Elliot Graham

Not to be confused with Elliot Graham (Canadian football).

Elliot C. Graham is an American film editor and producer known for his work on Milk (2008), Steve Jobs (2015), Captain Marvel (2019), and No Time to Die (2021).

Elliot Graham
Born	Elliot C. Graham (1976-06-08) June 8, 1976 (age 48) Claremont, California, United States
Education	Claremont High School
Alma mater	New York University
Occupation(s)	Film editor, producer

He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Film Editing for Milk and won a BAFTA Award for Best Editing for No Time to Die.

Career

In 1999, Graham received a bachelor's degree in History and Film from New York University.^[1] His first editing credit was for The Last Minute (2001), an independent film that was written, directed, and edited by Stephen Norrington. Graham was initially hired to assist Norrington with editing, but ultimately shared the editing credit.^[2] Graham subsequently worked on two films with director Bryan Singer, X2 (2003) and Superman Returns (2006), both co-edited with John Ottman.^[3] Graham also edited the Singer-directed pilot for the television program House (2004).

Elliot Graham's editing for Gus Van Sant's 2008 film Milk was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing and for the American Cinema Editors Eddie Award. Several critics have written about the editing of Milk, which intermixes archival footage from the era of the film with footage of the actors.^[4]

The challenge was to incorporate so many archival sequences without weighing the story down -- use too much, and the film could start to feel like a documentary. "The trick with the stock footage was when to use it and how much of it to use," Graham says, pointing to the sequence in which Milk and his colleagues await the results of California's Proposition 6 vote as one that makes inventive use of historical records. Here Graham keeps cutting back and forth between news footage from Election Day, with person-on-the street interviews and poll numbers, to Sean Penn and the other actors sweating it out.

— Winnipeg Free Press^[5]

Filmography (as editor)

The director of each film is indicated in parentheses.

• The Last Minute (Stephen Norrington, 2001; co-editor with Stephen Norrington)
• X2 (Bryan Singer, 2003; co-editor with John Ottman)
• The Greatest Game Ever Played (Bill Paxton, 2005)
• Superman Returns (Bryan Singer, 2006; co-editor with John Ottman)
• 21 (Robert Luketic, 2008)
• Milk (Gus Van Sant, 2008)
• Restless (Gus Van Sant, 2011)
• Trash (Stephen Daldry, 2014)
• Steve Jobs (Danny Boyle, 2015)
• Molly's Game (Aaron Sorkin, 2017)
• Captain Marvel (Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, 2019; co-editor with Debbie Berman)
• No Time to Die (Cary Joji Fukunaga, 2021; co-editor with Tom Cross)^[6]

References

1. "Elliot Graham". Film in Focus. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2009-02-18.
2. Restuccio, Daniel (June 1, 2006). "The Editing Process: A Q&A With Superman Returns' Elliot Graham". Post Magazine. Archived from the original on 2024-05-24.
3. Rowe, Robin (May–June 2006). "Post-Production Does the Heavy Lifting on Superman Returns". Editors Guild Magazine. 27 (3). Archived from the original on 2009-02-09. Retrieved 2009-02-18.
4. Caranicas, Peter (December 10, 2008). "Time-jumping movies challenge editors". Variety.
5. "Stock footage enriches 'Milk': Editor Graham uses news as narrative tool". Winnipeg Free Press. February 9, 2009.
6. Chitwood, Adam (January 14, 2022). "'No Time to Die' Editors on Cutting a Bond Movie That's Epic in Time – and Emotion". TheWrap. Archived from the original on January 15, 2024. Retrieved January 15, 2024.

External links

• Elliot Graham at IMDb
• Krickl, Tony (January 28, 2009). "Claremont native happy to be part of the Oscar party". Claremont Courier. Archived from the original on 2009-02-22.