Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/832212
76 CINEMONTAGE / Q2 2017 76 CINEMONTAGE / Q2 2017 great visual style but also a strong sense of storytelling. Documentaries are often made in the editing room, and Lillian waded through hours and hours of footage to help create a piece that was both beautiful and moving. The series went on to earn a Peabody Award, thanks in large part to the artistic contributions made by Lillian and many other talented people. I am so happy that she is now being honored by the Editors Guild. Congratulations, Lillian! Kyra Thompson Colleague; Producer, Writer, Director n L illian Benson is the special kind of person who makes sure that when she climbs to the mountaintop, she isn't there alone. She will reach back and pull you up with her. And if you are unable to go the distance, she will push and drag you up there. She is a woman who knows the importance of sisterhood, and the need for women of color in the field of editing to support, collaborate with, promote and elevate each other. Lillian has taught us that we need to set an example not just for ourselves, but for the next generation of editors coming up the ranks, who need to see the importance of hard work and conviction to achieve their dreams. Lillian is a talented editor with the highest integrity and greatest generosity of spirit. She has an empathy and moral courage that has never wavered in her work. With her push and pull, I am a proud member of American Cinema Editors today. Jean Tsien, ACE Colleague; Editor n L ong ago, I learned from Lillian — and she wouldn't put it this way — that the relationship between the filmmaker and the viewer is an S&M relationship — and the audience is the M! I learned that the filmmaker's job is to bring viewers into the lives of others and to punish (and reward) them for caring. If it's a comedy, make their sides hurt with laughter; if it's a doc, make their hearts ache with feeling. When I was her assistant, Lillian gave me these wise and cautionary words about the business of filmmaking: "The artists are the ones who suffer because the artists are the ones who care." Lillian Benson knows how to make an audience suffer because Lillian Benson cares. She knows how to reward us, too. Noland Walker Friend/Colleague/Mentee; Producer, Writer, Director n L illian Benson is not only an editor who can handle the front end and bring a project home, but she can come in during the middle or near the end and add the kind of corrections and additions that make an exemplary story. When I called her for Maya Angelou and Still I Rise, she recalled a personal experience of being in Maya's home. Her sense of history and the need for depth in each frame of the story is to be admired. She understood the importance of the story and the need for creativity and truth in the edit. So, she arranged her calendar to come from Los Angeles to Chicago to help myself and co- director Bob Hercules finish the project. Her integrity in thought and editing is known in the industry. She came highly recommended and did not disappoint. She brought our composer Steven James Taylor to the project, having both an eye and an ear for the project. In an unscripted documentary, the editor often functions as a writer. When we were almost there, Lillian functioned as an editor in both the literal and figurative sense of the word. Her attention to detail and helpful critique finessed the project so that it could flow smoothly, pause well and succeed at telling the extraordinary story. That would be my one word for Lillian: Extraordinary. If given two more words: Thank you. Rita Coburn Whack Colleague; Director, Producer n I t's hard for me to imagine anyone more qualified to receive the Fellowship and Service award than Lillian Benson; she certainly embodies all of the Editors Guild's values. For me, however, she is far more than a generous, professional, collegial spirit. She's my foxhole buddy — "Miss Lilly" — someone I can count on to have my back when the going gets tough. Lillian and I go way back. We teamed up for the first time on a PBS science series. Both of us were newbies. It was her first show in Los Angeles and my first crack at nature filmmaking as a producer/director steeped in history re-enactments and special effects; what a bumpy first ride. The unpredictable "nature" of nature, coupled with the rookie expectation of control, yielded embarrassing amounts of blown coverage that limited editing options. And yet, each day she showed up like a trooper, bringing a calm optimism and confidence to the editing room...a life-saving skill particularly useful after executive screenings. Thanks to Lillian's unflinching vision and confidence, the opening episode of Season Four of the Infinite Voyage science series, "The Keepers of Eden," premiered not only successfully but went on to receive the Cine Golden Eagle Award. As for me, I survived the smoke and fury of that first project thanks to Lillian's cool counsel and calm under fire. I'm sure to outsiders the struggle was never obvious. But I know otherwise, and so Lillian became "Miss Lilly" to me, as she will always be. Lillian is a creative problem-solver, gracious team player and skillful storyteller for any director lucky enough to have her on the team. Richard J. Wells Colleague; Producer