Michael "Mike" McCusker (born June 23, 1966) is an American

film editor Film editing is both a creative and a technical part of the post-production process of filmmaking. The term is derived from the traditional process of working with film stock, film which increasingly involves the use Digital cinema, of digital ...

. He has been nominated twice for the

Academy Award for Best Film Editing The Academy Award for Best Film Editing is one of the annual awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). Nominations for this award are closely correlated with the Academy Award for Best Picture. For 33 consecutive year ...

, for the

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...

biopic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudrama films and histo ...

Walk the Line ''Walk the Line'' is a 2005 American biographical drama film directed by James Mangold. The screenplay, written by Mangold and Gill Dennis, is based on two autobiographies by the American singer-songwriter Johnny Cash: '' Man in Black: His Own ...

'' (2005) and ''

Ford v Ferrari ''Ford v Ferrari'' (titled ''Le Mans '66'' in some European countries) is a 2019 American biographical sports drama film directed by James Mangold and written by Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, and Jason Keller. It stars Matt Da ...

'' (2019), winning the latter. McCusker frequently collaborates with director

James Mangold James Allen Mangold (born December 16, 1963) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Noted for his versatility in tackling a range of genres, Mangold made his debut as a film director with ''Heavy (film), Heavy'' (1995), and gai ...

. McCusker stated that editing is "a dance of the eyes. It's not just splicing two pieces of film together but compressing time, leading the audience, telling the story through images and dialogue."

Early life and education

Michael McCusker attended New Canaan High School in

New Canaan New Canaan () is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 20,622 according to the 2020 census. The town is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Region. About an hour from New York City by train, the town ...

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, where he first began writing and making films. After graduation, he attended

Emerson College Emerson College is a private college in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It also maintains campuses in Los Angeles and Well, Limburg, Netherlands (Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a "school of Public Speaking, o ...

, obtaining a bachelor of fine arts degree in

film theory Film theory is a set of scholarly approaches within the academic discipline of film or cinema studies that began in the 1920s by questioning the formal essential attributes of motion pictures; and that now provides conceptual frameworks for und ...

and production in 1988.

Career

McCusker was mentored by

David Brenner David Norris Brenner (February 4, 1936 – March 15, 2014) was an American stand-up comedian, actor and author. The most frequent guest on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' in the 1970s and 1980s, Brenner "was a pioneer of observ ...

. After graduating from Emerson, McCusker drove across country to

West Hollywood, California West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. History Most historical writing ...

, where he obtained work as a production assistant. Mike McCusker later worked on the television series, ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

''. He became interested in film editing and became an assistant editor on a Showtime

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

called '' Fallen Angels''. After joining the

Motion Picture Editors Guild The Motion Picture Editors Guild (MPEG; IATSE Local 700) is the guild that represents freelance and staff motion picture and television editors and other post-production professionals and story analysts throughout the United States. The Motion Pi ...

, McCusker teamed up as an assistant

to one of

Oliver Stone William Oliver Stone (born ) is an American filmmaker. Stone is an acclaimed director, tackling subjects ranging from the Vietnam War and American politics to musical film, musical Biographical film, biopics and Crime film, crime dramas. He has ...

's bevy of hot shot

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

-winning

. Mike McCusker quickly became David Brenner's first assistant film editor, running the cutting room for five years on films such as '' The Patriot'' (2000) and ''

Kate & Leopold ''Kate & Leopold'' is a 2001 American romantic comedy science fiction film that tells a story of a physicist by the name of Stuart (Liev Schreiber), who accidentally pulls his great‑great‑grandfather, Leopold (Hugh Jackman), through a time po ...

'' (2001). Eventually David Brenner promoted McCusker to the position of associate editor. When film director

asked editor David Brenner to cut ''

'', Brenner was unavailable. Mangold, in need of an editor with whom he was familiar, propositioned Mike McCusker, offering him the prestigious promotion to

. McCusker won the

for ''

'' with Andrew Buckland.

Personal life

McCusker is married to film producer Deirdre Morrison, whom he met while he was additional editor on the film ''

The Day After Tomorrow ''The Day After Tomorrow'' is a 2004 American science fiction disaster film conceived, co-written, co-produced, and directed by Roland Emmerich, based on the 1999 book '' The Coming Global Superstorm'' by Art Bell and Whitley Strieber, and ...

