Michael Kahn (film editor)
Michael Kahn (born December 8, 1930)[1] is an American film editor known for his frequent collaboration with Steven Spielberg. His first collaboration with Spielberg was for his 1977 film, Close Encounters of the Third Kind. He has edited all of Spielberg's subsequent films[2] except for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), which was edited by Carol Littleton. Kahn has received eight Academy Award nominations for Best Film Editing, and has won three times—for Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Schindler's List (1993), and Saving Private Ryan (1998), which were all Spielberg-directed films.
Michael Kahn | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 8, 1930 New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation | Film editor |
| Years active | 1964–present |
Early life
Kahn was born to a Jewish family on December 8 in New York City; while his birth year has been reported as 1935, Kahn said in 2015, when asked if he was 80, that his age at that point was "closer to 85."[1]
Career
Kahn has edited digitally since at least Twister (1996), though he continued to edit on film with Spielberg long after most editors had stopped doing so.[3][4] In 2008, Kahn acknowledged that "people find it hard to believe that Steven and I still edit film on a Moviola and a KEM. [But] Steven feels film got us where we are today and he loves the smell of it and feel of it. We started that way and both really enjoy it."[5] George Lucas remarked "Michael Kahn can cut faster on a Moviola than anybody can cut on an Avid."[6] However, since The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011), Kahn has edited Spielberg's films on an Avid machine.[7]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | The Activist | Art Napoleon | |
| 1970 | Night Slaves | Ted Post | |
| 1971 | Touch Me | Anthony Spinelli | |
| 1972 | Wild in the Sky | William T. Naud | |
| Trouble Man | Ivan Dixon | ||
| Rage | George C. Scott | ||
| 1973 | The Spook Who Sat by the Door | Ivan Dixon | |
| 1974 | Black Belt Jones | Robert Clouse | |
| Truck Turner | Jonathan Kaplan | ||
| Golden Needles | Robert Clouse | ||
| Buster and Billie | Daniel Petrie | ||
| Sidney Sheldon | |||
| The Savage Is Loose | George C. Scott | ||
| 1975 | The Devil's Rain | Robert Fuest | |
| The Ultimate Warrior | Robert Clouse | ||
| 1976 | The Return of a Man Called Horse | Irvin Kershner | |
| 1977 | Close Encounters of the Third Kind | Steven Spielberg | Nominated—Academy Award for Best Film Editing Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Editing |
| 1978 | Eyes of Laura Mars | Irvin Kershner | |
| Ice Castles | Donald Wrye | ||
| 1979 | 1941 | Steven Spielberg | |
| 1980 | Used Cars | Robert Zemeckis | |
| 1981 | Raiders of the Lost Ark | Steven Spielberg | Academy Award for Best Film Editing ACE Eddie for Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Editing |
| 1982 | Poltergeist | Tobe Hooper | |
| 1983 | Table for Five | Robert Lieberman | |
| Twilight Zone: The Movie | Steven Spielberg | Segment: "Kick the Can" | |
| 1984 | Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom | Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Editing | |
| Falling in Love | Ulu Grosbard | ||
| 1985 | The Goonies | Richard Donner | |
| The Color Purple | Steven Spielberg | ||
| 1986 | Wisdom | Emilio Estevez | |
| 1987 | Fatal Attraction | Adrian Lyne | BAFTA Award for Best Editing Nominated—Academy Award for Best Film Editing Nominated—ACE Eddie for Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic |
| Empire of the Sun | Steven Spielberg | Nominated—Academy Award for Best Film Editing | |
| 1988 | Arthur 2: On the Rocks | Bud Yorkin | |
| 1989 | Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade | Steven Spielberg | |
| Always | |||
| 1990 | Arachnophobia | Frank Marshall | |
| 1991 | Toy Soldiers | Daniel Petrie Jr. | |
| Hook | Steven Spielberg | ||
| 1993 | Alive | Frank Marshall | |
| Jurassic Park | Steven Spielberg | ||
| Schindler's List | Academy Award for Best Film Editing ACE Eddie for Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic BAFTA Award for Best Editing | ||
| 1995 | Casper | Brad Silberling | |
| 1996 | Twister | Jan de Bont | |
| 1997 | The Lost World: Jurassic Park | Steven Spielberg | |
| Amistad | Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Editing | ||
| 1998 | Saving Private Ryan | Academy Award for Best Film Editing ACE Eddie for Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Editing Satellite Award for Best Editing Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Editing | |
| 1999 | The Haunting | Jan de Bont | |
| 2000 | Reindeer Games | John Frankenheimer | |
| 2001 | A.I. Artificial Intelligence | Steven Spielberg | |
| 2002 | Minority Report | ||
| Catch Me If You Can | |||
| 2003 | Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life | Jan de Bont | |
| Peter Pan | P. J. Hogan | ||
| 2004 | Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events | Brad Silberling | |
