The ACE Eddie Awards celebrated standout editing across film and television, with several Oscar hopefuls and special honorees recognized at UCLA
American Cinema Editors held its annual celebration at UCLA’s Royce Hall, recognizing the craft of film and television editing. The ceremony reinforced several emerging awards-season trajectories. Editors from high-profile, awards-bound projects collected trophies across categories divided by genre and format.
The organization’s category structure departs from the single Academy Award for editing. That split offered a clearer snapshot of peer recognition within the profession. Hosts and presenters balanced competitive honors with lifetime tributes. The evening combined current achievements and career-long contributions.
The emperor has no clothes, and I’m telling you: the event made visible who the editing community values now. The division of categories highlighted specialization across film and television. It also underscored which projects benefit from concentrated peer support.
Let’s tell the truth: the night’s feature film winners functioned as both recognition and signal. The awards highlighted editing choices that prioritized narrative clarity, rhythmic pacing and emotional economy. Winners tended to be films whose editorial strategies were integral to storytelling rather than decorative.
The ceremony reaffirmed which films enjoy concentrated peer support among editors. Those selections often mirror Academy preferences, because editors and voters prize similar craft criteria: seamless temporal structure, coherent point of view and purposeful cutting. That alignment does not guarantee Academy wins, but it does shape awards-season momentum.
Rivalries emerged around films that split opinion over technique versus audacity. Some contenders were lauded for bold, disruptive approaches to chronology and montage. Others won praise for subtle, invisible edits that preserved dramatic continuity. The competition underscored a wider debate on whether innovation or unobtrusiveness better serves modern film narratives.
Special honors at the event emphasized long-term contribution rather than a single-season achievement. Lifetime recognitions and career tributes were presented to editors and filmmakers whose work influenced training, standards and editorial language across decades. These awards reiterated the profession’s valuation of mentorship, pedagogy and sustained technical leadership.
The ceremony also served as a barometer for industry priorities. Technical categories highlighted evolving workflows, including collaboration between editorial and visual effects teams. Narrative awards spotlighted projects that used editing to negotiate tone shifts, non-linear timelines and hybrid documentary-fiction forms.
The emperor has no clothes, and I’m telling you: peer recognition in editing still matters because it clarifies craft hierarchies that commercial box office cannot. The evening’s choices mapped where the editing community places its aesthetic and professional bets this season.
The awards, tributes and debates combined to offer a clear editorial judgment on which films and practices are likely to influence future productions. The ceremony capped the editors’ season assessment and set expectations for the months ahead.
The ceremony capped the editors’ season assessment and set expectations for the months ahead.
Let’s tell the truth: the Eddie Awards’ decision to separate theatrical features into comedy and drama produced unmistakable winners. One Battle After Another won Best Edited Feature Film, Comedy; Andy Jurgensen was credited for the editing. Sinners won Best Edited Feature Film, Drama; Michael P. Shawver received the editing credit. Both editors also appear on the Academy’s single editing shortlist, and those Eddie victories further raise their profiles as final Oscar voting approaches.
The awards also acknowledged other theatrical contenders that remain part of awards-season dialogue. Sentimental Value, Marty supreme and F1 earned recognition or nominations from the American Cinema Editors. Their presence on the Eddie ballots reinforces the films’ visibility among editors and voters who shape later-season outcomes.
Let’s tell the truth: the Eddie Awards reinforced momentum for several Netflix releases in feature categories. KPop demon hunters won Best Edited Animated Feature for Nathan Schauf, and The Perfect Neighbor took Best Edited Documentary Feature for Viridiana Lieberman. Those victories increase both titles’ visibility as they advance toward their respective Oscar campaigns. The results also highlight a recurring discrepancy: some high-profile competitors, including BAFTA-winning documentaries, did not appear on every Eddie ballot. The Eddie outcomes are still treated as a bellwether for peer sentiment, even though the membership and voting pools differ from the Academy’s.
Let’s tell the truth: the Eddie Awards’ television prizes underscored craft over celebrity, privileging editorial risk and tonal precision. The ceremony recognized achievements across single-camera comedy, multi-camera programs, drama series, limited series and nonfiction categories.
The Studio won Best Edited Single-Camera Comedy Series for editor Eric Kissack. Frasier took the Multi-Camera Comedy Series award. In drama, Mark Strand was honored for The Pitt (episode “6 p.m.”). Henk van Eeghen received Best Edited Limited Series for The Penguin (finale “A Great or Little Thing”). These selections emphasize how structural complexity—particularly in finales and single-camera comedies—resonates with editing peers and often serves as a bellwether for industry sentiment.
Let’s tell the truth: the evening amplified craft beyond spectacle. The ceremony awarded nonfiction, animation and short-form work alongside television prizes.
Pee-wee as Himself – Part One won best edited documentary series. The judges cited its pacing and archival integration.
Conan O’Brien Must Go (Austria) took best edited non-scripted series. Editors were praised for balancing humor with logistical complexity.
The contentious South Park episode “Twisted Christian” received the award for best edited animated series, credited to editors David List and Nate Pellettieri.
The short film prize went to All The Empty Rooms, edited by Erin Casper, Stephen Maing and Jeremy Medoff. The entry was noted for its economical rhythm and emotional clarity.
The student Anne V. Coates Award recognized Luis Barragan of California State University, Fullerton for excellence in emerging editorial talent.
The emperor has no clothes, and I’m telling you: these selections illustrate a shift. Judges appear to reward editorial risk and tonal precision over celebrity name recognition.
Judges appear to reward editorial risk and tonal precision over celebrity name recognition. Let’s tell the truth: the evening amplified craft beyond spectacle.
The editors’ guild also presented lifetime and visionary prizes to acknowledge sustained contributions to editing and storytelling. Director Ang Lee received the ACE Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award for his long career and collaborative work with editors. Editors Arthur Forney and Robert Leighton were each honored with ACE Career Achievement awards, recognizing extensive bodies of work in television and film editing respectively.
The ACE Visionary Award was presented to YouTube. The award was accepted by Kim Larson in recognition of the platform’s evolving role in storytelling and creator-driven formats. The ceremony was hosted by Asif Ali and included an In Memoriam segment remembering editors and collaborators from the community.
The awards underscored the ceremony’s emphasis on craft, collaboration and changing platforms for narrative work.
The awards underscored the ceremony’s emphasis on craft, collaboration and changing platforms for narrative work. Let’s tell the truth: the night rewarded precision and peer recognition more than star power.
Onstage winners in major categories included Sinners (Michael P. Shawver) for Best Edited Feature Film (Drama), One Battle After Another (Andy Jurgensen) for Best Edited Feature Film (Comedy), and Kpop demon hunters (Nathan Schauf) for Best Edited Animated Feature.
Additional top honors went to The Perfect Neighbor (Viridiana Lieberman) for Best Edited Documentary Feature, The Pitt (Mark Strand) for Best Edited Drama Series and The Penguin (Henk van Eeghen) for Best Edited Limited Series.
Other awards recognized excellence across variety, short-form and non-theatrical film editing, reflecting the craft’s spread across platforms and formats.
The Eddie Awards remain a focused barometer of editorial craft and peer esteem during awards season. The emperor has no clothes, and I’m telling you: in a season driven by buzz and glamour, the judges foregrounded technical rigor and storytelling discipline.