Joel Cox

Joel Cox (born April 2, 1942) is an American film editor. He is best known for collaborating with Clint Eastwood in over 30 films.

Joel Cox
Born	April 2, 1942 Los Angeles, California, United States
Occupation	Film editor
Years active	1969–present

Life and career

Cox has been working in film since appearing as a baby in Random Harvest (1942).[1] He started in the mailroom at Warner Bros. in 1961. Rudi Fehr, a well-known editor and executive at Warner Bros., made Cox an apprentice editor about 3 years later. As was common in the era, Cox worked as an uncredited assistant for several years. His first credit as an assistant editor was for The Rain People, which was directed by Francis Ford Coppola and edited by Barry Malkin.[2][3][4] His first credit as the editor was for Farewell, My Lovely (1975), which was directed by Dick Richards and co-edited by the veteran editor Walter A. Thompson. Cox had just finished working as Thompson's assistant on Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins (1975), which was also directed by Richards. Cox worked on two more of Richards' films, March or Die (1977 - as assistant editor) and Death Valley (1982).

Cox has had a notable collaboration with Clint Eastwood that commenced with the 1976 film The Outlaw Josey Wales, for which Cox was Ferris Webster's assistant. Cox and Webster were co-editors on The Gauntlet (1977) and on several more of Eastwood's subsequent films. Starting with Sudden Impact (1983), Cox became Eastwood's principal editor. Cox has been quoted as saying that, over their 30-year partnership, Eastwood has re-cut only a single scene that Cox put together.[1] Gary D. Roach, who worked as Cox's assistant from the mid-1990s, became Cox's co-editor on Eastwood's films with Letters from Iwo Jima (2006). Cox's long streak editing each of Eastwood's films ended with Sully, which was edited by another of his former assistants, Blu Murray.[5]

In addition to his career in the film industry, since 2000 Cox and his family have owned and managed a vineyard and winery near Paso Robles, California.[6]

Cox won the 1992 Academy Award for Best Film Editing for Unforgiven.[1] He has been elected as a member of the American Cinema Editors.[7] On November 25, 2008, Clint Eastwood presented Cox the first Ignacy Paderewski Lifetime Achievement Award, which is named in honor of the piano virtuoso who called Paso Robles home, at the first Paso Robles Digital Film Festival.[8][9][10] He received a nomination for the 2009 BAFTA Award for Best Editing for Changeling[11] and for the 2015 Academy Award for Best Film Editing for American Sniper.

Filmography

The 2008 Paso Robles Digital Film Festival provides a full filmography of Joel Cox as part of his Lifetime Achievement Award.[12]

Editor

Year	Film	Director	Notes
2019	Richard Jewell	Clint Eastwood
2018	The Mule	Clint Eastwood
2018	Den of Thieves	Christian Gudegast	with David S. Cox, Nathan Godley
2017	All Eyez on Me	Benny Boom
2014	American Sniper	Clint Eastwood	with Gary D. Roach
2014	Jersey Boys	Clint Eastwood	with Gary D. Roach
2013	Prisoners	Denis Villeneuve	with Gary D. Roach
2012	Trouble with the Curve	Robert Lorenz	with Gary D. Roach
2011	J. Edgar	Clint Eastwood	with Gary D. Roach
2010	Hereafter	Clint Eastwood	with Gary D. Roach
2009	Invictus[13]	Clint Eastwood	with Gary D. Roach
2008	Gran Torino[14]	Clint Eastwood	with Gary D. Roach
2008	Changeling[15]	Clint Eastwood	with Gary D. Roach
2007	American Masters Tony Bennett: The Music Never Ends[16]	Bruce Ricker	(TV) Clint Eastwood Producer
2006	Letters from Iwo Jima[17]	Clint Eastwood	with Gary D. Roach
2006	Flags of Our Fathers[18]	Clint Eastwood	with Gary D. Roach.
2005	Budd Boetticher: A Man Can Do That[19]	Bruce Ricker	(TV)
2004	Million Dollar Baby[20]	Clint Eastwood	Clint Eastwood as Frankie Dunn
2003	The Blues: Piano Blues	Clint Eastwood
2003	Mystic River[21]	Clint Eastwood	Original Music by Clint Eastwood
2002	Blood Work[22]	Clint Eastwood	Clint Eastwood as Terry McCaleb
2000	Space Cowboys[23]	Clint Eastwood	Clint Eastwood as Frank Corvin
1999	True Crime[24]	Clint Eastwood	Clint Eastwood as Steve Everett
1997	Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil[25]	Clint Eastwood
1997	Absolute Power[26]	Clint Eastwood	Clint Eastwood as Luther Whitney
1997	Eastwood After Hours: Live at Carnegie Hall	Bruce Ricker	(TV)
1995	The Stars Fell on Henrietta[27]	James Keach
1995	The Bridges of Madison County[28]	Clint Eastwood	Clint Eastwood as Robert Kincaid
1993	A Perfect World[29]	Clint Eastwood	Clint Eastwood as Chief Red Garnett
1992	Unforgiven[30]	Clint Eastwood	Clint Eastwood as William 'Bill' Munny Won the 1992 Academy Award for Best Film Editing
1990	The Rookie	Clint Eastwood	Clint Eastwood as Nick Pulovski
1990	White Hunter Black Heart	Clint Eastwood	Clint Eastwood as John Wilson
1989	Pink Cadillac	Buddy Van Horn	Clint Eastwood as Tommy Nowak
1988	Bird	Clint Eastwood
1988	The Dead Pool	Buddy Van Horn	Supervising editor; Eastwood as Insp. 'Dirty' Harry Callahan
1986	Heartbreak Ridge	Clint Eastwood	Clint Eastwood as Gunnery Sgt. Tom 'Gunny' Highway
1986	Ratboy	Sondra Locke
1985	Pale Rider	Clint Eastwood	Clint Eastwood as Preacher
1984	Tightrope	Richard Tuggle	Clint Eastwood as Capt. Wes Block
1983	Sudden Impact	Clint Eastwood	Clint Eastwood as Harry Callahan
1982	Honkytonk Man	Clint Eastwood	Clint Eastwood as Red Stovall; with Ferris Webster and Michael Kelly.
1982	Death Valley	Dick Richards
1980	Bronco Billy	Clint Eastwood	Clint Eastwood as Bronco Billy McCoy; with Ferris Webster.
1978	Every Which Way but Loose	James Fargo	Clint Eastwood as Philo Beddoe; with Ferris Webster.
1977	The Gauntlet	Clint Eastwood	Clint Eastwood as Ben Shockley; with Ferris Webster.
1976	The Enforcer	James Fargo	Clint Eastwood as Insp. 'Dirty' Harry Callahan; with Ferris Webster.
1975	Farewell, My Lovely	Dick Richards	co-edited with Walter Thompson

