Michael Kahn (film editor)


Michael Kahn is an American film editor. His credits range from TV's Hogan's Heroes to feature films directed by George C. Scott and Steven Spielberg, with whom he has had an extended, notable collaboration for over 40 years.

Life and career

Kahn was born in New York City. In 2012 he stopped creating film, significantly longer than most other professional film editors. In 2008, Kahn acknowledged that "people find it hard to believe that Steven and I still edit film on a Moviola and a KEM. Steven feels film got us where we are today and he loves the smell of it and feel of it. We started that way and both really enjoy it." George Lucas remarked "Michael Kahn can cut faster on a Moviola than anybody can cut on an Avid." Since The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, Kahn has edited Spielberg's films on an Avid machine, though he has edited digitally before for projects like Twister.

Awards

With eight Academy Award nominations, Kahn tied with Thelma Schoonmaker for being the most-nominated editor in Academy Awards history. In addition Kahn holds the record for the most wins in the category of the Academy Awards for Best Film Editing, tied with Schoonmaker, Daniel Mandell, and Ralph Dawson. All of the films for which he won Oscars were directed by Steven Spielberg: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Schindler's List, and Saving Private Ryan.
He has also received six BAFTA nominations for Best Editing, winning two for Schindler's List and Fatal Attraction.
Kahn has been selected for membership in the American Cinema Editors. In 2011, he received the Career Achievement Award of the American Cinema Editors. At the ceremony, Steven Spielberg said of editing: "this is where filmmaking goes from a craft to an art." In November 2013, Spielberg created the Michael Kahn Endowed Chair in Editing at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts in honor of Kahn. The first to be appointed to the position was Norman Hollyn.

Filmography