The Academy Award for Best Sound Editing was an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

granted yearly to a film exhibiting the finest or most aesthetic sound design or sound editing. Sound editing is the creation of sound effects (such as foley). The award was usually received by the

Supervising Sound Editor A sound editor is a creative professional responsible for selecting and assembling sound recordings in preparation for the final sound mixing or mastering of a television program, motion picture, video game, or any production involving recorde ...

s of the film, sometimes accompanied by the Sound Designers. Beginning with the 93rd Academy Awards, Best Sound Editing was combined with Best Sound Mixing into a single award for Best Sound. The nominations process previously took place in two phases. The sound branch of the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion ...

shortlisted seven films during the early 1980s until 2006. Clips were screened at a "bake-off" and branch members voted using a weighted ballot to select up to three nominees. In a rule change on June 30, 2006, the bake-off for the Sound Branch was eliminated. The usual process of a "preferential ballot" submission was instituted resulting in five nominees each year. This is a list of films that have won or been nominated for an

for Best Sound Effects (1963–1967, 1975), Sound Effects Editing (1977, 1981–1999), or Sound Editing (1979, 2000–2019). See Academy Award for Best Sound for a combined list of winners and nominees for Sound Mixing and Sound Editing.

Winners and nominees

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

Shortlisted finalists

Finalists for Best Sound Editing were selected by the Sound Branch from 1981 to 2005. The full membership of the Sound Branch was invited to view excerpts and was provided with supporting information at a "bake-off" where balloting determined the three nominees. These are the additional films that presented at the bake-off.

Superlatives

* Richard King and Ben Burtt have received the most awards (4), including Special Achievement Awards. *

Charles L. Campbell Charles L. Campbell (August 17, 1930 – June 21, 2013) was an American sound engineer who won three Academy Awards for Best Sound Editing. He also served as Governor of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) 1984-1987. Early l ...

, Per Hallberg,

Richard Hymns Richard Hymns (born 18 July 1947) is an English sound editor. He won three Academy Awards for his work on ''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'', ''Jurassic Park'' and ''Saving Private Ryan''. He was also nominated for nine more in the category ...

, and Gary Rydstrom have received the second highest number of awards (3). *

Alan Robert Murray Alan Robert Murray (July 30, 1954 – February 24, 2021) was an American sound editor. Murray was nominated for ten Academy Awards. In 2007, Murray won the Academy Award for Best Sound Editing for his work on ''Letters from Iwo Jima'' (2005). I ...

has the most nominations (10). *

Wylie Stateman Wylie Stateman (born November 20, 1957) is an American sound director, supervising sound editor, sound designer, and post production media entrepreneur. Stateman has supervised over 150 sound projects, resulting in 9 Academy Award nominations, 6 B ...

has the most nominations, without winning an award. He has been nominated nine times .

Multiple awards and nominations

Note: Ben Burtt and

Stephen Hunter Flick Stephen Hunter Flick (born June 21, 1949, in Evanston, Illinois) is an American sound editor with over 170 film credits. Oscar Nominations All of these are in Best Sound Editing, with one being a Special achievement award. * 1982 Academy Awa ...

both have Special Achievement Awards in addition to their competitive awards. These have been included with their award and nomination count. The only sound editor to date who has a Special Achievement Award and has an Oscar nomination but not a competitive award is Richard L. Anderson.

Multiple awards

;4 awards * Richard King * Ben Burtt † ;3 awards *

* Per Hallberg *

* Gary Rydstrom ;2 awards *

Bub Asman Bub Asman (born August 17, 1949, in Louisville, Kentucky) is a sound editor known for his collaborations with director Clint Eastwood. He and his colleagues on the 2006 film ''Letters from Iwo Jima'' won the Academy Award for Best Sound Editing ...

Karen Baker Landers Karen Baker Landers is a two-time Academy Award-winning sound editor. She also has won and been nominated for several Motion Picture Sound Editors awards as well as winning the BAFTA Award for Best Sound. She often works with Per Hallberg. She h ...

