The Secret to Surviving 40+ Years Working In Hollywood | with Carol Littleton, ACE

It’s an understatement to say Hollywood is undergoing major changes right now, but are these circumstances unprecedented? I argue things have changed a lot less than we want to believe over the last few months, the major difference is our level of awareness. And what we’ve become keenly aware of is how badly none of us want to go back to normal.

There’s no question the pandemic has caused upheaval and instability, leaving us all wondering if we’ll weather the storm or sink with the ship. As the industry attempts to reopen, we grapple with difficult changes like working from home, safety protocols for returning to set or to the office, and setting boundaries for the health and sanity of ourselves and families.

Though the change and uncertainty we’re all experiencing might feel new, it’s surprising how little things in our industry have actually changed over the last several decades, specifically in regards to the working conditions and the insane demands put upon our time.Today’s guest, Oscar nominated editor Carol Littleton, ACE, who has edited such legendary films as E.T., The Big Chill, Silverado, The Accidental Tourist, Grand Canyon, Benny & Joon, and The Manchurian Candidate, has endured many changes in her long career in Hollywood. She worked her way into commercials, to indie films, all the way up the ranks to working with some of the best directors in the industry.

She successfully made the transition from film to digital, but it was that change that required a greater focus on her movement habits and healthy lifestyle choices to sustain her career and well-being. These habits have contributed to her vitality for her work and her zest for life that you will hear throughout our conversation.

This is the second in our series of archive conversations from the ‘Fitness in Post’ days with hollywood film legends where we clearly see that living a healthy lifestyle, weathering major industry changes, and enjoying a long and successful career are not mutually exclusive (pandemic or otherwise). Learn from the cream of the crop how to be resilient and gracious in the face of adversity, no matter how uncomfortable the circumstances.

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Here's What You'll Learn:

• Carol got her first feature film because...she spoke French?
• How she went from working on small independent features to working with big Hollywood directors like Stephen Spielberg and Lawrence Kasdan
• The big question: How did she get her break cutting E.T.???
• What the biggest creative challenge was in making E.T. a successful story.
• The biggest difference between editing on film to editing on an NLE system (and what has been lost in the process).
• How Carolapproaches a day of dailies and cuts a scene.
• How the physicality of working on film kept her in shape and active all day long.
• The switch to Avid drove her crazy because she was so sedentary!!!
• The difference between your mental agility and acuity is immense when you are sedentary vs being mobile.
• Sleep, diet, and exercise are her top priorities to stay sharp and creative.
• How to fight the fear of thinking that if you stop to take a break from work you won’t get everything done (it’s real, but you can overcome it).
• Turn your work into your exercise to tax your body just enough that it will free your mind to work at its optimal performance level.
• KEY TAKEAWAY: Eating healthy will make you resilient and capable of handling the ups and downs of the industry.
• KEY TAKEAWAY: Eating intentionally, mindfully, and with others is the secret to staying energized throughout the day and keeping morale high.
• Carol’s passion for long walks has taken her through cities and countries across the globe.

Useful Resources Mentioned:

Ep60: Legendary Film Editor Walter Murch On Surviving 50+ Years In Post

Ep50: EditFest 2018 Panel “The Extended Cut: How to Survive and Thrive In Editorial”

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Guest Bio:

Carol Littleton, A.C.E. is one of Hollywood’s most talented and successful film editors. Her editing career spans 40 years, with more than 40 feature films to her credit. Ms. Littleton began a close collaboration with writer-director Lawrence Kasdan in 1981 with his directorial debut, BODY HEAT. She continued her collaboration with Kasdan on eight more films, including THE BIG CHILL, SILVERADO, GRAND CANYON, and their last collaboration on DARLING COMPANION in 2011. Ms. Littleton has also collaborated with director Jonathan Demme on four films, including, THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE.

Littleton received an Academy Award nomination in 1982 for Steven Spielberg’s E.T.: THE EXTRATERRESTIAL. Other films she has edited include PLACES IN THE HEART, TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE (Emmy Award for editing) and the restoration of Erich Von Stoheim’s 1926 classic, GREED. In 1994, she edited CHINA MOON, the directorial debut of her husband, noted cinematographer John Bailey, A.S.C.

More recently, the 2015 release of A WALK IN THE WOODS was Littleton’s second collaboration with director Ken Kwapis. In 2016, Littleton edited her first collaboration with director Jay Roach on ALL THE WAY, a political film dramatizing the first 11 months of President Lyndon Johnson’s presidency after Kennedy’s assassination in 1963.

In 1988, Littleton was elected President of the Editors Guild and served two terms and later in 1998, two terms as Vice President. The Editors Guild honored Ms. Littleton in 2010 with the Fellowship and Service Award. In 2016, the American Cinema Editors honored Ms. Littleton with its Career Achievement Award. Littleton is presently serving on the Board of Governors for AMPAS and on the Board of Directors for ACE.

Ms. Littleton has two other passions in life: music and nature. Throughout her college years, she played oboe in various chamber groups and orchestras and still has an abiding love of concert music. Her formative years growing up in rural Oklahoma, gave her an intimate love of nature. Healthy, hands-in-the-dirt gardening and lug-soled hiking are the perfect antidotes for the dark editing room.

Show Credits:

This episode was edited by Curtis Fritsch, and the show notes were prepared by Debby Germino and published by Glen McNiel.

The original music in the opening and closing of the show is courtesy of Joe Trapanese (who is quite possibly one of the most talented composers on the face of the planet).

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