MPEG Diversity

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.

Today, The African American Steering Committee celebrates the African American men and women who are new members of MPEG Local 700. We’re excited to honor these emerging post production professionals and eager to see what amazing future projects they will help create. Welcome, New Members!

Name: Kenneth L. Johnson, CAS

What’s your job? Supervising Sound Editor/Re-Recording Mixer

List the credits you’re most proud of. I am extremely proud of the work I did on the mini series “John Adams,” which earned me my 3rd Emmy Award. I also have 5 Emmy nominations, 2 Golden Reel Awards, 12 Golden Reel nominations and 1 International Monitor Award.

What are you working on right now? I am presently finishing Audio Post on “American Soul S2” for Jesse Collins Entertainment/BET. I am also the Supervising Sound Editor for the CW’s “Black Lightning” television series, produced by Salim and Mara Akil. I am about to start Audio Post on “The Family Business” for Tri-Destined Studios/BET, as well as “Nocturne” for Blumhouse/Amazon.

What books are you reading, shows are you watching and/or movies you’re excited about? I recently finished watching “Watchmen,” starring the very talented Regina King. I am also looking forward to seeing “Ford vs Ferrari.”

What would be your superhero name? My superhero name would be Sound Canon.

Who and what are your influences and/or mentors? Coming up in the industry, I was fortunate to work with some fantastic Sound Supervisors, such as Mark Stoeckinger, Victor Ennis and Stephen Hunter Flick. I learned a great deal from my time spent on their teams.

What are your Black History Month memories, and what cultural or historical impacts have they had on your life? When I think of Black History Month, the first thing that comes to mind is the adoption of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution which abolished slavery and protected the rights of newly freed people.

If you could time-travel, when would you go and why? If I could travel back in time, I would travel back to Memphis Tennessee on April 4th, 1968. I would try and prevent the assassination on Dr. Martin Luther King. I know that if he had survived, he would have done amazing things to help unite all people.

What’s a little known fact about you? What are your hidden (or not so hidden) talents? My hidden talent or talent that I am not know for these days is that I am also a bass player and played locally and traveled abroad as a touring musician in my earlier years.

What would be your dream project to work on? My dream project would be anything that Oprah Winfrey is producing. I admire her and have wanted to work with her forever.

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.

Earl Watson, Jr., ACE
1948-2012

Earl Watson, Jr., ACE was a talented Editor of more than 60 feature film and television shows. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Earl was a kind and generous man with a big heart, a great sense of humor, and compassion for people and the world.

In college, Earl studied film so he could take classes with a girl he had a crush on. Following his heart led to a long illustrious career in cinema and television.

Being a Picture Editor was truly his destiny.

He was a patient and generous mentor to many Picture and Sound Editors and was a valued friend to his co-workers. He is fondly remembered for his dedication to his craft.

One colleague said, “Earl was a creative soul who taught me a lot – some of it was about editing. Most of all, I will miss Earl’s hearty laugh and stunning green eyes. I would know his laugh anywhere and can still hear it ringing out. And those eyes could light up a room!”

He was a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the American Cinema Editors (A.C.E.), the Motion Picture Editors Guild, and the Director’s Guild of America.

Earl loved working with Reggie Hudlin on:
“House Party” – New Line Cinema
“Boomerang” – Paramount Pictures/Imagine/Eddie Murphy Productions
“The Great White Hype” – 20th Century Fox Corp./Atman Films
“The Ladies Man” – Paramount Pictures/SNL Studios

He also enjoyed working with Gary Hardwick on:
>“The Brothers” – Screen Gems
“Deliver Us from Eva” – USA Films/Baltimore/Spring Creek Productions

His numerous film and television credits also include:
“Everybody Hates Chris” – CBS Paramount Television/CW Network
“Two Can Play That Game” – Screen Gems
“Trippin’” – Beacon Communications
“The Cherokee Kid” – Spring Creek Productions/Home Box Office
“Panther” – Gramercy Pictures/Polygram/Tribeca/MVP Films
“CB4” – Universal Pictures

He had an eye for beauty so he became, understandably, smitten with Halle Berry while working on “Boomerang.”

