When Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness arrived on Netflix just as captive audiences were adjusting to stay-at-home orders amid Covid-19, the bonkers docuseries provided just the right type of escapism.
The story of several big-cat collectors and animal-rights activists, centering on the eccentric villain Joe Exotic, immediately captured the cultural zeitgeist and went on to earn six Emmy nominations, including one for outstanding documentary or nonfiction series. It also landed a nom in picture editing for a nonfiction program. Editor Doug Abel (whose credits include Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 11/9 and Errol Morris’ Oscar-winning The Fog of War) describes how the ...
The story of several big-cat collectors and animal-rights activists, centering on the eccentric villain Joe Exotic, immediately captured the cultural zeitgeist and went on to earn six Emmy nominations, including one for outstanding documentary or nonfiction series. It also landed a nom in picture editing for a nonfiction program. Editor Doug Abel (whose credits include Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 11/9 and Errol Morris’ Oscar-winning The Fog of War) describes how the ...
- 8/27/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
When Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness arrived on Netflix just as captive audiences were adjusting to stay-at-home orders amid Covid-19, the bonkers docuseries provided just the right type of escapism.
The story of several big-cat collectors and animal-rights activists, centering on the eccentric villain Joe Exotic, immediately captured the cultural zeitgeist and went on to earn six Emmy nominations, including one for outstanding documentary or nonfiction series. It also landed a nom in picture editing for a nonfiction program. Editor Doug Abel (whose credits include Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 11/9 and Errol Morris’ Oscar-winning The Fog of War) describes how the ...
The story of several big-cat collectors and animal-rights activists, centering on the eccentric villain Joe Exotic, immediately captured the cultural zeitgeist and went on to earn six Emmy nominations, including one for outstanding documentary or nonfiction series. It also landed a nom in picture editing for a nonfiction program. Editor Doug Abel (whose credits include Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 11/9 and Errol Morris’ Oscar-winning The Fog of War) describes how the ...
- 8/27/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Just like the first page of a novel, a series’ or episode’s opening 10 minutes acts like a door. If executed successfully, it will make viewers want to run through that entrance, not just walk through it. Those 600 seconds have to not only grab hold of a viewer, but they also have to set the tone of the entire piece. This year, 18 editors are nominated in the nonfiction program editing category for six unique documentary projects. But each agrees that whether it’s a one-off or a series, those first 10 minutes are crucial.
American Factory
(Netflix)
Editor Lindsay Utz mined footage from 2008 for the opening of the documentary about Chinese company Fuyao reopening a factory in Ohio. “Of course we should open in the past to give the audience context,” she says. From there, a title sequence rolled that served to sum up what the documentary would cover, and then...
American Factory
(Netflix)
Editor Lindsay Utz mined footage from 2008 for the opening of the documentary about Chinese company Fuyao reopening a factory in Ohio. “Of course we should open in the past to give the audience context,” she says. From there, a title sequence rolled that served to sum up what the documentary would cover, and then...
- 8/20/2020
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Seven editors honed footage for Netflix seven-part docu-series “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness,” about the man who owns the largest collection of big cats in the U.S. The telling of the story of Joseph Maldonado-Passage, aka Joe Exotic, is a meta one, including a reality show-within-a-show, and it turns sinister very quickly. After all, there’s an attempted murder plot to sort out.
The first 10 minutes reveal how Exotic winds up in jail, an editing choice made at the behest of Netflix. “Without the promise of things getting bonkers, you don’t know if people will stay tuned,” says editor Doug Abel, the first to come on board the series, in 2017. At that time, he says, the production had a broader concept. “It was about animal trafficking,” he explains.
As director Eric Goode reveals in the series’ opening moments, the instant he’s shown a snow leopard in...
The first 10 minutes reveal how Exotic winds up in jail, an editing choice made at the behest of Netflix. “Without the promise of things getting bonkers, you don’t know if people will stay tuned,” says editor Doug Abel, the first to come on board the series, in 2017. At that time, he says, the production had a broader concept. “It was about animal trafficking,” he explains.
As director Eric Goode reveals in the series’ opening moments, the instant he’s shown a snow leopard in...
