Pietro Scalia (born March 17, 1960) is an Italian-American film editor. He won the Best Film Editing award at the 64th Academy Awards for his work on the film JFK, sharing the award with Joe Hutshing, and at the 74th Academy Awards for Black Hawk Down.

Pietro Scalia
Born (1960-03-17) March 17, 1960 (age 64)
Catania, Sicily, Italy
EducationUniversity of California, Los Angeles (MFA)

Early life and education

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He was born in Catania, Sicily,[1] and later emigrated to Aarau, Switzerland as a child with his parents.[2] There, he attended Swiss-German schools until high school. After graduation, he decided to move to the United States to pursue his college education. He spent two years at the University at Albany, The State University of New York, after which he was accepted as an undergraduate at UCLA. The Swiss government's scholarship helped him through five years of UCLA and in 1985 he earned his Master of Fine Arts from the UCLA Film School.[3]

Career

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After his MFA, a couple of short films, a screenplay, two video documentaries, and a 16 mm thesis film, he returned to Europe to pursue his desire to become a film director. Shortly afterward, he returned to the United States on a work visa to pursue his career in Hollywood as a film editor. He began as an editor on Andrei Konchalovsky's Shy People. Later, he received an assistant editor position working with Oliver Stone. However, it was not easy to get the job. Scalia admired Oliver Stone's work, especially Salvador, so he decided he wanted to work with that director. He got a contact through the sister of one of the assistant editors. Scalia worked on such films as Wall Street (1987) and Talk Radio (1988). He later continued as an associate editor on Born on the Fourth of July and as an additional editor on The Doors.

After five years of working with Oliver Stone, Scalia was finally asked to fully edit a film. It was JFK, for which Scalia and his co-editor, Joe Hutshing, were honored with an Academy Award for Film Editing. Craig McKay was nominated the same year for editing The Silence of the Lambs. Scalia edited a sequel to the movie, Hannibal ten years later. He also received a BAFTA Award and A.C.E. Award for his work.[4]

Pietro Scalia worked with Bernardo Bertolucci on Little Buddha (1993) and Stealing Beauty (1996),[5] as well as with Sam Raimi on The Quick and the Dead (1995). He earned two more Academy Award nominations: first in 1997 for Good Will Hunting and second in 2000 for Gladiator,[6] and a second Academy Award for director Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down.[7] He also edited G.I. Jane and a pilot episode of a TV series American Gothic in late 1990s.

In the recent years, Scalia edited such movies as Levity (2003) directed by Ed Solomon, a documentary entitled Ashes and Snow, The Great Raid directed by John Dahl, and Memoirs of a Geisha, one of the most publicized movies of 2005, directed by Rob Marshall. Scalia also worked on Hannibal Rising, a movie that tells a story of a teenaged Hannibal and his young sister Mischa Lecter after their parents are killed in World War II. It was directed by Peter Webber and released in 2007. He has a long lasting relationship with Ridley Scott working on movies such as American Gangster in 2007, Body of Lies in 2008 and Robin Hood in 2010. Most recently he worked with director Ridley Scott on The Martian, released in October 2015. In May 2017, Scalia replaced editor Chris Dickens on the film Solo: A Star Wars Story, which was released in May 2018.[8]

Personal life

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He lives in Los Angeles with his wife Teresa Sparks and two children, Julian and Maia Scalia.

