Dody Dorn, ACE has a feature film track record with director David Ayer that started with End of Watch, went on to Sabotage and now has made a major impact with Fury (Sony Pictures Entertainment), which stars Brad Pitt as Don “Wardaddy” Collier, an army tank commander whose five-man crew goes on a mission behind enemy lines towards the end of World War II.
The R-rated Fury–which Ayer also wrote–offers an unapologetically brutal depiction of one long day of battle in 1945. Collier and his crew experience the gruesomeness of war.
Dorn was one of four editors who cut Fury. She headed a team which also consisted of editors Jay Cassidy, ACE, Rob Bonz and Geoffrey O’Brien. Dorn was the editorial point person leading the charge given her long-standing collaborative relationship with Ayer and the fact that she was the sole editor involved in Fury from the outset through to its completion.
Dorn’s extensive filmography extends well beyond Ayer. She was nominated for a Best Film Editing Oscar in 2002 on the strength of Memento, directed by Christopher Nolan. Dorn also cut Insomnia for Nolan. Her other editing credits include a couple of films for Ridley Scott–Matchstick Men and Kingdom of Heaven–and Baz Luhrmann’s Australia (cut by Dorn and Michael McCusker).
On the TV side, Dorn earned a primetime Emmy nomination in 2001 for Outstanding Single Camera Picture Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special on the basis of the Robert Allan Ackerman-directed Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows.
Dorn has a pair of American Cinema Editors’ Eddie Award nominations–for Memento and Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows.
Prior to becoming a film editor, Dorn established herself as a sound editor. Among her notable credits was serving as supervising sound editor on James Cameron’s The Abyss. She and Blake Leyh won a Best Sound Editing-Sound Effects Golden Reel Award in 1990 from the Motion Picture Sound Editors for their work on The Abyss.
SHOOT: How did you become the point person/lead editor on Fury?
Dorn: We had four editors, including myself, working on the film. The other three were Geoffrey O’Brien, Jay Cassidy and additional editor Rob Bonz. We brought in Jay as a fresh pair of eyes, helping to explore where we were going with the tone of the film. None of the other editors had worked with David [Ayer] before. And I was the only editor who worked on Fury from the very beginning to the very end. It was natural for me to serve as the point person. [During the production of Fury, a total of 16 Avid Media Composer systems were used, split across four global locations.]
I actively pursued this film. I wanted to work with David again. This is a POV movie which flies in the face of normal editorial convention. And it had many challenges. Being a war movie and the fact that among David’s favorite films is Apocalypse Now, the bar was set pretty high for Fury.
The level of reality that David strived for–to show the gruesome nature of war with an absolutely amazing cast–made for such a rare experience. I feel fortunate to have been involved.
SHOOT: Being so graphic and such an unflinching look at war, Fury brought a new dimension to your filmography. I take it that played a big part in drawing you to the project to begin with.
Dorn: All editors are pretty frustrated by being pigeonholed into a narrative style. I have made it my business to not get pigeonholed. I look for exciting challenges regardless of genre.
In terms of the graphic nature of the film, I find it slightly amusing that I’m quite squeamish when watching violent films when I’m in the audience. But I have no problem with handling those scenes professionally. I love editing and storytelling.
SHOOT: How did you go about becoming an editor? You made quite an atypical transition from sound editing to picture editing. What did that transition entail?
Dorn: I grew up in L.A. where it’s in the air to work in the film industry though I wasn’t a film buff as a child. But seeing Bonnie and Clyde was a hallmark moment. Then Fellini films became an obsession. I worked in the film industry pretty much straight out of high school as an extra, a PA, a production secretary, coordinator, assistant location manager, assistant to the producer. This job experience was my film school. I learned about all the different film crafts during that period.
By the time I was 22, I landed in an editing room by accident. It then became clear to me that I wanted to be an editor and I’ve been in the editing room ever since–as an assistant editor, assistant sound editing, sound supervising. When I got to my mid-30s I wanted to move into picture editing.
I had a successful career as a sound editor. One of the last films I did as a supervising sound editor was The Abyss for James Cameron. I had to save money to make my career transition. I needed to save money so I could go back down to the bottom of the food chain so to speak when I moved into picture editing. The industry does not necessarily welcome shifting from one job to another. It was rooted in the minds of filmmakers that I was a supervising sound editor. In order to get work as a film editor, I had to start all over again–working with college film school students, working for no pay or low pay. My main objective in all of this was not just to be editing. I wanted to edit projects that I believed in and began to build on that. I was determined to work as a film editor. One of the projects that got noticed was Sick [Sick: The Life & Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist], a documentary directed by Kirby Dick. It helped to build some momentum for me, eventually connecting me with Christopher Nolan on Memento and Insomnia.
Memento was my big break after editing for 10 years. I read the script and wanted the opportunity. I knew it was a challenge technically but it was also a narrative challenge to keep the emotional aspects moving forward with the timeline constructed the way that it was. [Dorn earned her Best Film Editing Oscar nomination for Memento.]
