Cut to Black

For each day in the month of February, the Committee will be highlighting African-American members, both past and present, and their accomplishments. We look forward to showing the contributions and influences African-Americans have had on the industry.

Name: Gershon Hinkson

What’s your job? Picture Editor

List the credits you’re most proud of. As often as I’ve tried to answer that question, I can’t. Each credit has fulfilled me on one level or another and I believe that this is the thing that I’m most proud of.

What are you working on right now? I am working with director Doug Liman and a very talented post-production team on what is shaping up to be the ground breaking sci-fi feature “Chaos Walking.”

Who and what are your influences and/or mentors? My grandmother is my biggest influence and mentor. She was the embodiment of selflessness. It is from her example that I get my relentless work ethic, my loyalty and my commitment to what I do.

What books are you reading, shows are you watching and/or movies you’re excited about? I am re-reading “A Brief History of Seven Killings” by Marlon James (it’s that good), “The Creature From Jekyl Island” by G. Edward Griffin, “Easy Rider, Raging Bulls” by Peter Biskind, “Striking Thoughts: Bruce Lee’s Wisdom for Daily Living” and “Baracoon” by Zora Neale Hurston. I am watching “Chef’s Table,” “Abstract: The Art of Design,” “Outsider,” “The Breakfast Club podcast,” “God Father of Harlem,” and “Grand Designs.” I’m excited about “Chaos Walking,” “McMillions,” “No Time To Die,” “Bad Boys For Life,” “Morbius,” “In The Heights,” “Westside Story,” “Infinite,” “Tenet” and “Soul.”

What would be your superhero name? Tony Stark and Luke Cage made this one easy for me — I’d use my real name.

What are your Black History Month memories, and what cultural or historical impacts have they had on your life? Visiting the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in 1990, during Black History Month, is a great memory for me. Located at 135th Street and Malcolm X Blvd in Harlem, NY, the archives, the manuscripts the rare books, the art, the history and the scholarship on Black culture that the center curates opened a world to me that I am so fortunate to have found. To identify myself within the context of an entire Diaspora – and not just accomplished celebrities, family or neighbors – granted me such a remarkable view of the scale in which people, that look like me, have contributed to civilization. That experience instilled a confidence in me that I continue to carry in every aspect of my life.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given? Be kind to others.

If you could time travel, when would you go and why? I’d go back in time to the moment right before it was decided that people should be persecuted for their differences and shut that whole mess down. Our differences allow us access to so many experiences and perspectives that grant us a higher understanding of the world that we must all live in together.

What’s a little known fact about you? What are your hidden (or not so hidden) talents? A little known fact about me is that I created a short film festival. I created it as part of an effort to bolster economic development in the City of Easton, where I live. Short films from notable industry talents such as Academy Award Winner Roger Ross Williams, Danny DeVito and Matthew Modine have screened their shorts at the festival. Directors such as Doug Liman, Garry Ross and Morgan Spurlock have led filmmaking seminars at the festival. For more info, you can visit moviesatthemill.com. I guess one of my hidden talents is the ability to identify and cultivate a synergy between community, artists, local government and private industry.

What would be your dream project to work on? My dream project would be one that encouraged people to be their best selves, advanced the art form and did at least half of our post-production in the Caribbean.

For each day in the month of February, the Committee will be highlighting African-American members, both past and present, and their accomplishments. We look forward to showing the contributions and influences African-Americans have had on the industry.

Name: Aric Lewis

What’s your job? Picture Editor, Assistant, or Visual Effects Editor, depending on the project

List the credits you’re most proud of. I’m proud of all of them. I’m building a career as a storyteller. I feel each credit is part of the process of learning and growing.

What are you working on right now? Season 4 of “Insecure” (HBO)

Who and what are your influences and/or mentors? What I love about this industry, beyond the storytelling and creative aspects is the collaborative nature of it all. I’m influenced by everyone I work with…and hesitant to try to name the many mentors I’ve had for fear of leaving someone out. I try to watch the people I work with closely in the best and worst of circumstances so I can glean ways to improve at all aspects of my craft; Whether it’s flexibility in my approach to a scene or sequence, fostering better relationships with fellow crew members, or navigating the inevitable political discussions that arise during post, know that if I work with you, I’m watching, learning, and often times taking notes.

