Debbie Berman
Born (1978-12-28) December 28, 1978 (age 44)
Johannesburg, South Africa
Occupation(s)Television and film editor
Years active2001-present

Debbie Berman is a South African film and television editor. She is best known for her editing work on multiple movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including Spider-Man: Homecoming, Black Panther, and Captain Marvel.[1][2]

Life and career

She was born in Johannesburg, South Africa.[3] She attended High School Victory Park, part of the King David Schools, and was introduced to video editing.[4] She would edit films for school events and personal projects.[4] She began editing television shows and movies in South Africa, before moving to Vancouver, Canada.[3] After editing Space Chimps and Invictus, Berman moved to Los Angeles, where she was placed on the editing team for Spider-Man: Homecoming, Black Panther, and Captain Marvel.[3]

In Spider-Man: Homecoming, Berman suggested re-shoots for scenes of Liz and Peter interacting to make Liz's character feel more genuine.[5] While working on Black Panther, Berman convinced director Ryan Coogler to do reshoots on the final battle scene, to include the female Jabari warriors.[3][6][7] She said that the film's style is based on James Bond and The Godfather and she began work on the production a few months later than the rest of the crew.[8][9] In 2018, she was inducted into the American Cinema Editors[10] Guild. Her most recent work includes being an editor for Love and Monsters, a monster adventure film released in October 2020.[11]

In August 2020, it was announced that she will be making her directorial debut by directing an adaptation of Don Handfield and Joshua Malkin's graphic novel Unikorn, which was published in 2021.[12]

Filmography

Film

As editor

Year Title Director Notes
2005 Within John A. Curtis, Merlin Ward
2008 Space Chimps Kirk DeMicco
2009 The Zero Sum Raphael Assaf Edited with Cheryl Buckman
2011 Touchback Don Handfield Edited with Ryan Eaton
2012 Black November Jeta Amata
2012 The United Amin Matalqa Unreleased
2015 The Final Girls Todd Strauss-Schulson
2017 Spider-Man: Homecoming Jon Watts Edited with Dan Lebental
2018 Black Panther Ryan Coogler Edited with Michael P. Shawver
2019 Captain Marvel Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck Edited with Elliot Graham
2020 Love and Monsters Michael Matthews Edited with Nancy Richardson

Berman was also credited as part of the editorial departments of Ripper 2: Letter from Within (2004), Reflection (2004), Good Session (2015), and The Jesuit (unreleased).[13] She was the visual effects editor for In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (2007) and Invictus (2009).[13]

Television

As editor

Year Title Notes
2001-02 Big Brother South Africa
2003 Big Brother Africa
2004 Making the Cut
2009 Peak Season Three episodes
2010-11 Haven Six episodes)
2016 Mad Dogs Three episodes)
2016 Timeless One episode

Awards and nominations

References

  1. ^ Placido, Dani Di. "'Black Panther' Editor Debbie Berman Talks Cutting A Cultural Icon". Forbes. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  2. ^ Clark, Travis. "'Captain Marvel' editor describes what makes Marvel Studios a unique place to work, and the funny way she got the job". Business Insider. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d "Marvel's Debbie Berman is bringing 'interesting female characters to the screen in movies people love'". The National. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  4. ^ a b "Debbie Berman". King David Schools Foundation. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  5. ^ "Why Carol & Maria's 'Captain Marvel' Friendship Moved You So Much". Bustle. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  6. ^ Plante, Corey. "'Black Panther' Editor Debbie Berman Talks Making Marvel's Oscar Contender". Inverse. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  7. ^ Trenholm, Richard. "Black Panther's editor explains why its reshoots were a good thing". CNET. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  8. ^ Placido, Dani Di. "'Black Panther' Editor Debbie Berman Talks Cutting A Cultural Icon". Forbes. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  9. ^ "Debbie Berman Relies on Media Composer to be a creative storyteller". www.avid.com. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  10. ^ "American Cinema Editors | ACE Directory". americancinemaeditors.org. Archived from the original on 16 October 2017.
  11. ^ "Debbie Berman". IMDb. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  12. ^ Kroll, Justin (24 August 2020). "Armory Films Adapting Don Handfield & Joshua Malkin's Graphic Novel 'Unikorn' With Debbie Berman Directing". Deadline. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  13. ^ a b c "Debbie Berman". IMDb. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  14. ^ Alloway, Meredith (15 January 2019). ""There is a Misconception that Cutting Action is not an Intellectual Endeavor": Debbie Berman on Editing Black Panther". Filmmaker Magazine. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  15. ^ "'The Favourite' leads nominations for Alliance of Women Film Journalists EDA Awards". Oklahoman.com. 21 December 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  16. ^ "The 2018 Columbus Film Critics Association (COFCA) Winners". Next Best Picture. Retrieved 29 May 2021.

External links

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