* Christopher Boyes * Mike Hopkins *

† *

* Paul N. J. Ottosson * George Watters II *

Ethan Van der Ryn Ethan Van der Ryn (born October 21, 1962) is an American sound editor. He won 2 Academy Awards for Best Sound Editing for '' The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers'' and ''King Kong''. He earned further Academy Awards nominations for ''Transf ...

Multiple nominations

;10 nominations *

;9 nominations *

;8 nominations * Gary Rydstrom * George Watters II * Ben Burtt † ;7 nominations *

;6 nominations *

* Christopher Boyes * Richard King *

Michael Silvers Michael Silvers is a sound editor who has often worked with Pixar. He has worked on nearly every Pixar feature film. He has over 110 credits to his name. Oscar history All of these films were for Best Sound Editing. * 74th Academy Awards-Nom ...

;5 nominations *

† *

Mark Mangini Mark Mangini (born 1956) is an American sound editor with over 125 film credits. He won the 2015 Academy Award for Best Sound Editing along with David White for their work on '' Mad Max: Fury Road''. Mangini is renowned for recording and ed ...

Bruce Stambler Bruce Stambler is a sound editor. He won the Academy Award for Best Sound Editing for the drama thriller film ''The Ghost and the Darkness'' (1996). This marked both his first win and fifth consecutive nomination in the category, after being r ...

* Matthew Wood ;4 nominations *

Lon Bender Lon Ethan Bender (born July 22, 1959) is an American supervising sound editor, business executive and inventor. Bender won the Academy Award for Best Sound Effects Editing for his work on ''Braveheart'' (1995). He has been recognized for numerou ...

* Per Hallberg * John Leveque *

Randy Thom David Randall Thom (born August 21, 1951) is an American sound designer and the current director of sound design at Skywalker Sound. Career Randy Thom began working at FM radio station WYSO at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio as a volunte ...

;3 nominations * Richard L. Anderson † * Mike Hopkins *

Skip Lievsay Skip Lievsay is an American supervising sound editor, re-recording mixer and sound designer for film and television, Lievsay has worked with filmmakers and directors including the Coen brothers, Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee, Jonathan Demme and Rober ...

* Paul N. J. Ottosson * Mark Stoeckinger ;2 nominations *

Erik Aadahl Erik Aadahl (born September 16, 1976) is an American sound editor. He is best known for providing Godzilla's roar in the 2014 film of the same name. He also voiced Bumblebee in '' Transformers: The Last Knight''. Career He graduated from the ...

Tom Bellfort Tom Bellfort is a sound editor. He has done sound editing on over 80 films since 1983. He was a member of The Saul Zaentz Film Center, Skywalker Sound, and Soundelux. Filmography Select titles Bellfort worked on at Skywalker Sound *''The Youn ...

* Steve Boeddeker * Gloria Borders * Robert Bratton *

Brent Burge Brent Burge is a sound editor. Burge was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Sound Editing The Academy Award for Best Sound Editing was an Academy Award granted yearly to a film exhibiting the finest or most aesthetic sound design or soun ...

* Glenn Freemantle * Eugene Gearty * Cecelia Hall * Robert G. Henderson *

Martin Hernández Martin Hernández (born 1 June 1964) is a Mexican sound editor and designer. He was nominated for two Academy Awards for his work on the films '' Birdman'' (2014) and '' The Revenant'' (2015), the latter of which also earned him a British Academy ...

* Mildred Iatrou Morgan *

Ren Klyce Ren Klyce is a Japanese-American sound designer and sound mixer. He has been nominated for nine Academy Awards; six for Best Sound and three for Best Sound Editing. He is best known for his frequent collaborations with director David Fincher, ...

* Ai-Ling Lee * Tom Myers *

Walter Rossi Walter Rossi (July 12, 1894 – February 12, 1978) was a sound editor who won 1 Academy Award and was nominated for 2 more Academy Awards. Oscar nominations * 1957 Academy Awards-Award for ''The Enemy Below'' in the category of Best Special E ...

* Philip Stockton * Oliver Tarney * Gwendolyn Yates Whittle † = includes special achievement awards

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Academy Award For Best Sound Editing Sound Editing Sound Editing Film sound awards *