What books are you reading, shows are you watching and/or movies you’re excited about? I just started reading both “The Water Dancer” by Ta-Neheisi Coates and “Elements of Fiction” by Walter Mosley. I’m constantly reading whatever children’s book my daughter will let me read to her. “Secret Pizza Party” and “Hop on Pop” are in constant rotation.

As far as what I’m watching, beyond the various lessons on “MasterClass (I can’t recommend it enough), I’m still working my way through all this year’s screeners, (There’s so much great work being done!) but with a toddler at home I don’t make it the actual movie theater very often. My kid loves “Frozen 2” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” so I think I’ve seen those about 50 times since this past Halloween. For TV, I just finished “Watchmen” on HBO and “Messiah” on Netflix. I’m currently working my way through “His Dark Materials” and following “Shameless” and “Power” to the end of their runs. And I’m looking forward to season 2 of “The Boys.”

What are your black history month memories and any cultural or historical impacts on your life? When I was a kid, my father helped create a local youth outreach organization that among other things sponsored community-focused events and provided scholarships to college-bound graduates. He, along with a number of black fathers in my neighborhood, got together because they knew the importance of community. It was very much of the “it takes a village” mindset. The imprint it left on me was knowing that we all have the power to shape our own communities.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given? Don’t be afraid to try. Don’t be afraid to fail.

What’s a little known fact about you? What are your hidden (or not so hidden) talents? I briefly attended culinary school and I can’t whistle.

What would be your dream project to work on? Editing a film or series adaptation of Octavia Butler’s “Parable” series

For each day in the month of February, the Committee will be highlighting African-American members, both past and present, and their accomplishments. We look forward to showing the contributions and influences African-Americans have had on the industry.

Name:  Shannon Baker Davis, ACE

What’s your job?  Picture Editor

List the credits you’re most proud of. I’m proud of all of my work and treasure the experiences and lessons learned from every project. Some of my credits are  “The Photograph,” “The Weekend,” “Insecure,” “Grown-ish,” “Queen Sugar,” my first indie movie, “Armstrong,” “Project Runway,” and  “Top Chef.”

What are you working on right now? A new show for Netflix called “#BlackExcellence,” created by Kenya Barris. I have a movie that will be in theaters on Valentine’s Day, called “The Photograph,” that stars Issa Rae and LaKeith Stanfield.

Who and what are your influences and/or mentors? When I was in undergrad at Howard University, and I decided I wanted to be an editor, I got the best advice from Bill Duke, who was our dean at the time, to go to AFI. That’s really what launched me into the field of Post Production. I met Terilyn Shropshire, ACE at a seminar at AFI and that was the first time I saw a black woman editor, and she happened to be the editor of one of my favorite movies, “Love and Basketball.” She became my mentor and is still a person I go to immediately for advice. I also met another black woman editor, Lillian Benson, ACE while I was at AFI and she ended up inviting me, a young girl new to LA who knew no one in the business, to her house for a Meet-the-Black-Editors-in-LA party. She didn’t call it that, but that’s how I remember it! I was in awe to see a community of black editors that were super successful and cutting major movies! That was when I knew I had a place in this industry.

What books are you reading, shows are you watching and/or movies you’re excited about? The only books I read are children’s books to my daughter and son. (Shout out to “Pinkalicious!”) Shows I love right now are “Fleabag,” “The Morning Show,” “Watchmen” (So sad there won’t be a second season) and guilty pleasures like “Pose” and “You.” There are so many TV series to catch up on, and yet there’s movies like “Goodfellas,” “Dances with Wolves” and any of the “Aliens” movies that I will stop and watch whenever they’re on, even though I’ve seen them a million times. I’m always down for a Marvel movie, a creature movie (no matter how campy) or a 90s black romantic comedy.  I also loved and was super in my feelings over “Marriage Story.” You could say I have pretty eclectic tastes!

