CineMontage

Spring 2016

Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/681807

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 54 of 59

53 Q2 2016 / CINEMONTAGE the strength of his recommendation. It was my first solo feature and my first Oscar nomination. Before that, I was working on my first TV movie, The Jericho Mile (1979), a film that I took over from another editor with whom Michael Mann, the director, was not happy. It was full of difficult scenes that didn't seem to want to go together in any conventional way. So I asked myself, "What would Jim do?" and I knew he'd throw caution to the wind and be bold. That's all I needed. Jim was my inspiration, and I ended up winning an Emmy and an ACE Eddie Award for the Best Edited TV Movie. Several years later, I was working again with Michael on Firstborn (1984). There were two teenage boys in the movie and Bob Zemeckis called Michael and asked if he could take a look at the boys. Bob was looking for somebody to play the Marty McFly character in his next movie, Back to the Future (1985). Michael was still shooting the film so he asked Bob and his two producers to come and run some scenes on the KEM with me in the cutting room. After running three or four scenes for Bob, we stopped and there was no comment from him or the producers, just a long silence! So I asked, "Well, what did you think of the boys?" And Bob said, "Well, I don't think either of the kids is right for the lead, but I really liked the way those scenes were cut." Two weeks later, he called me for an interview and hired me for Back to the Future — the beginning of a nine-film relationship with Bob and several awards. None of this would have happened without Jim Clark in my life and career as friend and inspiration. We continued e-mailing each other regularly until he could no longer e-mail, but I could listen to his Spotify playlists and feel I was sharing something with him as I continued to write him weekly, even when I had very little new to say. And of course, thanks to his wife Laurence, we were able to come to lunch, tea and coffee with him on our visits to London during his last difficult years. Jim was obviously the best thing that happened to me in my editing career and, most importantly, he was my best friend. I'll miss him greatly. JOHN MARSHALL FULLER PICTURE EDITOR JANUARY 21, 1955 – FEBRUARY 16, 2016 John Marshall Fuller, Sr. passed away on February 16, 2016 at the age of 61. John was raised in the small town of Greenlawn, New York, located on the North Shore of Long Island. He attended Harborfields High School where he achieved recognition for his scholastic, athletic and musical prowess. His late father Jack, an RCA Records executive and weekend jazz saxophone sideman, had a profound musical influence on the Fuller family. John was active in high school as an accomplished oboe and bassoon player, as well as in the local garage band scene on guitar and bass. His love of music would remain a driving force for the rest of his life; in the past five years he learned the alto saxophone. After high school, John attended NYU and earned a BA in the venerated Film and Television program. After graduation, he landed a position as a videotape operator at ABC Television Center West in Los Angeles. In 1988, while working for NBC at the Summer Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea, John won two national Emmy Awards as senior editor. He also won local Emmys and a CINI award. His early years at ABC and NBC coincided with the technical revolution in nonlinear editing; he learned the craft and additionally developed production skills on magazine shows such as Eye on L.A. and Entertainment Tonight. John spent the majority of his professional career editing sitcoms and excelled on the Drew Carey Show (1995-2004) and, most recently, Anger Management (2012-2014). He would go on to direct several sitcom episodes and was an active Directors Guild of America member. When the popularity of programming shifted to reality shows, John edited countless programs for a wide variety of production companies. He also worked on movie trailers, TV documentaries and community videos, as well as his own projects. In the 1990s, John — along with three other working directors — formed the Alan Smithee Band as a musical project just for fun. They hired professional musicians and developed a repertoire of obscure R&B cover tunes. The band was so accomplished that it garnered the attention of some record company A&R scouts. John had many passions that he would share with his friends and family. He was an accomplished coastal sailor, an avid classic British motorcycle rider, a youth music counselor and an alto sax player in the Los Angeles Police Department Band. A true renaissance man, talented editor and director, caring friend, and fully engaged father, John is survived by his loving partner Sally Hallada, his daughter Emily and his son Jake, He was also a devoted brother to sister Kathy Solomowitz and brother Dave. He will surely be missed by many. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you patronize John's recently opened coffee shop, the Coffee Source, at 11400 Ventura Boulevard in Studio City, California. Stephan Gunsaulus PASSAGES John Marshall Fuller.

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of CineMontage - Spring 2016