Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1545125
24 C I N E M O N T A G E U N I O N M A D E By Scott Vickrey W hen I was a kid growing up in Connecticut, my artist father occasionally asked if I wanted to accompany him into the city to drop off some of his paintings. Then we would see three or four movies in a day. My father was a successful painter, but his second love was movies. In the '50s, he was part of the underground film movement in New York City. I always admired my dad and his confidence in pursuing his dreams, and I wanted to be like him. By high school, I knew I wanted to do something creative. I didn't have my father's talent for painting, but I loved photography. While studying that at Rochester Institute of Technology, I took a filmmaking class and made a short documentary about motocross racing, which won several student film awards. While making the film, I realized I loved putting all the pieces together. After RIT, I attended graduate film school at NYU. While working on one of my films, I had a chance to meet one of my idols, the docu- mentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman. He was renting a place near my parents on Cape Cod, and I asked him if I could use his Steenbeck at night. I can't believe I had the nerve to ask, but he said yes. He was always friendly and encouraging. That kind of positive feedback, both from my dad and Fred, made me think I could make it in this business. W h i l e f i n i s h i n g u p a t N Y U, I t o o k whatever post jobs I could get. I worked s y n c i n g d a i l i e s o n t h e f i r s t s e a s o n o f "Saturday Night Live" as well as helping sync dailies on "Annie Hall." All this led to getting enough days to join the New York Editors Guild. PAINTING A CAREER PATH AN ARTIST FATHER POINTED THE WAY TO CREATIVE WORK I met documentary filmmaker Murray Lerner, who hired me to edit a short 3D underwater movie for an amusement park. It was my first job as an editor. For some reason, he saw something in me, possibly as a pair of hands or because of the budget. That led to meeting someone who got me a job as an assistant on "The Warriors" while they were filming in New York, which led to an opportunity to work with editor Marion Rothman on the Alan Pakula film, "Starting Over." At the interview, Marion said she worked only on a moviola, but I had worked only on flatbeds…so… I lied! I said whatever I had to say to get the job, and I was hired. Luckily, I wasn't the first assistant, so I faked my way through it. My next lucky break came when I met editor Lynzee Klingman, ACE, and ended up assisting her on a film being directed by Mike Nichols. Somehow, through these con- nections, I got a call that Peter Bogdanovich would like to interview me for the editor position on "They All Laughed" during prin- cipal photography in New York. I assumed they meant assistant, but I let it go and went for the interview — and as it turned out, it was for the editing position. The next thing I knew, I got the job! (That was an experience worthy of another article.) I got to spend some significant time with Audrey Hepburn, who was just the best. Peter liked me and asked me to finish the film with him in Los Angeles, which I did. After that, I didn't want to go back to assisting, and it took a while to get another editing gig. I thought my luck had run out, but I had a rent-controlled loft in NYC, and I eventually worked on a couple of low-budget features and a feature documentary about the writer William Burroughs. Because I had learned to use a laser disk editing system, I got a chance to move to Los Angeles to work on a series called "Monsters." So, my wife and kids packed up and moved us to LA. The series got me into the West Coast union and led to the first ep- isodes of "Law & Order," then to miniseries and movies of the week. It seemed I never stopped working after that. Giving back is another positive for me in this business. I joined ACE and became part of the intern program for over 15 years. Teaching at the American Film Institute was another high point. There is nothing quite like having an intern or student come up to you and say you made an impact on their life. I'm so glad I had a dad who instilled in me the confidence to believe in myself, take chances, and follow my dreams. ■ Scott Vickrey, ACE, is a retired picture editor who has been nominated for three Emmys and numerous ACE Eddie awards, winning one for the miniseries, "The Company." He spends his time out of a dark room traveling around the world with his wife. He can be reached at: capelightprod@hotmail.com. Scott Vickrey.