postPerspective Update

Ford v Ferrari’s co-editors talk workflow
By Oliver Peters

After a failed attempt to acquire European carmaker Ferrari, an outraged Henry Ford II sets out to trounce Enzo Ferrari on his own playing field — automobile endurance racing. That is the plot of 20th Century Fox’s Ford v Ferrari, directed by James Mangold. At first, Ford’s effort falls short, leading him to independent car designer Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon). Shelby’s outspoken lead test driver Ken Miles (Christian Bale) complicates the situation by making an enemy out of Ford senior VP Leo Beebe.

Nevertheless, Shelby and his team are able to build one of the greatest race cars ever — the GT40 MkII — setting up a showdown between the two auto legends at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The challenge of bringing this clash of personalities to the screen was taken on by Mangold (Logan, Wolverine, 3:10 to Yuma) and his team of long-time collaborators.

I spoke with film editors Michael McCusker, ACE, (Walk the Line, 3:10 to Yuma, Logan) and Andrew Buckland (The Girl On the Train) — both of whom were recently nominated for an ACE Eddie Award for their work on the film — about what it took to bring Ford v Ferrari together.

The post team for this film has worked with James Mangold on quite a few films. Tell me a bit about the relationship.
Michael McCusker: I cut my very first movie, Walk the Line, for Jim 15 years ago and have since cut his last six movies. I was the first assistant editor on Kate & Leopold, which was shot in New York in 2001. That’s where I met Andrew, who was hired as one of the local New York film assistants. We became fast friends. Andrew moved out to LA in 2009, and I hired him to assist me on Knight & Day.

I always want to keep myself available for Jim — he chooses good material, attracts great talent and is a filmmaker who works across multiple genres. Since I’ve worked with him, I’ve cut a musical movie, a western, a rom-com, an action movie, a straight-up superhero movie, a dystopian superhero movie, and now a racing film.

It must be great not to get typecast for any particular cutting style.
McCusker: Exactly. I worked for David Brenner for years as his first. He was able to cross genres, and that’s what I wanted to do. I knew even then that the most important decisions I would make would be choosing projects.