His nephew, Eric Wilson, is an Editor on “NCIS:LA” and recalls his Uncle saying “even just one frame can make a difference.”

Earl said many years ago he was working on a film when Michael Jackson came into the Editing Room. Michael asked Earl about the white glove on his hand and before long he saw Michael performing with one white (bedazzled) glove!

Earl was a bright guy who loved music, baseball, good food, games, Haitian art, and people from all walks of life. He was a big guy with a big heart. He’d call colleagues into his editing room to play “Jeopardy” on the AVID when he needed a break and wanted to have a little fun. In high school, Earl had a summer job driving a Good Humor Ice Cream truck. He was truly the Good Humor Man to the end of his life.

He died at the age of 64 but lives on in the hearts of those who loved him… and in the rolling credits of his many films!

By James Wilcox

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: Bobbi Banks, AMPAS, ATAS, MPSE

What’s your job? Supervising Sound/Dialogue/ADR Supervisor

List the credits you’re most proud of: “Self Made: Inspired by the story of Madam CJ Walker,” “When They See Us,” “Poetic Justice,” “A League of Their Own,” “August Osage County,” “Straight Outta Compton,” “Speed” and “Selma.” Actually, I’m proud of all my credits as each project holds something special. I’m also especially humbled to have been one of the participants in “Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound” the documentary on Sound Editing by Midge Costin, Bobette Buster and Karen Johnson.

What are you working on right now? Supervising Dialogue/ADR Editor on “Coming to America 2”

Who and what are your influences and/or mentors? I started working at Sound One in New York in administration with Elisha Birnbaum and Jeremy Koch. While there I also worked in the sound effects library, chose sfx for clients, ran the machine room for mixes and started as an apprentice on “Desperately Seeking Susan” with Supervising Sound Editor Maurice Schell. I moved to LA and eventually met Beth Bergeron, ADR Supervisor, and became her assistant. From there I began to edit ADR, then Supervision. I watched Beth create with ADR group what you could feel. John Singleton hired me on my first ADR Supervising gig on “Poetic Justice” with Tupac and Janet Jackson. I watched as Beth created with ADR group not only what you could see, but more importantly what you could feel.

What are your Black History Month memories, and what cultural or historical impacts have they had on your life? Working on “Selma” had a profound meaning for me as it brings back the civil rights movement and what people did and are still going through to this day. Black History Month is important because it can help to abolish what others deem as stereotypical of persons of color.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given? In regard to ADR/group editing, “always make room for the front dialog to be heard,” and “when you are out, pay attention to what you hear around you.”

What’s a little-known fact about you? What are your hidden (or not so hidden) talents? I love to listen, help others, draw, spend time at the beach and mountains.

What would be your dream project to work on?

Working with Meryl Streep (again) and Viola Davis…and the list goes on…Helping others to discover their potential in the industry and in their personal lives. Being part of a community that empowers others to create, take initiatives, and to be seen.

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: Sam Pollard

What’s your job? I am a former Picture Editor, but presently I direct and produce documentaries.

List the credits you’re most proud of: The projects of which I am most proud as an editor are “Style Wars,” “4 Little Girls,” and “When the Levees Broke.” Of the many films I produced and directed my favorite is “Sammy Davis Jr., I’ve Gotta Be Me” which was broadcast on PBS American Masters.

What are you working on right now? I am directing an HBO Doc Series “Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered” which premieres April 5, 2020

Who and what are your influences and/or mentors? Editor/Directors George Bowers and Victor Kanefsky mentored me early in my editing career. Producer/Director St Clair Bourne, for whom I edited several films, was also a big creative influence.

What books are you reading, shows are you watching and/or movies you’re excited about? Book: “Outrageous Conduct,” about the deaths on the set of “Twilight Zone: the Movie;” Movies: “1917 and “Pain and Glory;” TV: “Power”

What are your Black History Month memories and any cultural or historical impacts on your life? Reading the literature of Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given? “Learn to be patient and enjoy the process of filmmaking.”

If you could time travel, when would you go and why? No time travel for me, everyday in this time feels historic

What’s a little known fact about you? What are your hidden (or not so hidden) talents? I love to swim.

