Honoring Women Trailblazers in TV and Film | Part 2 of 3

It’s Women’s History Month and we continue our three-part series honoring women trailblazers in the TV and film industry. In part one we focused on entertainers in front of the camera. In part two we honor trailblazers behind the camera, specifically those who have made a mark in costume design, cinematography and film editing.

COSTUME DESIGN

The woman with the most Oscars was not an actress but a costume designer. Edith Head won eight Academy Awards between 1949 and 1973. She dressed Hollywood’s most glamorous women of the ‘50s: Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, and Elizabeth Taylor, to name a few. She is also widely believed to be the inspiration for Edna Mode, the eccentric fashion designer in Pixar’s “Incredibles” franchise. She was a true icon who certainly left her mark on the industry.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

It has taken a long time for women to find their place in technical fields outside of hair, makeup, and costumes. Cinematography in particular has long been a male-only profession. The Oscars have been honoring cinematographers since the first ceremony in 1929, but no woman received a nomination until 2018 when Rachel Morrison earned a nod for “Mudbound.” She is a frequent collaborator of Ryan Coogler, with whom she worked on “Fruitvale Station” and the immensely popular “Black Panther.”

This year, Ari Wegner became the second woman cinematographer nominated for an Oscar and the first nominated for a BAFTA Award for “The Power of the Dog.” The Australian has already been honored this season by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards and New York Film Critics Online, among others.

Several women cinematographers have found success at Pixar Animation Studios. Danielle Feinberg directed lighting for the popular films “WALL-E,” “Brave,” and “Coco.” Sharon Calahan directed photography on “A Bug’s Life,” “Toy Story 2,” and “Finding Nemo,” and directed photography and lighting on “Ratatouille” and “Onward.”

The world tragically lost cinematographer Halyna Hutchins last year when she was shot in an accident on the set of the western “Rust.” In 2019, The American Society of Cinematographers named her as a Rising Star, and her peers remembered her as a “cheerleader for everyone around her” and “really generous, really talented, and really upbeat.”

FILM EDITING

While cinematography remains a fairly male-dominated field, film editing has attracted more and more women over the last few decades. Thelma Schoonmaker has edited every Martin Scorsese film since 1980’s “Raging Bull,” and in the process she has earned three Oscars. Before Schoonmaker, Anne Bauchens spent more than four decades editing the films of Cecil B. DeMille. Born in 1882, she was the first woman to win an Oscar as a film editor, doing so in 1940. This year, Pamela Martin is the lone woman nominee for “King Richard.” She was previously nominated for editing 2010’s “The Fighter.”

Other influential film editors include Barbara McLean, Margaret Booth, Dorothy Spencer, and Anne V. Coates, who edited 1962’s masterful “Lawrence of Arabia.” All four women have been honored with the American Cinema Editors Career Achievement Award. Another winner of that coveted industry award was the highly respected and influential Dede Allen, who edited dozens of classic films including “Bonnie and Clyde” and “Serpico.” She was also the first woman film editor to win a BAFTA Award with 1975’s “Dog Day Afternoon.”

Lastly, we cannot leave out Verna Fields, who won an Oscar for editing the 1975 blockbuster ”Jaws.” Her deft, purposeful cuts heighten tension and keep viewers on the edge of their seats.