Assistant editor

Year	Film	Director	Job	Notes
1979	Escape from Alcatraz	Don Siegel	assistant editor	Eastwood as Frank Morris; edited by Ferris Webster.
1977	March or Die	Dick Richards	assistant editor
1976	The Outlaw Josey Wales	Clint Eastwood	assistant editor	Eastwood as Josey Wales; edited by Ferris Webster
1975	Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins	Dick Richards	assistant editor	Edited by Walter Thompson
1974	The Terminal Man	Mike Hodges	assistant editor	Edited by Robert L. Wolfe
1973	The All-American Boy	Charles Eastman	assistant editor	Eastman's only film as director.
1973	Cleopatra Jones	Jack Starrett	assistant editor
1969	The Rain People	Francis Ford Coppola	assistant editor	Edited by Barry Malkin
1969	The Wild Bunch	Sam Peckinpah	assistant editor	uncredited

Sound department

Year	Film	Director	Job	Notes
1969	The Learning Tree	Gordon Parks	sound assistant

Self

Year	Show	Episode	Notes
2006	HBO First Look	A Moment in Time... Flags of Our Fathers
2005	Ben-Hur: The Epic That Changed Cinema		Video
2002	All on Accounta Pullin' a Trigger		Video
2000	American Masters	Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows
1999	Hell Hath No Fury: The Making of 'The Outlaw Josey Wales'		Video
1993	The 65th Annual Academy Awards		Winner: Best Film Editing
1993	Clint Eastwood: The Man from Malpaso
1992	Eastwood & Co.: Making 'Unforgiven'

Awards

Year	Result	Award	Category	Recipient(s)	Notes
2015	Nominated	Oscar	Best Film Editing	American Sniper	Shared with Gary D. Roach
2005	Nominated	Oscar	Best Film Editing	Million Dollar Baby
1993	Won	Oscar	Best Film Editing	Unforgiven
2005	Nominated	Eddie	Edited Feature Film - Dramatic	Million Dollar Baby
2004	Nominated	Eddie	Best Edited Feature Film - Dramatic	Mystic River
1993	Won	Eddie	Best Edited Feature Film	Unforgiven
2006	Won	Hollywood Film Award	Editor of the Year
2006	Nominated	Satellite Award	Best Film Editing	Flags of Our Fathers
2004	Nominated	Golden Satellite Award	Best Film Editing	Mystic River
2009	Nominated	British Academy of Film and Television Arts	BAFTA Award for Best Editing[11]	Changeling	Shared with Gary D. Roach

See also

• List of film director and editor collaborations. Clint Eastwood and Cox have had one of the longest and most prolific collaborations in film history.

