Ep 174: Cutting Edge, a Journey with Canadian Video Editor Christopher Donaldson

Welcome to another episode of our podcast, where we delve into the fascinating world of filmmaking.Today, we have the pleasure of hosting Christopher Donaldson, a seasoned video editor whose work spans an extensive variety of dramatic and documentary features and television.Christopher's impressive credits include Sarah Polley’s “Women Talking” and “Take This Waltz”, David Cronenberg’s “Crimes of the Future”, "Reacher" for Amazon Prime, "The Handmaid's Tale" for Hulu, Atom Egoyan's "Remember", and "Penny Dreadful" for Showtime/SkyAtlantic. His work for television includes "Vikings" for History/Shaw, “Flashpoint” for CBS/CTV, "The Kids in the Hall: Death Comes To Town" for CBC, and "Slings & Arrows" for TMN/Showcase/Sundance Channel.Born and raised in Toronto, Canada and Seoul, South Korea, Christopher began his journey in filmmaking with short videos in high school before attending Queen's University, where he received his BAH in Film in 1994.Upon graduating, he embarked on his editing apprenticeship in Toronto, working under noted Canadian film editors Ronald Sanders, Susan Maggi, and Reginald Harkema.Christopher's editing career took off with director Alan Zweig, with whom he shared a passion project/obsession - the film "Vinyl". Over the years, he continued to pursue a personal and passionate approach to editing and collaboration, making films with directors Kevin McMahon, Peter Wellington, and two more "Mirror" documentaries with Alan Zweig.It was with Peter Wellington that Christopher moved into dramatic television, editing all 18 episodes of the acclaimed "Slings & Arrows".His exceptional work has earned him two Director's Guild of Canada awards for "Slings & Arrows", a Gemini Award for "The Border", and a Canadian Cinema Editors award for "Penny Dreadful".Apart from editing, Christopher is also the writer and director of the film "2:14pm", part of a compilation entitled "Little Films About Big Moments".In this episode, we delve into Christopher's journey, his approach to editing, his collaborations, and his transition from documentaries to dramatic television. Stay tuned for an insightful conversation about the art and craft of storytelling through editing.Also, you can check out my documentary The People of Brixton, on Kwelitv here: https://www.kweli.tv/programs/the-people-of-brixtonDamien Swaby Social Media Links:Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/filmmaker_damien_swaby/Twitterhttps://twitter.com/DamienSwaby?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5EauthorWebsitehttp://filmmakingconversations.com/If you enjoy listening to Filmmaking Conversations with Damien Swaby, I would love a coffee. Podcasting is thirsty work https://ko-fi.com/damienswaby