What would be your dream project to work on? I’d love to work on a feature film about musician Eric Dolphy.

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: Wellington Harrison

What’s your job? Picture Editor

List the credits you’re most proud of. “I Dream of Jeannie” – Editor – Comedy Short, “Outta Pocket” – Editor – Comedy Short, “The Jazz Funeral” – Editor – Trailer, “Transformers: Rescue Bots” – Assistant Editor – Animated Series

What are you working on right now? Editing a comedy webseries about African Americans navigating the dating world.

Who and what are your influences and/or mentors? Influences: Eddie Murphy, Dave Chappelle, Richard Pryor, Cary Grant, Boots Riley, Spike Lee, Ava Duvernay, Michel Gondry, Lillian Benson, Carol Littleton, Thelma Schoonmaker. Mentors: James Wilcox, Monty DeGraff, Ivan Bilancio and Matt Barrios.

What books are you reading, shows are you watching and/or movies you’re excited about? Books: “Talking to Strangers” – Malcolm Gladwell; TV Show: “The Watchmen” – HBO; Movie: “Upgrade” – 2018

What would be your superhero name? Habitual Line-Stepper

What are your Black History Month memories, and what cultural or historical impacts have they had on your life? In February of 2009, Architect J. Max Bond Jr. passed away. I worked for Max at the time in New York and as a result was involved with once in a lifetime projects like the Smithsonian National African American Museum in Washington and the September 11^th Memorial. Conversations with Max gave me the confidence to switch industries, and in August of 2009 led me to Los Angeles.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given? Be yourself at all times. The alternatives are awful.

If you could time travel, when would you go and why? Forward to 4040 and see if it all works out.

What’s a little-known fact about you? Worked in graphic design.

What are your hidden (or not so hidden) talents? Photography

What would be your dream project to work on? “Star Trek” starring Eddie Murphy

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: Kevin Lee

What’s your job? Picture and Sound Editor

List the credits you’re most proud of. “Rumble Fish,” “Scarface,” “The Cotton Club,” “The Untouchables,” “Malcolm X,” “The Wiz,” “Seabiscuit” (documentary), “Jungle Fever,” “A Bronx Tale,” “Sex and The City,” “Hemingway,” “Kojak,” “The Exorcist” (1973), “Save The Children”

Who and what are your influences and/or mentors? Thinking back, I would say that Maurice Schell, had a big influence on me when I first started working freelance. He showed me the importance of being creative and putting in 110% into my work, especially being a minority in this business. Paul Mazursky showed me that correct preparation, equaled efficiency in accomplishing a job and Francis Ford Coppola, show me that the person on top, can get more done with a crew through kindness and creativity. And last, the understanding I got during my first job in editing was at Titra Sound in New York, which allowed me the rare opportunity to listen to my co-worker’s, one on one stories of their Holocaust Survival and those who lived through Nazi Occupied France and Poland.

What books are you reading, shows are you watching and/or movies you’re excited about? Although I have an extensive library of books, I am not presently reading a book, but working on a screenplay. My favorite books still are “Shogun” and “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”

What are your Black History Month memories and any cultural or historical impacts on your life? Well, I don’t have any specific Black History Month memories, being that I lived all of my life throughout the years as a Black person in this world. The best memory is getting my first job in the film industry, it changed my life’s direction, also when Barak Obama was elected President. But the disappointment of the union not recognizing Martin Luther King’s birthday as a holiday, or Black History Month. There is still an imbalance of diversity in the industry. When I joined the Editors Union there were about 15 black people between both coasts, that was out of 3,300 members. When I retired, 41 years later, there were still less than 30.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given? To think in terms of having a career, not a job, and that it should be a combination of a hobby and either an academic or technical skill, as well as to set my goals and never give up on them.

If you could time travel, when would you go and why? That’s a hard one without effecting my very existence. 🙂

What’s a little-known fact about you? That my older sister was a member of the 60’s singing group, The Chiffons.

What are your hidden (or not so hidden) talents? My love for problem solving and puzzles.

What would be your dream project to work on? Outside of my own feature film and some of the features that I worked on, I think “Avatar” and the “Godfather 2” would have been the dream projects that I missed.

