The Trailer Park competition–which has taken various forms at different chapters of the Association of Independent Creative Editors (AICE) over the past few years–was designed with the prime intent of helping to showcase the editing prowess of assistant editors. And certainly that objective has been convincingly achieved with the AICE/New York’s recently concluded second annual Trailer Park event, which was won by assistant editor Robert Ryang of P.S. 260, New York.
Ryang gained the top honor on the strength of the trailer he cut from footage of The Shining, the suspense-filled horror film directed by the late, great Stanley Kubrick. But per the rules of the AICE/New York competition, Ryang had to cut a trailer that portrayed a given movie in a completely different genre. So Ryang made The Shining seem like a feel-good family film about a boy wishing he had a father and then finding one–a supportive, smiling step dad played by Jack Nicholson. The decidedly comic twist not only won over Trailer Park judges but has gone on to have a life of its own on the Web via the viral dynamic, raising Ryang’s creative stock with the industry at large.
The AICE/New York Trailer Park competition gave assistant editors seven films from which to choose from: The Shining, The Parent Trap (1961 version), Titanic, Red River, Super Size Me, West Side Story and Some Like It Hot.
The contest drew 33 entries from assistants in New York. Finishing second was assistant Paul Lacalandra from Moondog, New York, with third place going to Tom Colella of P.S. 260.
What’s next for Ryang? He continues to assist P.S. 260 editor J.J. Lask. But now that collaboration extends beyond commercials to P.S. 260’s first feature film production, On The Road with Judas, a comedic drama written and being directed by Lask. Ryang is set to serve as assistant editor on the movie, which stars Aaron Ruell (Napoleon Dynamite), Kevin Corrigan (Buffalo 66) and Eddie Kaye Thomas (American Pie). Incidentally, Ruell is repped as a spot director via Area 51 Films, Santa Monica, and was included in SHOOT‘s New Directors Showcase earlier this year.
