Lisa Fruchtman Explained

Lisa Fruchtman
Birth Date:August 1948
Occupation:Film editor

Lisa Fruchtman (born August 1948) is an American film and television editor, and documentary director with about 25 film credits. Fruchtman won the Academy Award for Best Film Editing for The Right Stuff (1983). With her brother, Rob Fruchtman, she produced, directed, and edited the 2012 documentary Sweet Dreams.

Editing career

After her high school years, Lisa Fruchtman enrolled at the University of Chicago and received an A.B. degree there in 1970.[1] She began her career as a film editor in Hollywood in 1973 with the documentary short Ten: The Magic Number. Fruchtman was an assistant to editors Barry Malkin, Richard Marks, and Peter Zinner on The Godfather Part II (1974), directed by Francis Ford Coppola. This film was edited to have a complex structure that weaves a contemporary story with a background story in Sicily at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries; the film was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Editing.

Fruchtman was one of several editors hired by Coppola in 1977 for the post-production of Apocalypse Now. Coppola had shot about 250 hours of film that needed to be cut down to 2.5 hours for its theatrical release. Evan Lottman and Barry Malkin had done preliminary editing, but then dropped out of the project. The very difficult editing required nearly two years. The film was released in August, 1979.[2] [3] In 1980, she and her co-editors Richard Marks, Walter Murch, and Gerald B. Greenberg were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing, the ACE Eddie Award, and the BAFTA Award for Best Editing.

In 1984, she won the Oscar for Best Film Editing for The Right Stuff (1983), along with her co-editors Glenn Farr, Stephen A. Rotter, Douglas Stewart and Tom Rolf. The film was directed by Philip Kaufman. The editors were also nominated for the ACE Eddie Award for the film.

Fruchtman's first solo credit as editor for a major studio film was for Children of a Lesser God (1986), which was director Randa Haines' first major film as well.[4] Fruchtman has cut two further films with Haines: The Doctor (1991), and Dance with Me (1998).[5]

In 1991, she was nominated for another Oscar for Coppola's The Godfather Part III, together with her co-editors Barry Malkin and Walter Murch. All three editors had long experience working with Coppola, on the earlier Godfather films and others.

In 1996, Fruchtman received an additional nomination for an Eddie for the television film Truman, which was directed by Frank Pierson. The movie recounts the role of US President Harry S. Truman during World War II. She was also nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award (Outstanding Editing for a Miniseries or a Special - Single Camera Production).

In 2010, she received the Professional Achievement Award for alumni of the University of Chicago.

Filmography (selection)

This filmography is based on the listing at the Internet Movie Database.

Editor
YearFilmDirectorNotes
1979Apocalypse NowFrancis Ford CoppolaSecond collaboration with Francis Ford Coppola
1980Heaven's GateMichael Cimino
1981Street MusicJenny Bowen
1983The Right StuffPhilip Kaufman
1986Children of a Lesser GodRanda HainesFirst collaboration with Randa Haines
1990The Godfather Part IIIFrancis Ford CoppolaThird collaboration with Francis Ford Coppola
1991The DoctorRanda HainesSecond collaboration with Randa Haines
1993ShimmerJohn Hanson
1997My Best Friend's WeddingP. J. Hogan
1998Dance with MeRanda HainesFourth collaboration with Randa Haines
2002TeknolustLynn Hershman Leeson
2004The WoodsmanNicole Kassell
A Love Song for Bobby LongShainee Gabel
2006BonnevilleChristopher N. Rowley
2015Love & TaxesJacob Kornbluth
Editorial department
YearFilmDirectorRole
1974The Godfather Part IIFrancis Ford CoppolaAssistant editorFirst collaboration with Francis Ford Coppola
2006Christmas in WonderlandJames OrrEditorial consultant
2010Little SisterRichard BowenSupervising editor
Additional crew
YearFilmDirectorRole
2007When a Man Falls in the ForestRyan EslingerConsultant
2022What Comes AroundAmy RedfordEditorial consultant
Thanks
YearFilmDirectorRoleNotes
1985On the EdgeRob NilssonSpecial thanks to
1993Wrestling Ernest HemingwayRanda HainesThanksThird collaboration with Randa Haines
2006Richard Wong
2013TestChris Mason JohnsonSpecial thanks
Documentaries
Editor
YearFilmDirector
1973Ten: The Magic NumberBarrie Nelson
1977The Grateful Dead Movie
2012Sweet Dreams
2016Vegas BabyAmanda Micheli
Editorial department
YearFilmDirectorRole
2016Crossing BhutanBen HenretigStory editor
Supervising editor
2017Saving CapitalismSupervising editor
2018The ProvidersStory consultant
Producer
YearFilmDirectorCredit
2012Sweet DreamsProducer
2024Counted OutVicki Abeles
Shorts
TV movies
Editor
YearFilmDirector
1995TrumanFrank Pierson
1999Witness ProtectionRichard Pearce
2003NormalJane Anderson

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Alumni Award winners span varied careers and achievements, from economics to medicine to winemaking . May 14, 2010 . University of Chicago.
  2. Book: Phillips, Gene D. . Godfather: The Intimate Francis Ford Coppola . University Press of Kentucky . 2004 . 9780813123042 . 158 . registration .
  3. Book: LoBrutto, Vincent . The Art of Motion Picture Editing: An Essential Guide to Methods, Principles, Processes, and Terminology . Skyhorse Publishing . 2013 . 9781621532514 . Apocalypse Now . 97 . https://books.google.com/books?id=X_4jAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT97. LoBrutto's account is based on earlier interviews with Marks, Greenberg, and Murch.
  4. Book: Creative Filmmaking from the Inside Out: Five Keys to the Art of Making Inspired Movies and Television . Jed . Dannenbaum . Carroll . Hodge . Doe . Mayer . Simon and Schuster . 2010 . 9781451603606 .
  5. Web site: Review: 'Dance With Me' . June 4, 1998 . Klady . Leonard . Variety . It's all lovingly captured in the fluid sweep of Fred Murphy's camera and the borderline-garish production design of Waldemar Kalinowski. And despite pic's longish running time, there's a crispness to the pace in Lisa Fruchtman's editing. .