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:  Mike Jones

What’s your job? Assistant Editor

List the credits you’re most proud of. I’m proud most of my work as Editor on “5 South” an independent feature, my first editing of a feature, directed by Christopher M. Boyd. I’m proud of editing two episodes of “A Whole New Irving.” Also I’m proud of my assistant editing work on “Ready or Not” with a mentor and friend Terel Gibson, ACE

Who and what are your influences and/or mentors? Mentors Terel Gibson and Lillian Benson, ACE both took the time to offer me important career advice and included me into an industry where before I didn’t see any people that looked like me at all. Terel also gave me scenes to cut on “Ready or Not” and then explained why it was or wasn’t working. James Wilcox is another influencer of mine: to see a black man win an Emmy in my lifetime is amazing.  My dad and my uncles had the biggest influences on me in my life so far. My Dad was a track all American. My uncle won a Grey Cup and was the MVP of the game so through them I saw early that if you work hard and treat people the way you want to be treated you can accomplish amazing goals.

What books are you reading, shows are you watching and/or movies you’re excited about? I’m currently finishing the last book of “Wheel of Time,” and really excited about the series of it coming to Amazon. The TV shows I’m watching are “Fleabag” and “The Outsider.”

What would be your superhero name? My superhero name would be Wonder Twin. As a superhero, I’d have eight identical mes running around being able to get more stuff done, kind of like Mr. Manhattan.

What are your Black History Month memories, and what cultural or historical impacts have they had on your life? One of fondest memories of Black History month was my senior year of high school. My school offered a black history class for February but decided to keep it for the rest of  the year. It was so amazing to learn for more than just a month about African American history, because before then all I really knew about was Martin Luther King Jr. and when slaves were freed.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given? One good advice I was given at an early age was to treat people the why you want to be treated.  And it’s so true because you never know when that PA will become a Post Supevisor or Assistant Editor will become a Lead Editor.

If you could time travel, when would you go and why? If I could time travel I would go about a week back with the right powerball numbers.

What’s a little-known fact about you? What are your hidden (or not so hidden) talents? A little fact that some don’t know is that I have an identical twin brother. Also In high school I was in DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America) emphasizing in marketing. I place 2^nd place for the Central region in advertising. And I won a KFC script writing commercial contest for the southern region of the U.S.

What would be your dream project to work on? My dream project would be to work on an animation feature.

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.

John Carter, ACE
1922-2018

A Legacy in Post Production

John Carter was a pioneering film editor with over 50 feature films to his credit. However, he started his career in television in New York City when he was hired by CBS television in the mid-1950s. John was the first African American film editor employed by a TV network. He worked his way up to Supervising Editor of their award-winning documentary unit, “Eye on New York,” before he left to start his own company, John Carter Associates. Carter’s first feature assignment was as Co-editor of “Paper Lion” (1968), the George Plimpton football tale. His next feature was “Cotton Comes to Harlem,” based on the Chester Himes novel. In 1970, he and Lora Hays edited the three-hour documentary “King: A Filmed Record…Montgomery to Memphis.” The film featured appearances by Hollywood stars that were friends of Dr. King, but the film had no narration. The voices of the people at the events told the story. It received an Academy Award nomination for best documentary feature.

Carter was nominated for a BAFTA award for editing “Taking Off,” Milos Forman’s first English-language feature. The film was edited on a KEM flatbed. In the four-decade feature career that followed, Carter worked in many genres:

Drama – “Solomon Northup’s Odyssey”  (1984), “The Killing Floor” (1985), “Set It Off” (1996), “Men of Honor” (2000)

Thrillers –  “The Formula” (1980), “Deep Cover” (1992)

Music – “The Five Heartbeats” (1991), “Sister Act 2: Back to the Habit” (1993)

Comedy – “The Heartbreak Kid” (1972), “Boomerang” (1992), “Friday” (1995), “Barbershop” (2002)

Movies with a message – “Lean on Me” (1989), “Karate Kid III” (1989)

Carter was a long-time member of the Editors Guild, the first African American member of American Cinema Editors, and the first African American member of the Editing branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

By Lillian Benson, ACE