‘Social Network’ Wins Best Edited Dramatic Feature at ACE Eddie Awards

Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter, editors of The Social Network, won the ACE Eddie Award for best edited dramatic feature at the 61st Annual ACE Eddie Awards Saturday at the Beverly Hilton.

Chris Lebenzon topped the feature category for musical or comedy for Alice in Wonderland, while Toy Story 3‘s Ken Schretzmann and Lee Unkrich shared the trophy for best edited animated feature film, a new category that was launched last year. Exit Through the Gift Shop won best edited documentary.

The Eddies often serve as a predictor of the eventual best picture ?Oscar winner. Over the past five years, the Eddie, Oscar for Editing and Oscar for Best Picture have matched each year except in 2007. That year, The Bourne Ultimatum won both editing categories, while No Country For Old Men earned the Academy Award for best picture. No film has won best picture at the Oscars without also having received at least a best editing Eddie nomination since Ordinary People in 1981. Last year, The Hurt Locker won the Eddie in the drama category, before it collected Oscars including best picture and best editing.

This year, four of this year’s ACE nominees also have Oscar nominations for best editing and best picture: They are Black Swan, The Fighter, The King’s Speech and The Social Network.

Additional Academy Award nominees for best picture include Eddie nominee The Kids Are All Right (musical or comedy category), Eddie winner Toy Story 3 (animation), and Eddie nominee Inception, which many had expected to earn an Oscar nomination in the editing category.

The Eddie for best edited animated film was first awarded a year ago, when Up won the Eddie, and went on to win two Oscars including best animated feature. Toy Story 3 and Eddie nominee How To Train Your Dragon are up for the Oscar for best animated feature.

At the ceremony Saturday, Steven Spielberg presented Michael Kahn‘s career achievement award. The director said of editing: “this is where filmmaking goes from a craft to an art.” Other highlights Saturday included Christopher Nolan receiving the ACE Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award (accepting his award, Nolan thanked Inception‘s Eddie nominated editor Lee Smith).

Veteran editors Michael Brown and Kahn were presented the organization’s Lifetime Career Achievement Awards (Brown’s career achievement award was presented by director Joe Sargent). Kahn, accepting the award, said: “this will inspire me as I begin the second half of my career” as the audience applauded.

Also Saturday evening, Edgar Burcksen and Vincent LoBrutto, former editor-in-chief and editor of the ACE magazine Cinema Editor, received the Robert Wise Award.

In total, ACE recognizes editing in nine categories of film, television and documentaries.

The complete list of winners for the 61st Annual ACE Eddie Awards is below:

Best edited feature film (Dramatic):
The Social Network
Angus Wall, A.C.E. & Kirk Baxter

Best edited feature film (comedy or musical):
Alice in Wonderland
Chris Lebenzon, A.C.E.

Best edited animation feature film:
Toy Story 3
Ken Schretzmann & Lee Unkrich, A.C.E.

Best edited half hour series for television:
Modern Family, “Family Portrait”
Jonathan Schwartz

Best edited one-hour series for commercial television:
The Walking Dead, “Days Gone Bye”
Hunter Via

Best edited one-hour series for non-commercial television:
Treme, “Do You Know What it Means”
Kate Sanford, A.C.E. & Alexander Hall

Best edited miniseries or motion picture for television:
Temple Grandin
Leo Trombetta, A.C.E.

Best edited documentary:
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Tom Fulford & Chris King  

Best edited reality series:
If You Really Knew Me, “Colusa High”
Rob Goubeau, Jeremy Gantz, Hilary Scratch, Ken Yankee, Mark S. Andrew, A.C.E., Heather Miglin, John Skaare & Paul J. Coyne

Student competition
Ruben Jacques Sebban
A.F.I.