| The Terminal | Steven Spielberg | ||
| 2005 | War of the Worlds | Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Editing | |
| Munich | Nominated—Academy Award for Best Film Editing Nominated—ACE Eddie for Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic Nominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Editing | ||
| 2006 | 10 Items or Less | Brad Silberling | |
| 2008 | The Spiderwick Chronicles | Mark Waters | |
| Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull | Steven Spielberg | ||
| 2010 | Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time | Mike Newell | with Mick Audsley and Martin Walsh |
| 2011 | The Adventures of Tintin | Steven Spielberg | Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Editing Nominated— Annie Award for Best Editing in a Feature Production |
| War Horse | Nominated—ACE Eddie for Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic Nominated—Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Editing Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Editing | ||
| 2012 | Lincoln | Nominated—Academy Award for Best Film Editing Nominated—Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Editing Nominated—International Online Film Critics' Poll Award for Best Editing | |
| 2014 | Seventh Son | Sergei Bodrov | |
| 2015 | Bridge of Spies | Steven Spielberg | Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Editing Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Editing |
| 2016 | The BFG | Saturn Award for Best Editing | |
| 2017 | The Post | Nominated—ACE Eddie for Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic Nominated—Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Editing Nominated—San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Editing Nominated—San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Editing Nominated—St. Louis Film Critics Association Award for Best Editing | |
| 2018 | Ready Player One | ||
| 2021 | West Side Story | Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Editing | |
| 2022 | The Fabelmans | ||
Awards and nominations
With eight Academy Award nominations, Kahn tied with Thelma Schoonmaker for being the most-nominated editor in Academy Awards history. In addition, Kahn holds the record for the most wins (three) in the category of the Academy Awards for Best Film Editing, tied with Schoonmaker, Daniel Mandell, and Ralph Dawson. All of the films for which he won Oscars were directed by Steven Spielberg: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Schindler's List (1993), and Saving Private Ryan (1998).
He has received six BAFTA nominations for Best Editing, winning two for Schindler's List and Fatal Attraction.
Kahn has been selected for membership in the American Cinema Editors (ACE).[8] In 2011, he received the Career Achievement Award of the American Cinema Editors. At the ceremony, Steven Spielberg said of editing: "this is where filmmaking goes from a craft to an art."[9] In November 2013, Spielberg created the Michael Kahn Endowed Chair in Editing at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts in honor of Kahn. The first to be appointed to the position was Norman Hollyn.[10][11]
References
- Tapley, Kristopher (9 December 2015). "Editor Michael Kahn on 'Bridge of Spies' and Four Decades of Steven Spielberg Magic". Variety. "Q: Happy Birthday! You’re 80 years old today, is that right? A: No, closer to 85, actually!"
- Tapley, Kristopher (December 8, 2015). "Editor Michael Kahn on 'Bridge of Spies' and Four Decades of Steven Spielberg Magic". Variety. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
- Davidson, Keay (June 1, 1996). Twister: The Science of Tornadoes and the Making of a Natural Disaster Movie. New York City: Gallery Books. p. XX. ISBN 0671000292. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
- King, Susan (April 8, 2018). "Film editor Michael Kahn on his long, award-winning work with Steven Spielberg". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
- Ian Freer (May 2008). "The Indiana Jones Diaries". Empire. p. 26.
- Richard Corliss (2006-03-14). "A Conversation with George Lucas". Time. Archived from the original on June 13, 2006. Retrieved 2008-10-30.
- Desowitz, Bill (January 2012). "Cinematic Siblings Still Thinking Analogue in a Digital World". Editors Guild Magazine. Motion Picture Editors Guild. Archived from the original on June 2, 2015. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
- "American Cinema Editors > Members", webpage archived by WebCite from this original URL on 2008-03-04.
- Giardina, Carolyn (February 19, 2011). "'Social Network' Wins Best Edited Dramatic Feature at ACE Eddie Awards". The Hollywood Reporter.
- "USC Trustee Steven Spielberg creates Michael Kahn Chair in Editing". University of Southern California. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
- Philadelphia, Desa (November 13, 2013). "Michael Kahn Honored at SCA". University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. Retrieved March 19, 2019.