References

1. Kallay, William (2005-03-03). "American Cinema Editors: 2004 Oscar Nominees Discuss Their Craft At The Egyptian Theatre". From Script To DVD. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
2. Ohanian, Thomas; Phillips, Natalie (2013). Digital Filmmaking: The Changing Art and Craft of Making Motion Pictures (Revised ed.). CRC Press. p. 122. ISBN 9781136053542.
3. Ohanian, Thomas (April 1998). Digital Nonlinear Editing: Editing Film and Video on the Desktop, Second Edition. Focal Press. pp. 122–123. ISBN 0-240-80225-X. Not available online.
4. "Santa Clara University Hosts Academy Award Winning Editor, Joel Cox" (Press release). Santa Clara University. 2005-05-16. Retrieved 2008-02-25.
5. Grobar, Matt (December 1, 2016). "'Sully' Editor Blu Murray On Cutting The Clint Eastwood Film And The Biggest Challenges Of His Editing Debut". Deadline Hollywood.
6. Honeycutt, Mira (January 23, 2015). "Joel Cox nabs wine awards and Oscar nomination". Paso Robles Daily News.
7. "Directory Members". American Cinema Editors. Archived from the original on 2004-08-25. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
8. Fox, Matthew (2008-08-05). "Film festival comes to Paso Robles". Paso Robles Press. Archived from the original on 2009-03-21. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
9. "Paso Robles Digital Film Fest will honor film-editor Joel Cox". FilmFestivals.com. 2008-08-13. Archived from the original on 2009-03-21. Retrieved 2008-08-27.
10. Linn, Sarah (2008-11-22). "Local film editor honored: Clint Eastwood kicks off paso robles film festival". The San Luis Obispo Tribune. Retrieved 2008-11-23.
11. "The full list of nominations for the Orange British Academy Film Awards in 2009". British Academy of Film and Television Arts. 2009-01-15. Archived from the original on 2009-01-17. Retrieved 2009-01-15.
12. "The Paso Robles Digital Film Festival announces the first Ignace Paderewski Lifetime Achievement Award for Contribution to the World of Music and Movies, goes to Academy Award winning editor Joel Cox" (Press release). Paso Robles Digital Film Festival November 20–25. Retrieved 2008-09-22.
13. "Clint Eastwood's "Invictus" Will Open Nationwide on December 11, 2009". Reuters. 2008-06-04. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
14. "County Roundup". SanLuisObispo.com. 2008-08-17. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
15. Scott Foundas (2007-12-19). "Clint Eastwood: The Set Whisperer". LA Weekly. Retrieved 2008-01-30.
16. "Press Release: American Masters Tony Bennett: The Music Never Ends". Thirteen/WNET New York. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
17. McCarthy, Todd (2006-12-07). "Letters from Iwo Jima". Variety. Retrieved 2008-01-30.
18. McCarthy, Todd (2006-10-09). "Flags of Our Fathers". Variety. Retrieved 2008-01-30.
19. "Budd Boetticher: A Man Can Do That". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 2008-09-22.
20. Honeycutt, Kirk (2004-12-06). "Million Dollar Baby". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
21. Honeycutt, Kirk (2002-08-05). "Mystic River". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
22. McCarthy, Todd (2003-10-09). "Review: Blood Work". Variety. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
23. "Storyline: Space Cowboys". Warner Bros. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
24. McCarthy, Todd (1999-03-15). "Review: True Crime". Variety. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
25. McCarthy, Todd (1997-11-21). "Review: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil". Variety. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
26. McCarthy, Todd (1997-02-07). "Review: Absolute Power". Variety. Retrieved 2008-02-03.
27. Turan, Kenneth (1995-09-15). "Movie Review: The Stars Fell on Henrietta". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-02-04.
28. "Review: The Bridges of Madison County". Variety. 1995-01-01. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
29. McCarthy, Todd (1993-11-29). "Review: A Perfect World". Variety. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
30. Canby, Vincent (1992-08-07). "Review/Film: Unforgiven; A Western Without Good Guys". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-02-13.

Further reading

• Chang, Justin (2012). FilmCraft: Editing. Octopus Books. ISBN 9781908150684. Chang's book includes an interview with Cox.
• Prince, Stephen (2002). A New Pot of Gold: Hollywood Under the Electronic Rainbow, 1980-1989. University of California Press. p. 197. ISBN 9780520232662. Clint Eastwood's improvisatory approach to filmmaking, wherein he allowed the actors to find their characters and behavior on the set while shooting, found its complement in the stately, unhurried pacing supplied by Joel Cox's editing (Cox succeeding Ferris Webster for Eastwood), on Bronco Billy (1980), Sudden Impact (1983), Tightrope (1984), Pale Rider (1985), Heartbreak Ridge (1986), Bird (1988), and Pink Cadillac (1989). The pacing of the Cox-Eastwood films was at striking variance from the accelerating speed of much filmic storytelling in the eighties, especially in action films. Their eighties work anticipates and collectively points towards their supreme achievement in "real-time" editing, The Bridges of Madison County (1995).

External links

• Joel Cox at IMDb
• "Joel Cox". Archived from the original on 2013-01-25. Retrieved 2008-02-02.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) at The Hollywood Reporter