- 4/10/2020
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness is the talk of the town, thanks in part to when it dropped—as much of the country began to shelter in place as the coronavirus spread—and its truly bonkers subject matter. Originally a documentary about big cats and other exotic animals being held in the United States by private owners, Tiger King morphed from series to movie back to series and then into a true-crime series about Joe Exotic and a long-running feud with Carole Baskin as it bounced from CNN to Netflix, according to editor Doug Abel. And what viewers got in the seven-episode series is just the tip of the iceberg. "We did end up with a lot of material, characters who didn't make it into the cut at...
- 4/7/2020
- E! Online
Editor Doug Abel provides a behind-the-scenes look at Netflix’s Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness in a new episode of The Hollywood Reporter’s Behind the Screen podcast series.
In a remotely recorded episode, Abel — whose credits include Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 11/9 and Errol Morris’ Oscar-winning documentary The Fog of War — shares how this series started with a look at the treatment of animals and evolved into a story beyond belief that follows several big cat collectors and animal rights activists, centering on breeder and former zoo owner Joseph Maldonado-Passage, aka Joe Exotic. His story ranges from a ...
In a remotely recorded episode, Abel — whose credits include Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 11/9 and Errol Morris’ Oscar-winning documentary The Fog of War — shares how this series started with a look at the treatment of animals and evolved into a story beyond belief that follows several big cat collectors and animal rights activists, centering on breeder and former zoo owner Joseph Maldonado-Passage, aka Joe Exotic. His story ranges from a ...
Not everyone has the motivation (or is brave enough) to quit their job, which they’ve been successful in for over a decade, to make a documentary about some of the international injustices that make them upset. But former investment banker Ami Horowitz did just that with his new film U.N. Me. After watching the Michael Moore Academy Award-winning documentary Bowling for Columbine, Horowitz was so inspired to showcase the injustices he has found with the United Nations that he decided to make a film about it.
U.N. Me follows Horowitz, who served as the film’s co-director, co-writer and producer, as he exposes what truly happens behind the closed doors of the titular international organization. Through interviews and Moore-inspired humor, Horowitz and his co-director and writer Matthew Groff aim to show the incompetence and corruption of the U.N. The two also strive to illustrate how the organization, which...
U.N. Me follows Horowitz, who served as the film’s co-director, co-writer and producer, as he exposes what truly happens behind the closed doors of the titular international organization. Through interviews and Moore-inspired humor, Horowitz and his co-director and writer Matthew Groff aim to show the incompetence and corruption of the U.N. The two also strive to illustrate how the organization, which...
- 6/13/2012
- by Karen Benardello
- We Got This Covered
SAN FRANCISCO -- Like politics and sausage, what goes into the creative process is usually better left unseen. Nonetheless, it makes for fascinating viewing in "Metallica: Some Kind of Monster," the latest documentary by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky ("Paradise Lost", "Brother's Keeper").
Despite its 140-minute length, "Metallica" has good art house potential. Early critical response has been positive, its appeal extends beyond the heavy metal band's rabid fan base, and press attention from both film and rock music editors should give it an additional boost. The film, due for release July 9, benefits from crisp cinematography and well-paced editing -- an achievement in itself, given that it took four editors a year and a half to whittle down 1,600 hours of footage.
Berlinger and Sinofsky shot and assembled the film over a three-year period, during which time the band was threatening to fall part and its efforts to produce a new album nearly derailed by internecine warfare. The bulk of the documentary is devoted to band members carping at each other and their interactions with Phil Towle, a "performance enhancement" therapist brought in by Metallica's management to help the band heal its rifts and whip it into shape for a tour. These encounters resemble contentious family therapy sessions with all the squabbling and recrimination that implies. Amid the "forgiveness," "acknowledgment" and releasing of anger, there is a certain irony and poignancy in watching a band that epitomizes hard driving, hard drinking and hard living engaged in touchy-feely, New Age parlance. Towle, a ubiquitous presence, begins to think of himself as a member of the band. Co-dependent or not, at $40,000 a month, who can blame him for wanting the gravy train to continue?
