SHIFT FILMS

Over several weeks Director Chad Tingle traveled the country speaking with nurses who are confronting long-entrenched racism in their field. As editor I worked with Tingle to weave these powerful voices together, digging deep into the history of racism in health-care, the deadly reality of racial bias today, and the efforts to bring all nurses along in the work to dismantle racism.

Learn about the film and watch the trailer here.

San Francisco International Film Festival/Cleveland International Film Festival

Counted Out investigates the biggest crises of our time—political polarization, racial and economic inequity, a global pandemic, and climate change—through an unexpected lens: math.

In this riveting documentary director Vicki Abeles reveals the tremendous impact numeric literacy - or lack-there-of - has on our individual lives and society as a whole. I joined this project during its final year of post-production as an addition editor and to oversee the finishing process as post-production supervisor.

Find out more about the film here.

PBS/SXSW EDU/Cinequest/Barcelona Indie Film Festival

A much-beloved music teacher prepares to retire after forty-five transformative years educating children in San Francisco, but the pandemic abruptly upends the school year, spurring a deeper inquiry into the meaning of music itself in our lives, schools, and communities. After receiving a warm reception at festivals around world The Secret Song was released on PBS in 2024. The film won the Marion Herrman Excellence in Filmmaking at the Sedona International Film Festival and was listed as one of the top 10 films to see at the Cinequest film festival.

As a lover of music, aspirational musician and father of two young kids I learned so much while working on this film.

PBS - ITVS

Serving 15 years in prison for a non-violent drug offense, Ryan Troxler embodies everything that advocates want to change about Kentucky’s persistent felony offender statute. Weight Of The State, a 15 minute documentary, is part of an ITVS series that examines the impact of the criminal justice system in localities around the country. After spending time with Troxler's loved ones, Emmy-award winning director Marlon Johnson decided to focus this story on the hole left behind in Troxler's absence. This was my second time working with Johnson.

Mill Valley Film Festival/DOCUTAH/AmDocs

If you ever needed an excuse to work less and play more, here it is. In today’s hyper-active, productivity driven society most adults have little time to simply enjoy themselves. The results aren’t pretty. Playing for Keeps shows by example the joys of downtime through the experience of several formerly play-starved and now playful adults, including NBC anchor, Lester Holt. Viewers are guided by the wise advice of researchers who have linked play to a multitude of health benefits.

Needless to say, it was a joy to edit this feel-good doc with director, James Redford. Despite pandemic barriers the film has had a successful(and ongoing) virtual festival run.

Doc NYC/PBS/Amazon Prime

“Uplifting and immersive“ according to Salon and “an edifying story of rhythm, passion, and rites of passage” according to Film Threat. For 30 years, the indefatigable Ed “Nardie” White offered a path to empowerment for African-American youth in Louisville, KY through his River City Drum Corps. With retirement approaching, White must train his successor, Albert Shumake, a first generation Drum Corps alum.

River City Drumbeat made its debut at Doc NYC in 2019 then spread far and wide through the virtual film landscape in 2020. It was a New York Times Critics pick and one of Common Sense Media’s 20 Best Family Movies of the Year. It had a successful virtual theatrical release, several festival selections and can now be streamed on Amazon Prime.

It was a true honor to edit this film with directors Marlon Johnson and Anne Flatté, and a thrill to see its impact reverberate with so many.

PBS

This half hour documentary captures the world premiere of “Natural History,” an original composition inspired by and performed at Oregon’s breathtaking Crater Lake. More than a performance the event had the effect of an art installation, enveloping the audience in the natural world and mingling music with the natural soundscape. It was a treat to experience the event vicariously as the film’s editor, working alongside director Anne Flatté. The film was broadcast on PBS stations nationally, garnering two regional Emmy Nominations and has played in numerous film festivals.

HBO

Director James Redford and The Redford Center have brought life to the topic of clean energy while not glossing over some very real challenges. In Happening; A Clean Energy Revolution Redford takes viewers on an upbeat journey through the ups and downs in the clean energy economy in the U.S. Reaching well beyond a great story of technology and innovation, this HBO documentary explores issues of human resilience, social justice, embracing the future, and finding hope for our survival. As the last of three editors, I was happy to help get this film to the finish line. In addition to playing on HBO Happening has played in over a dozen film festivals and public screenings including at the Conference of Parties(COP) climate summit in 2017.

Doc NYC/RiverRun International Film Festival/SF International Film Festival

Filmed over a seven-year period, Serenade for Haiti finds a story of transcendence as children and faculty of the Sainte Trinité Music School use music to unlock the power of their own lives despite a backdrop of poverty, political violence and catastrophe. As the film’s final editor I worked closely with director Owsley Brown and producers Anne Flatté and Christy McGill to shape and re-shape the film. During this process I was tasked with reviewing all seven years worth of footage and conforming several generations of shooting formats into a uniform timeline that could transition to online, color correction and sound design. I am proud to share the editor credit with two highly accomplished editors, Gina Leibrecht and Eva Ilona Brzeski. Serenade premiered at DOC NYC in 2016, and went on to play in festivals around the country and in the Caribbean.