''.

Filmography

As Film Editor

* '' Sax's Final Orbit'' (1997) * ''

Kings Kings or King's may refer to: *Kings: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations. *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh'', an 11th-century epic Persia ...

'' (1998) * ''

'' (Mangold-2005) * ''

Men in Trees ''Men in Trees'' is an American romantic comedy-drama television series starring Anne Heche as relationship coach Marin Frist, which premiered on September 12, 2006, on ABC. The series is set in the fictional town of Elmo, Alaska, and concerns ...

'' ( TV pilot) (2006) * ''

Walkout In labor disputes, a walkout is a labor strike, the act of employees collectively leaving the workplace and withholding labor as an act of protest. A walkout can also mean the act of leaving a place of work, school, a meeting, a company, or an ...

'' ( Olmos-2006) * '' 3:10 to Yuma'' (Mangold-2007) * ''

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

'' ( Luhrmann-2008; with Dody Dorn) * '' Hesher'' ( Susser-2010) * ''

Knight and Day ''Knight and Day'' is a 2010 American satirical action comedy film directed by James Mangold and starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz. The film was the second on-screen collaboration of Cruise and Diaz after '' Vanilla Sky'' (2001). The film fo ...

'' (Mangold-2010) * ''

The Amazing Spider-Man ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is an ongoing American superhero American comic book, comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its title character and main protagonist. Being in the Earth 616, mainstream continuity of t ...

'' (

Webb Webb may refer to: Places Antarctica *Webb Glacier (South Georgia) *Webb Glacier (Victoria Land) * Webb Névé, Victoria Land, the névé at the head of Seafarer Glacier * Webb Nunataks, a group of nunataks in the Neptune Range * Webb Peak (disa ...

-2012) * '' The Wolverine'' (Mangold-2013) * '' Get On Up'' (

Taylor Taylor, Taylors or Taylor's may refer to: People * Taylor (surname) ** List of people with surname Taylor * Taylor (given name), including Tayla and Taylah * Taylor sept, a branch of Scottish clan Cameron * Justice Taylor (disambiguation) ...

-2014) * '' 13 Hours'' (

Bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

-2016) * '' The Girl on the Train'' (Taylor-2016) * '' Logan'' (Mangold-2017) * ''

Deadpool 2 ''Deadpool 2'' is a 2018 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Deadpool. It is the sequel to ''Deadpool (film), Deadpool'' (2016) and the eleventh installment in the X-Men (film series), ''X-Men'' film series. The film wa ...

'' ( Leitch-2018) * '' Ford v. Ferrari'' ( Mangold-2019) * '' Unhinged'' (Borte - 2020) * '' Sweet Girl'' (Mendoza - 2021; with Matt Chessé) * ''

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny ''Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny'' is a 2023 American action-adventure film directed by James Mangold and written by Mangold, David Koepp, Jez Butterworth, Jez and John-Henry Butterworth. It is the fifth and final installment in Indiana_ ...

'' (Mangold - 2023)

As Assistant Film Editor

* ''

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event memorialization, commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or Sovereign state, statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or after the end of a milit ...

'' (1996) (Assistant Editor) * '' Speed 2: Cruise Control'' (1997) (Assistant Editor) * '' What Dreams May Come'' (1998) (Assistant Editor) * '' The Patriot'' (2000) (First Assistant Editor) * ''

'' (2001) (First Assistant Editor) * ''

Identity Identity may refer to: * Identity document * Identity (philosophy) * Identity (social science) * Identity (mathematics) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Identity'' (1987 film), an Iranian film * ''Identity'' (2003 film), an ...

'' (2003) (Associate Editor) * ''

'' (2004) (Associate Editor) * '' Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer'' (2007) (additional editor) * '' Captain America: The First Avenger'' (2011) (additional editor) * '' The Dark Tower'' (2017) (additional editor)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCusker, Michael 1966 births Living people American Cinema Editors American film editors Best Editing BAFTA Award winners Best Film Editing Academy Award winners Emerson College alumni