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10 MPEG FELLOWSHIP & SERVICE AWARD 2019 An Important Test Aer his first assistant editor credit on Meatballs Part II (1984), Cohen was hired as assistant by Wolinsky, now a full editor, on Best Defense (1984). One evening over dinner on the dubbing stage, the movie's writers, producer Gloria Katz and director Willard Huyck, announced to the assistant, "We've decided to fire you." Wolinsky had told them that Kahn wanted Cohen to be his assistant editor on Ulu Grosbard's Falling in Love (1984). Katz then talked a reluctant Wolinsky into letting Cohen go early so he could take the opportunity to work with Kahn at Spielberg's Amblin. "Michael Kahn was always testing me," Cohen said about his stints with him as assistant. Apparently the testing paid off. Kahn recommended the assistant editor for his first two features as full editor with producer Fred Weintraub, who gave him full responsibility over the entire post process through to the answer prints. This was followed by Cohen's first union editing credit on the TV mini-series Amerika (1987). The post-production professional said, "It was a rush job with 10 editors on the show… One episode we cut was on TV two or three days aer we finished cutting." Right aer that, he was called back to Amblin to help his mentor Kahn edit Empire of the Sun (1987), and the new union editor faced the most dramatic shi of his career. While finishing this World War II epic, Art Repola le his position as Amblin's Head of Post-Production and Cohen was offered the job. Post sound crew for Amblin's Balto in 1995: Seated in front of console, re-recording mixers Steve Maslow, left, and Gregg Landaker; behind them, from left, assistant sound editor Keith Edemann, music editor Joe E. Rand, supervising sound editor Lou Edemann, director Simon Wells, supervising picture editor Nick Fletcher, supervising ADR editor Larry Singer, executive producer Bonne Radford, re-recordist Brion Paccassi, visiting DreamWorks head of post Cohen, re-recordist Kevin Brooks, supervising sound editor Chuck Campbell, and re-recordist Brad Biggart. On the MGM lot in 1981, from left to right: Pennies from Heaven first assistant editor Sidney Wolinsky, assistant editor Jane Schwartz Jaffe, picture editor Richard Marks and apprentice editor Cohen. Above: ADR supervisor Larry Singer, left, voice caster Brendan Donnison, actor/dialect supervisor Osman Ragheb, actor/dialogue coach Constantine Gregory, and post production supervisor Cohen with daughter Maggie on ADR shoot in the UK for Schindler's List, 1993.