I believe as Roger Ebert did that “...movies are like machines that generate empathy.” For me, that transformative process happens most dynamically with documentaries. I’ve devoted myself for nearly two decades across more than 20 feature films, primarily as editor, to an artistic storytelling discipline that aims for inventive storytelling, emotional resonance, social impact and mass communication. Over my career I’ve been entrusted with the responsibility and honor of crafting: raw footage by Orson Welles, personal family footage from the Obama family, and unseen footage from across Anthony Bourdain’s entire career.
The hallmarks of my aesthetics are playfulness and an aspiration for deep emotional communication, but in every film I start by responding to the strengths of the raw material and tracking my personal reaction to it. With each project I ask myself “To what end is this story most useful for others?” and that inquiry helps guide my artistic approach. The apotheosis of this method was the 2018 film Won’t You Be My Neighbor?. The film connected deeply with audiences and is ranked the top documentary of all time by Rotten Tomatoes. When interviewed about our collaboration, Director Morgan Neville said “Docs, in general, are made in the edit bay, archival docs even more so... we brought in Wickenden and he’s amazing."
As an editor, my most fundamental goal is to leverage my artistic craft, compassion and privilege to support others in conveying their stories. The results have been pretty good so far. By the numbers:
6 films have premiered at Sundance. 5 of these were with different directors and most recently “Feels Good Man” was awarded a Sundance Jury Prize in 2020.
5 have been “Shortlisted” (the final list of 15) for the Documentary Feature Academy Award and one film, Finding Vivian Maier was nominated in 2015.
4 films were collectively nominated for 10 Emmy Awards and 3 of those resulted in wins for Best Documentary.
3 have been nominated Best Documentary Feature at the Independent Spirit Awards and 2 have won this very prestigious honor. Thrice I have been nominated for an EMMY for Outstanding Editing (The Interrupters, Trials of Muhammad Ali, Roadrunner)
2 times I have been personally nominated for the ACE EDDIE for Best Documentary (Finding Vivian Maier, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?).
1 time I got to hug Rashida Jones after she presented Jeff Malmberg and I the Critics Choice Award for Best Editing for Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
As a member of the Documentary Branch of AMPAS and ACE, I am also committed to supporting the documentary editing community through mentorships, masterclasses, and participating on juries. Recent highlights include:
Cork International Film Festival - Doc Day: A Case Study in Editing Feature Documentary | Roadrunner, 2021
Huntington University (Indiana) - Masterclass, 2020
Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellowship - Diversity in the Edit Room: Jury member, 2020
Power of Storytelling Conference (Bucharest, Romania) - Featured Speaker, 2019
Sundance Institute - New Frontier Storytelling Lab: Mentor, 2019
LEF Foundation - LEF Moving Image Fund: Jury member, 2019
True/False + Catapult Rough Cut Retreat: Mentor, 2018
IDA - Getting Real Conference: Editing Panel, 2018
BIG SKY Film Festival: Editing Masterclass, 2015
Bertha Doc House (London): Editing Masterclass, 2015
In my spare time, I can usually be found goofing off with my much better half, Jennifer Brandel, at one of Chicago's dog beaches or promoting my own award winning film Almost There - which is available for rent on iTunes, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and Vimeo. I am always on lookout for new projects and also open to consultations and educational opportunities when time permits. Please don't hesitate to be in touch via the contact page. Pro-tip: if you watch Almost There before reaching out you might get prioritized attention.