Although he emerges as a wounded hero, James Hetfield, the band's intense, raging frontman, is clearly in pain -- and a pain in the ass. Money and fame, it seems, do little to ease the suffering of the tortured artist. Fighting addiction and inner demons -- he's in rehab for almost a year during filming -- he maintains a measure of rough-edged personal and professional integrity, even as he tries to dominate the group. When he tells a rowdy audience at San Quentin that he could have ended up dead or in prison if not for music, you believe him.
Drummer Lars Ulrich, who enraged Metallica fans by siding with the music industry in the Napster dispute, comes across as a bit of a whiner. He and Hetfield snipe at each other while guitarist Kirk Hammett tries to stay out of the crossfire.
The late-night carousing and substance abuse take their toll on a middle-aged body while family and mortgage payments make it difficult to maintain the rebel stance. These are rich, aging men in a young man's game, and the discrepancy between image and reality, captured by the filmmakers, makes for engrossing material. The film culminates with a victory lap -- the release of "St. Anger" and a successful tour. It's something of a miracle that Metallica pulls it off and that Berlinger and Sinofsky make you care. Rock on!
Metallica: Some Kind of Monster
IFC Films
Third Eye Motion Picture Co.
Credits:
Directors-producers: Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky
Executive producers: Joe Berlinger, Jon Kamen, Frank Scherma
Director of photography: Bob Richman
Sound recordist: Michael Emery
Consulting producer: Robert Fernanadez
Supervising editor: David Zieff
Editors: Doug Abel, M Watanabe Milmore
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 140 minutes...
Despite its 140-minute length, "Metallica" has good art house potential. Early critical response has been positive, its appeal extends beyond the heavy metal band's rabid fan base, and press attention from both film and rock music editors should give it an additional boost. The film, due for release July 9, benefits from crisp cinematography and well-paced editing -- an achievement in itself, given that it took four editors a year and a half to whittle down 1,600 hours of footage.
Berlinger and Sinofsky shot and assembled the film over a three-year period, during which time the band was threatening to fall part and its efforts to produce a new album nearly derailed by internecine warfare. The bulk of the documentary is devoted to band members carping at each other and their interactions with Phil Towle, a "performance enhancement" therapist brought in by Metallica's management to help the band heal its rifts and whip it into shape for a tour. These encounters resemble contentious family therapy sessions with all the squabbling and recrimination that implies. Amid the "forgiveness," "acknowledgment" and releasing of anger, there is a certain irony and poignancy in watching a band that epitomizes hard driving, hard drinking and hard living engaged in touchy-feely, New Age parlance. Towle, a ubiquitous presence, begins to think of himself as a member of the band. Co-dependent or not, at $40,000 a month, who can blame him for wanting the gravy train to continue?
Although he emerges as a wounded hero, James Hetfield, the band's intense, raging frontman, is clearly in pain -- and a pain in the ass. Money and fame, it seems, do little to ease the suffering of the tortured artist. Fighting addiction and inner demons -- he's in rehab for almost a year during filming -- he maintains a measure of rough-edged personal and professional integrity, even as he tries to dominate the group. When he tells a rowdy audience at San Quentin that he could have ended up dead or in prison if not for music, you believe him.
Drummer Lars Ulrich, who enraged Metallica fans by siding with the music industry in the Napster dispute, comes across as a bit of a whiner. He and Hetfield snipe at each other while guitarist Kirk Hammett tries to stay out of the crossfire.
The late-night carousing and substance abuse take their toll on a middle-aged body while family and mortgage payments make it difficult to maintain the rebel stance. These are rich, aging men in a young man's game, and the discrepancy between image and reality, captured by the filmmakers, makes for engrossing material. The film culminates with a victory lap -- the release of "St. Anger" and a successful tour. It's something of a miracle that Metallica pulls it off and that Berlinger and Sinofsky make you care. Rock on!
Metallica: Some Kind of Monster
IFC Films
Third Eye Motion Picture Co.
Credits:
Directors-producers: Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky
Executive producers: Joe Berlinger, Jon Kamen, Frank Scherma
Director of photography: Bob Richman
Sound recordist: Michael Emery
Consulting producer: Robert Fernanadez
Supervising editor: David Zieff
Editors: Doug Abel, M Watanabe Milmore
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 140 minutes...
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