CATEGORY: Film Editing
SPEECH BY: Margaret Sixel
FILM: MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
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Q. Congratulations on your win. This is fabulous. The film has won six Oscars tonight. Many of the recipients have been women like yourself so I wanted to get your thoughts on women filmmakers and women working on this kind of film and other films like action films in the future.
A. You mean are women underrepresented? I guess that's an understatement. I think there is some prejudice that women can't cut action, but I'm hoping that will change with the STAR WARS girls and me. I just ‑‑ I think it will change. I think it's already changing, don't you? That's my personal feeling. And you just watch. In the next ten years, I think the balance will come back in our favor, hopefully.
Q. It's so wonderful. Now, George tells us that there is possibly another MAD MAX coming not too far down the road?
A. Not if I have anything to do with it.
Q. You did have a little bit of raw material to work with, with this. Would you do it again?
A. Are you putting me on the spot here?
Q. Yes, I am.
A. I'd like to do a small one in between. Am I allowed to say that? Can we just do like something we can shoot in six weeks and cut in three months? Yeah, that would be good.
Q. Hi, Margaret, congratulations.
A. Hi.
Q. You talked about how you were not sure you wanted to do MAD MAX initially because you didn't see yourself as cutting an action movie. Has this experience changed your mind about the action genre?
A. Yeah. This was actually a lot of fun to cut and I've learned so much on it that I ‑‑ I just feel if I've cut ‑‑ cutting this was extremely difficult film and I just feel it would be a shame not to ‑‑ to take that knowledge on to another film, really.
Q. Hi, Margaret. Congratulations on the win. I wanted to ask you about the ‑‑ someone that you mentioned on stage as you went to the crawl underneath.
A. Did you see that? I wondered what was happening.
Q. We didn't see them, yeah.
A. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Q. The gentleman I'm thinking about was Jason Ballantine ‑‑
A. Yes.
Q. ‑‑ who was listed on the editor of the film until recently, I think March of last year?
A. Yeah.
Q. Can you just talk about his role and what he did on the film and what might have changed?
A. Oh, he just came on as an additional editor to help a few screenings and then left, yep.
Q. Congratulations. Kind of going off what you said about women in Hollywood, but this movie, a sequel, was an action movie with a feminist spin to it. Are there any other action movies out there that you think would be good to be told with a feminist spin?
A. [Inaudible] ‑‑ haven't really thought about that. We have another action film with a feminist spin ourselves so that's about it, really, yeah.
Q. Does gender diversity in the editing room get enough attention and how could ‑‑ what could the industry do to change that?
A. You know, in our cutting room we did pay attention to it, and my post supervisor, Matt, who is an amazing post supervisor, he did make an effort to hire women so, you know, not all guys are bad.
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