Lee Smith (film editor)
Lee Smith, ACE, (born June 10, 1960) is an Australian film editor who has worked in the film industry since the 1980s. He began his film career as a sound editor before establishing himself as an editor. His breakthrough came when he began collaborating with director Peter Weir. Smith is best known for his work on several of Christopher Nolan's films, including Batman Begins (2005), The Prestige (2006), The Dark Knight (2008), Inception (2010), The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Interstellar (2014) and Dunkirk (2017), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Film Editing. Smith has edited all of Sam Mendes's films since 2015, including Spectre (2015), 1917 (2019) and Empire of Light (2022).
Life and career
[edit]Smith was born in Harefield, Middlesex in England. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing for Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2004) and The Dark Knight (2008). He was also nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Editing for The Dark Knight and for Inception (2010). He was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Sound for The Piano (1993). He began his career as a sound editor/sound designer for films such as Dead Calm (1989), The Piano (1993) (for which he was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Sound), The Portrait of a Lady (1996) and Holy Smoke! (1999). Smith was also editing films during this interval; he was one of the editors for RoboCop 2 (1990).
He began his notable collaboration with director Peter Weir on the 1982 film The Year of Living Dangerously, on which he was an associate editor working with Weir's longtime editor William M. Anderson. He was credited as a co-editor with Anderson for Fearless (1993) and for The Truman Show (1998).[1] He was the sole editor for Weir's Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003), for which Smith was nominated for the Academy Award for Film Editing and for an "Eddie Award" from the American Cinema Editors.
Smith has edited seven films with director Christopher Nolan. He was nominated for a second Academy Award and American Cinema Editors Award for The Dark Knight (2008). In 2010, he received another nomination for the American Cinema Editors Award for his editing work on Inception; Inception was listed as the 35th best-edited film of all time in a 2012 survey of members of the Motion Picture Editors Guild.[2] In 2018, he received an Academy Award for his work on Nolan's Dunkirk.
Since 2015, Smith has regularly collaborated with Sam Mendes, editing his films Spectre (2015), 1917 (2019) and Empire of Light (2022). He will edit the upcoming film series The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event (2028).
Filmography
[edit]Editor
Other credits
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Little Boy Lost | Terry Bourke | Assistant sound editor |
| 1980 | The Chain Reaction | Ian Barry | Additional sound |
| 1981 | Puberty Blues | Bruce Beresford | Editing assistant |
| 1982 | Turkey Shoot | Brian Trenchard-Smith | Dubbing editor |
| The Year of Living Dangerously | Peter Weir | Associate editor | |
| 1985 | Burke & Wills | Graeme Clifford | Sound effects editor |
| 1988 | The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey | Vincent Ward | Sound effects editor / Sound effects supervisor |
| Barracuda | Pino Amenta | Television film
Sound editor | |
| 1989 | Dead Calm | Phillip Noyce | Sound designer |
| Dead Poets Society | Peter Weir | Additional film editor | |
| 1990 | Green Card | ||
| 1992 | Lorenzo's Oil | George Miller | Additional picture editor |
| 1993 | The Piano | Jane Campion | Sound designer |
| 1994 | Little Women | Gillian Armstrong | Sound designer |
| 1995 | Tunnel Vision | Clive Fleury | Foley walker |
| 1996 | The Portrait of a Lady | Jane Campion | Sound designer |
| 1999 | Holy Smoke! | ||
Awards and nominations
[edit]Academy Awards
| Year | Category | Title | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World |
Best Film Editing | Nominated |
| 2008 | The Dark Knight | Nominated | |
| 2017 | Dunkirk | Won |
BAFTA Awards
| Year | Category | Title | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | The Dark Knight | Best Editing | Nominated |
| 2010 | Inception | Nominated | |
| 2017 | Dunkirk | Nominated |
Other awards
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ Hollyn, Norman (November–December 2003). "Lee Smith on Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World". The Editors Guild Magazine. 24 (6). Archived from the original on 21 May 2011.
- ↑ "The 75 Best Edited Films". Editors Guild Magazine. 1 (3). May 2012. Archived from the original on 17 March 2015.
- ↑ McCarthy, Todd (27 April 1998). "The Truman Show". Variety. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
- ↑ McCarthy, Todd (4 November 2003). "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World". Variety. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Sharf, Zack (10 March 2020). "Christopher Nolan's Editor Is Aware Viewers 'Completely Misunderstand' Nolan Movies". IndieWire. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
- ↑ Debruge, Peter (8 September 2010). "The Way Back". Variety. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
- ↑ Chang, Justin (30 May 2011). "X-Men: First Class". Variety. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
- ↑ Foundas, Scott (1 August 2013). "Film Review: 'Elysium'". Variety. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
- ↑ Petrovic, Sofija (21 January 2018). "Harry Styles could become the new James Bond, says Spectre editor Lee Smith". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
- ↑ Gleiberman, Owen (5 June 2019). "Film Review: 'Dark Phoenix'". Variety. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
- ↑ Quinn, Karl (9 February 2020). "1917 editor Lee Smith reveals the truth about Sam Mendes' one-shot film". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
- ↑ Magidson, Joey (5 December 2022). "Interview: Oscar-Winning Editor Lee Smith on Helping Craft Sam Mendes' 'Empire of Light'". Awards Radar. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
- ↑ Farber, Stephen (3 September 2024). "'Better Man' Review: 'Greatest Showman' Director Tackles Robbie Williams Biopic, With a Simian Twist and Mixed Results". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
- ↑ McCarthy, Todd (27 April 1998). "The Truman Show". Variety. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
External links
[edit]- Lee Smith at IMDb
- Kunkes, Michael (2008). "Behind the Cape & Cowl: Shedding Light on the Post for 'The Dark Knight,' Part 1". Editors Guild Magazine. Archived from the original on 22 December 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
- Kunkes, Michael (2008). "Behind the Cape & Cowl: Shedding Light on the Post for 'The Dark Knight,' Part 2". Editors Guild Magazine. Archived from the original on 8 January 2009. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