What would be your superhero name? The Multi-tasker

What are your Black History Month memories, and what cultural or historical impacts have they had on your life? When I was in middle and high school, I would always participate in my church’s Black History Bowl, where we would have to learn an insane amount of trivia about our history and compete against other church groups. The African diaspora is amazingly full of so many inventors, activists, artists, heroes, and icons. That was when I learned that there is no area of the world, science, art, or culture that we haven’t touched and made an impact on. It humbled me and inspired me. Even now, I still have random Black history facts in my head. Did you know a man named Henry “Box” Brown mailed himself in a crate to escape from slavery? Well, now you do.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given? Anna Wintour said in a documentary called “The September Issue,” that she thought her best trait is that she is decisive. As an editor, I think that’s a trait I want to maintain. I always say we make a thousand decisions a day. Some right, some wrong. But you have to be able to at least make a choice and head in a direction. Years ago, Teri also told me when you’re cutting, always just do what feels right. I still have that in my head.

If you could time travel, when would you go and why? The future of course! I’d love to be able to see if all the hard work I’m putting in now actually paid off. I’d also come back with some lottery numbers.

What’s a little known fact about you? What are your hidden (or not so hidden) talents? I danced throughout high school and college. All types: ballet, jazz, tap, and lyrical.  I played the viola and took four years of Japanese. I also write. I’ve written a horror-comedy feature and a half-hour comedy pilot, and I’m working on more!

What would be your dream project to work on? I like so many genres, so I’ve never been picky. I would love to work on a big budget action-thriller or action-comedy. Call me, Will Smith!

For each day in the month of February, the Committee will be highlighting African-American members, both past and present, and their accomplishments. We look forward to showing the contributions and influences African-Americans have had on the industry.

George Bowers, ACE, a Picture Editor, was born in the Bronx, New York, July 6, 1944, died August 18, 2012.

He worked as a Picture Editor in Hollywood for nearly four decades and was a member of the Motion Picture Editors Guild, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, American Cinema Editors and the Directors Guild of America.

After graduating from high school, he began his editing career being mentored by Hugh Robertson, who was one of the first African-Americans to become a member of the Motion Picture Editors Guild. He worked as an Assistant Editor at ABC. After serving in the military he was employed by Robertson’s company Byro Productions, a small company co-founded by Robertson that produced, wrote, directed, shot, and edited “featurettes.” While employed at Byro, he met Apprentice Editor Irene Brun. They became an item and married in 1969. The first feature film he edited was a television movie titled “…And Beautiful II” (1970).

Bowers taught editing at USC’s School of Cinema-Television and also taught in Cuba at EICTV (Escuela International de Cinema y Television). Bowers mentored younger editors including Sam Pollard, who was the editor on several of director Spike Lee’s films. Sam has mentored many fledgling filmmakers including myself.

The Civil Rights movement provided Bowers the cinematic opportunity to explore the black experience on film and television. Bowers is credited with editing segments for Tony Brown’s “Black Journal” on TV and the blaxploitation action/comedy/crime feature “Come Back Charleston Blue” (1972) for Samuel Goldwyn Jr. He also co-edited with Paul L. Evan the documentary “Save the Children” (1973), a project produced by legendary Producer/Dealmaker Clarence Avant for Jesse Jackson’s Operation PUSH.

Bowers ventured into directing and producing shorts for public television like the children’s series “Vegetable Soup.” American Film Institute awarded him a grant to produce and direct his own short film, “Helen,” the story of a young Jewish woman trying to survive in Nazi-occupied Paris. Bowers also directed a young Johnny Depp in one of the actor’s first films, “Private Resort” (1985).

As an editor, Bowers collaborated with directors Penny Marshall, Joseph Ruben, Eddie Murphy, the Hughes Brothers and Malcolm Lee, just to name a few.

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By Leander Sales
Photo by Tanya Bowers