Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1488780
74 C I N E M O N T A G E U N I O N M A D E got into post- production as a sound editor. I edited 35mm film for the first time and received my first feature credit. N o t t o o l o n g a f t e r w a r d , t h e U S C Mafia looked set once again to influence my career. Another fellow alumnus was working on director John Carpenter 's now-classic horror film, "Halloween," and needed an editing assistant. Unfortunately, this time I lost out to a union assistant who had worked on "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." My next feature was working on "The Fog." I was a gopher for the art department, but I did meet the movie's co-editor, who needed help doing dailies while he was cutting. (There was no pay, but it meant further feature editing experience.) After several months in post, the movie went into reshoots. I ended up getting paid for the reshoot and notched my first credit as an assistant editor. Over the course of the next nine years, I built my feature resume with close to a doz- en credits as an associate/assistant editor. All the films were non-union, which was the downside (flat-rate pay, no benefits). The upside? I had made a reputation as a hard worker and an excellent assistant. My first and last movie of the week, "Broken Angel," was in 1988. The pro - d u c t i o n w e n t u n i o n m i d w a y t h ro u g h filming. However, I was told by the Guild that post-production was not part of the agreement, and once again, I was out of luck. T w e l v e y e a r s h a d p a ss e d s i n c e my career launch — but the zeitgeist of the film business was changing. Independent movies were flourishing and opening up the industry to new voices and new audiences. What's more, unionism was under new threats from the Reagan administration and its anti-labor policies. I spoke to a Guild representative about my situation. The rep did some research and determined that through my movie-of-the- week work I had, indeed met the criteria for union membership. Finally, at long last, I became a union member. That wasn't the end of career struggles, of course. I still had to find jobs! I got lucky and was hired on a non-union movie directed by James Cameron, "The Abyss." That meant going on location. After returning to Los Angeles, "The Abyss" was union- organized and I reaped the long-awaited benefits of working on a union project. My last USC Mafia connection was made with Walter Murch (an original member of the USC Mafia), who agreed to take the editor's position on "House of Cards" and do a recut. Editorial would be at Skywalker Ranch near his Bolinas home because Wal- ter needed to be in the San Francisco area for future project meetings. The producers offered me the job at Skywalker to work with Walter. Taking the job would be a career-changer. He became my mentor and, most important, a friend. I worked with Walter on four more union films over the following years. Today, I'm retired as a lifetime member of the Guild with the benefits that I earned and enjoy to this day. It's been quite a jour- ney and for that I say: Hallelujah! ■ Joe Woo Jr. is a retired Assistant Editor whose credits include "House of Cards," "The Abyss" and "Crimes of Passion." The poster for "Opening Night," the film that gave Woo his first feature credit.