Much Johnson, directed by Donald Crisp. Within just three years, Arzner had edited 52 films, including Blood and Sand, starring Rudolph Valentino. She also hired a woman, Viola Lawrence, to direct the majority of her own films, paving the way for more women to be accepted into chief positions.
Joi McMillon
Joi McMillon made history when she became the first black woman to receive a ‘Best Film Editing’ Oscar nomination in 2016 for Moonlight, which she co-edited with Nat Sanders. However, she took home the prize for ‘Best Editing’ at the Independent Spirit Awards and IndieWire Critics’ Poll. McMillon also worked on Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk, with her editing skills similarly praised.
Elsewhere, she edited the celebrated crime comedy Zola, directed by Janicza Bravo, which won ‘Best Editing’ at the Independent Spirit Awards. Talking to Shonaland, McMillon explains: “I find that when I’m the best at my job, I often go unnoticed. As a viewer, you might walk away from something and fall in love with the music placement, or you might feel like a perfect shot landed at just the right moment, and not know that we’re usually the people behind a good deal of that.”
Margaret Booth
Margaret Booth was the first “cutter” to be referred to as a “film editor”, becoming a vital figure in the development of classic cinema, working on countless influential movies. Starting her career in the 1910s, Booth was an active member of Hollywood, editing movies such as Camille and Mutiny on the Bounty, which saw her receive an Academy Award nomination.
Booth was inspired by German Expressionism, holding the belief that edits should be invisible and not obstruct the action on screen. Working through the rapidly developing industry, Booth was able to adapt to the ever-changing nature of cinema. She eventually became the supervising film editor at MGM, meaning she overlooked all of the editing that took place at the studio.
Sally Menke
The late Sally Menke was responsible for editing all of Quentin Tarantino’s highly stylised movies until her death in 2010. After working on a few movies like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Menke was put in contact with Tarantino, editing his highly acclaimed debut feature, Reservoir Dogs. Impressed with her skills, the idiosyncratic filmmaker subsequently hired her for more work, leading her to earn two Oscar nominations for Pulp Fiction and Inglorious Basterds.
Menke took great inspiration from the collaboration between Martin Scorsese and Thelma Schoonmaker. She told The Guardian, “I got in touch, and [Tarantino] sent me this script for a thing called Reservoir Dogs, and I just thought it was amazing. It floored me. Scorsese was a hero of mine, especially as he used a female editor in Thelma Schoonmaker, and this script just had that tone. Later, when I found out Harvey Keitel was attached – he was the first person Quentin had approached – I was more determined to get this job than ever.”
Stephanie Filo
One of the most groundbreaking modern editors is Stephanie Filo, who recently broke records by becoming the first person nominated for three separate editing jobs in one year at the Emmys. Moreover, Filo, alongside Daysha Broadway and Jessica Hernandez, became the first editing group entirely comprised of women of colour to win a Primetime Emmy Award for ‘Outstanding Picture Editing for Variety Programming’.
Alongside her social activism, Filo has edited acclaimed projects such as DAHMER – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story and A Black Lady Sketch Show. Discussing her success with The Hollywood Reporter, she explained: “I didn’t know any Black editors at all until about four or five years ago. I’ve been so happy to see the postproduction space changing a little bit over the past few years. But I just hope to keep seeing more people who look like me getting this kind of recognition for our work.”
Thelma Schoonmaker
Behind every Martin Scorsese movie since 1980 (as well as 1967’s Who’s That Knocking at My Door) is Thelma Schoonmaker, a prolific film editor who has won three Academy Awards for her work, including Raging Bull and The Departed. Despite the masculine worlds of Scorsese’s films, they wouldn’t exist without Schoonmaker’s excellent skills, helping to bring the filmmaker’s visions to life.
Talking to Nick Pinkerton, she once explained: “There’s a great deal of mystery in film editing, and that’s because you’re not supposed to see a lot of it. You’re supposed to feel that a film has pace and rhythm and drama, but you’re not necessarily supposed to be worried about how that was accomplished. And because there is so little understanding of what really great editing is, a film that’s flashy, has a lot of quick cuts and explosions, gets particular attention.”
Verna Fields
The first Hollywood blockbuster, Jaws, was edited by Verna Fields, who frequently worked with New Hollywood directors like Steven Speilberg, George Lucas, and Peter Bogdanovich. While Fields doesn’t have the most extensive list of credits, she has edited some of the most vital movies from the 1970s, including What’s Up, Doc?, Paper Moon, American Grafitti and The Sugarland Express.
Fields was dedicated to her craft, attempting to balance single motherhood with editing by setting up a cutting room in her house where she would work through the night. Eventually, she progressed from sound editing for television to Hollywood pictures, earning an Academy Award for her incredible work on Jaws, making the movie even more suspenseful with her intricate skills.
Viola Lawrence
Born in 1894, Viola Lawrence is widely considered to be one of the first-ever female film editors alongside Anna McKnight, of whom little is known. Lawrence began her career in the industry when she was just 11 years old, becoming a messenger at Vitagraph Studios. However, by 1915, she started cutting film, working for companies such as Universal and Columbia, where she was head editor.
Lawrence has an extensive filmography, which includes Samuel Goldwyn Studios’ first talkie, Bulldog Drummond, Howard Hawks’ Only Angels Have Wings, and Orson Welles’ The Lady from Shanghai. She influenced the direction of the latter after receiving the footage and declaring it “a jumbled mess,” leading Welles to reshoot some of the film.
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