SF Green Film Festival/Amazon Prime

This feature documentary follows seven activists from around the world as they head to Paris for the 21st session of the U.N. Climate Change Conference, or COP 21. When director Mark Decena of Kontent Films returned from COP 21 in December of 2015 he asked me if I could cut the film in time for an April premiere. Always up for a challenge, I said yes. Less than four months later the film premiered at the 2016 San Francisco Green Film Festival. Not Without Us went on to play in festivals around the globe and is now available to stream on Amazon Prime. I was the film’s editor and post-supervisor.

When Chuck Prophet considered re-releasing his record, Temple Beautiful, he thought “maybe we’ll re-imagine it with strings.” And so he enlisted an 8 piece string section to join him in a live performance of the album. Prophet also enlisted director Darrel Flowers to capture the event. Flowers orchestrated an 8 camera shoot of the concert and then brought the footage to me for editorial and color correction. The resultant hour long film, Strings in the Temple, includes the full performance plus interstitial scenes from rehearsals and commentary from Chuck and conductor Brad Jones. The film won a Van Gogh Award for documentary directing at the 2015 Amsterdam International Film Festival.

PBS Arts

Teddy Abrams gathers world-class musicians including folk songstress Aoife O’Donovan, classical musicians, bluegrass artists and a maraca virtuoso for an experimental festival at Fairchild Garden in Miami, Florida. Here, the artists “embrace the chaos” as they workshop and perform pieces that defy musical labels. This is one of two episodes that I cut for the PBS Arts web series Music Makes a City Now for director Anne Flatté and executive producer Owsley Brown.

PBS Arts

Conductor Teddy Abrams returns to guest conduct for a week at Michael Tilson Thomas’s orchestral academy in Miami Beach, Florida. This is one of two episodes that I cut for the PBS Arts web series Music Makes a City Now for director Anne Flatté and executive producer Owsley Brown.

PBS - KQED

In 2010 when director Amy Do brought her film Rabbit Fever to Remedy Editorial for HD finishing I was lucky enough to be on the online editorial team. Years later Do reached out to me again to edit an hour long broadcast version for the film’s TV premiere on KQED-PBS. The Broadcast version aired in September 2013 on KQED’s Truly CA.

HBO

Directors James Redford and Kirby Walker take a critical look at the chemical industry in their feature length HBO documentary, Toxic Hot Seat. I was happy to contribute some editorial time during the early phases of this important project earning an additional editing credit.

PIVOT TV

During the final weeks of post-production on The Redford Center’s Watershed: Exploring A New Water Ethic For The New West I worked with director Mark Decena as additional editor on this feature length documentary. Since its release the film has been screened over 500 times in a dozen countries, featured in 53 international film festivals, won numerous awards, and broadcast on PIVOT TV. Watershed provided the inspiration for launching the Raise the River campaign and continues to play a significant role in engaging support to restore the Colorado River’s Delta.

HBO

After cutting the trailer for the HBO documentary The Big Picture: Rethinking Dyslexia I continued to work with director James Redford as additional editor on the film itself.

Boing Boing

When My Morning Jacket descended on Oakland’s historic Fox Theater for an epic performance in support of their album, Circuital, director Scott Compton of Remedy Editorial hit the scene. The result: this 21 minute rock-doc, mixing live performance and interviews with the band about their history, creative process and love of vinyl. The film debuted on Boing Boing Video. This was the first project that I cut entirely on Adobe Premiere Pro. Premiere Pro has since become my editing platform of choice. I also had fun joining the production crew as sound recordist during the interviews and camera operator during the show.

A short documentary that I edited with director Mark Decena of Kontent Films, Where We Live recounts the 2010 “fight to defeat the dirty energy proposition,” a.k.a. the No on Proposition 23 campaign in California. This historic electoral battle showed the impact that grass-roots community organizations can have in combating climate change.

I worked with director Sam Green as online editor during the final stages of post-production on his short documentary The Universal Language.

During offline editorial for the feature length documentary Mine I worked with the film’s editorial team as post-production assistant.

This epic indie narrative was one of my early training grounds in feature post-production workflow. While working at Remedy Editorial I assisted the fine cut and helped conform a years old offline edit for online finishing. Since the original offline edit used DVD dailies, we had to manually write an edit decision list using a timecode window burn, one cut at a time, then capture each shot in full res from tape.

I supported the online edit of the director Jennifer Steinman’s feature length documentary Motherland as post-production assistant.