Editor Kevin Tent is celebrating his second editing Oscar nomination Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers after receiving his first nomination for Payne’s The Descendants. In talking with him, it is clear how much enjoyment he has in his work. Here, he details his long-time collaboration with Alexander Payne and why that partnership constantly works for them. Tent also shows his appreciation of other editors while serving as the president of the American Cinema Editors. Finally, he talks about the fun of being the first to see great acting in each frame of a film he’s editing.
Awards Daily: I see you’ve worked with Alexander Payne on all of his films. Was there anything about working on The Holdovers that was different from your previous collaborations?
Kevin Tent: A lot of people are asking a similar question to that but no, not really. That’s a really boring, sad answer but we approached the film like we do all these films. We comb through the performances and he gets great performances to start with. But we shape them how we see fit, and really we just just did what we always did. It’s funny, it came up in a Q&A a few weeks ago that I was on with him and I said, we always have been this way with our approach to films. Then he said, it’s always been like making movies in the ’70s and that’s really kind of true. They’re always character-driven movies and funny and realistic and stuff like that so yeah, so sorry, that’s not a very exciting answer. It’s the truth.
Awards Daily: One of the major promotional items for The Holdovers was the cinematographic style of the film resembling a 1970s film. I saw on a personal top ten or top five film list where most of the selections came from around the 1970s, and I think the earliest one was 1969. Is there anything about the style of films from that era that influenced the way you did your own work?
Kevin Tent: Well, I don’t know if it was maybe subconsciously but consciously I don’t know. I just really love those movies and I grew up with them and they’ve influenced me. My taste has been informed by them and I guess then you can say that my style of editing has been influenced by that taste.
Awards Daily: A personal favorite cut for me is Paul Giamatti’s horrified look at Dominic Sessa after he jumps on that mat and then we cut to the car as they are trying to get ready to go to the hospital. It’s a quick thing that plays up the humor of the scene. How did you prepare cuts to capture the humor of situations?
Kevin Tent: Well, that’s funny, and this is something that actually happens with other Alexander movies too. Where something happens really fast and that definitely is the case here. We have that brilliant shot of Paul pushing into his expression before it turns to horror. Then also the music played a big part. We had the uppity Christmas music, which is ironic and mocking as he’s trying to jam the ice off the windshield. You’re in Minnesota, and I grew up in New York and Alexander grew up in Omaha, so we know what scraping the windshields is like. You have to do it before you get in the car and drive so it just adds to the frustration. I think those quick cuts are funny and then the music also helped, and Paul’s performance in both scenes is great. So it’s just a funny cut in a very funny section of the movie.
Awards Daily: I read in an A-frame Oscar interview that you agree with Alexander Payne’s belief that movies are too long; that you even said that you thought you maybe could have cut some of the things from this movie. (I disagree with that, I think the movie is great as is.) But what has got you into that line of thinking?
Kevin Tent: A couple of things. I think that most stories don’t need hours to tell. As filmmakers we should be responsible and be as efficient as we can. Because you know people have lives to live, that’s what I’m always saying. People are not going to watch a movie if they see it’s two and a half hours long. As I said about our movie, I was hoping we could get it down to two hours but it’s hard. I think we got to a good place because anything else we were going to take out of it would hurt the movie. Also I started my career at Roger Corman’s studio and there a movie was never over 90 minutes, that was just not allowed. So I think that we should be able to tell our stories within two hours.
Awards Daily: I saw you’re the president of the American Cinema Editors. What has that experience been like for you?
Kevin Tent: I’s been great! I love editors and as president I love them even more now. They’re the smartest people and it is so much fun to hang out with them. It’s a great organization. We have a great team that runs it, and being president has been a lot of fun. I was surprised I was elected but I’ve been trying to be a good president. I’ve been learning on the job, I will say that.
Awards Daily: With this film in particular was there any moment in putting together a scene or cutting something that particularly stood out to you?
Kevin Tent: The performances were amazing with all the actors and that’s really exciting as an editor. You’re the first person that gets to see these performances in a frame. One of the joys too was seeing Dom, you know a kid who had never been in a movie before–it’s his first time–and you’re blown away by him. I had the same feeling with Shailene Woodley In The Descendants when I first saw her footage. I was, like, oh my God, this person is amazing, and that’s exactly how I felt about Dom and some of his scenes when he first came in. I was, like, he’s incredible, he’s a natural. I’ve seen performances for thirty years, and every once in a while you get something special. That was one of the big fun moments when you’re first getting your footage and we were thinking, Woohoo, this is great!
Awards Daily: I completely agree. He blew me away too, and I can’t wait to see what he does next.
Kevin Tent: I know and you know that scene in the restaurant where he talks about his dad and all that stuff, take one! I think there’s three takes if I remember correctly, and that is the first take and he just nailed it!
Awards Daily: So this is your second Oscar nomination. Congratulations! Has the experience been different this time versus your first, or anything that’s stood out?
Kevin Tent: You know what, it’s the same. I’m just so honored that my fellow editors thought my work was worthy. There are so many good films out there and so much good editing out there, so it’s a great experience and a great feeling. You just feel honored. It’s maybe a little different this time because I did have it happen once before so I was a little more emotional and mentally prepared, but mostly it’s the same thing. It’s a lot of fun and it’s great that people loved the movie that I worked on and loved my work, and what else can you ask for?
The Holdovers is available to stream and on blu-ray.