Dede Allen

I'm a sound editor/designer, but I am also interested in editing picture. So, I've been studying everything I can find about the art of cutting film/video and learning my Final Cut Pro software.

Last night I went to a Los Angeles Final Cut Pro Users Group, (LAFCPUG) event featuring film editor Dede Allen. She is 80 years old now, and she still works from time to time. Her most recent film was in 2004.

Her biggest films she has edited would have to include:
The Hustler (1961)
Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Little Big Man (1970)
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Reds (1981)
The Breakfast Club (1985), and many more.
You can see more of her filmography at www.imdb.com

Her career has spanned around sixty years so far, and it seems everything she's touches turns to gold.

At the event, they showed several clips from her movies, and then discussed each one. It's very cool to hear someone speak about film when they've been in the business for over half of our industry's history.

One interesting thing she shared was, "go to as much theater as you can and learn story and scene, because that's where you'll really find out about the three act form and learn about (character) performance - even though it's very different on film."