Filmography

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Editor
Year Film Director Notes
1990 Megaville Peter Lehner
1991 JFK Oliver Stone Fifth collaboration with Oliver Stone
1992 Jackpot Mario Orfini
1993 Little Buddha Bernardo Bertolucci First collaboration with Bernardo Bertolucci
1995 The Quick and the Dead Sam Raimi
1996 Stealing Beauty Bernardo Bertolucci Second collaboration with Bernardo Bertolucci
1997 G.I. Jane Ridley Scott First collaboration with Ridley Scott
Good Will Hunting Gus Van Sant First collaboration with Gus Van Sant
1998 The Big Hit Che-Kirk Wong
Playing by Heart Willard Carroll
2000 Gladiator Ridley Scott Second collaboration with Ridley Scott
2001 Hannibal Third collaboration with Ridley Scott
Black Hawk Down Fourth collaboration with Ridley Scott
2003 Levity Ed Solomon
Masked and Anonymous Larry Charles
2005 The Great Raid John Dahl
Memoirs of a Geisha Rob Marshall
2007 Hannibal Rising Peter Webber
American Gangster Ridley Scott Fifth collaboration with Ridley Scott
2008 Body of Lies Sixth collaboration with Ridley Scott
2010 Kick-Ass Matthew Vaughn
Robin Hood Ridley Scott Seventh collaboration with Ridley Scott
2012 Prometheus Eighth collaboration with Ridley Scott
The Amazing Spider-Man Marc Webb First collaboration with Marc Webb
2013 The Counselor Ridley Scott Ninth collaboration with Ridley Scott
2014 The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Marc Webb Second collaboration with Marc Webb
2015 Child 44 Daniel Espinosa First collaboration with Daniel Espinosa
The Sea of Trees Gus Van Sant Third collaboration with Gus Van Sant
The Martian Ridley Scott Tenth collaboration with Ridley Scott
2016 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi Michael Bay First collaboration with Michael Bay
2017 Alien: Covenant Ridley Scott Eleventh collaboration with Ridley Scott
2018 Solo: A Star Wars Story Ron Howard
2022 Ambulance Michael Bay Second collaboration with Michael Bay
Morbius Daniel Espinosa Second collaboration with Daniel Espinosa
The Gray Man Russo brothers
2023 Ferrari Michael Mann
Editorial department
Year Film Director Role Notes
1987 Shy People Andrei Konchalovsky First assistant editor
Wall Street Oliver Stone Assistant editor First collaboration with Oliver Stone
1988 Cameron's Closet Armand Mastroianni
Haunted Summer Ivan Passer
Talk Radio Oliver Stone Second collaboration with Oliver Stone
1989 Born on the Fourth of July Associate editor Third collaboration with Oliver Stone
1991 The Doors Additional editor Fourth collaboration with Oliver Stone
1995 White Man's Burden Desmond Nakano Consulting editor
Actor
Year Film Director Role
2004 Incident at Loch Ness Zak Penn Party Guest
Camera and electrical department
Year Film Director Role
1985 Over the Summer Teresa Sparks Assistant cameraman
Music department
Year Film Director Role Notes
2001 Hannibal Ridley Scott Music producer
Uncredited
2013 The Counselor Music supervisor
Producer
Year Film Director Credit
2003 Masked and Anonymous Larry Charles Executive producer
2015 The Sea of Trees Gus Van Sant Co-producer
2022 Morbius Daniel Espinosa Associate producer
Sound department
Year Film Director Role
1985 Over the Summer Teresa Sparks Sound editor
Thanks
Year Film Director Role Notes
2005 The Matador Richard Shepard The producers would like to thank
2007 Battle in Seattle Stuart Townsend
2008 The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor Rob Cohen Special thanks
2010 Repo Men Miguel Sapochnik First collaboration with Miguel Sapochnik
2011 The Adjustment Bureau George Nolfi Thanks
2012 Quartet Dustin Hoffman With thanks to
Promised Land Gus Van Sant Special thanks Second collaboration with Gus Van Sant
2013 Elysium Neill Blomkamp Thanks
2016 Grimsby Louis Leterrier Special thanks
Gold Stephen Gaghan
2021 Firebird Peeter Rebane
Finch Miguel Sapochnik The filmmakers gratefully thank Second collaboration with Miguel Sapochnik
Documentaries
Editor
Year Film Director
2005 Ashes and Snow Gregory Colbert
2007 The 11th Hour
  • Leila Conners
  • Nadia Conners
2009 40 Years of Silence: An Indonesian Tragedy Robert Lemelson
Editorial department
Year Film Role
2007 Breaking the Ice Supervising editor
Thanks
Year Film Director Role
2010 Stairway from Hell Christian Bunz Special thanks
Shorts
Editor
Year Film Director
2012 Ghost Recon: Alpha
  • François Alaux
  • Hervé de Crécy
Thanks
Year Film Director Role
2006 The Showdown
  • Antony Sestito
  • Fulvio Sestito
Special thanks
2012 Broken Alessandra Pasquino Thanks
TV series
Editor
Year Title Notes
1995 American Gothic 1 episode
Thanks
Year Title Role Notes
2002 AFP: American Fighter Pilot Special thanks 2 episodes

Awards and accolades

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Oscars and Oscar nominations

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Other

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References

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  1. ^ Caprara, Fulvia (June 30, 2012). "Pietro Scalia: "Così ho rimontato Hollywood"". La Stampa. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
  2. ^ Ferzetti, Fabio (July 28, 2014). "Pietro Scalia, un gladiatore in moviola". Il Messaggero. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
  3. ^ Vivarelli, Nick (July 27, 2023). "Oscar-Winning Editor Pietro Scalia to Be Honored by Locarno Film Festival". Variety. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
  4. ^ "FARE CINEMA: PIETRO SCALIA". La Settima Arte. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
  5. ^ Sollazzo, Boris (August 7, 2023). "Locarno: Oscar-Winning Editor Pietro Scalia on the "Existential Crisis" of the Hollywood Strikes, Working With Ridley Scott, Oliver Stone and Michael Mann". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
  6. ^ "Pietro Scalia: Editing Masterclass". BAFTA. December 21, 2011. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
  7. ^ a b Solari, Ilaria (August 2, 2023). "Italian actors and directors in the spotlight at Locarno Film Festival 2023". Elle. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
  8. ^ Masters, Kim (June 26, 2017). "'Star Wars' Firing Reveals a Disturbance in the Franchise". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  9. ^ "Film Editing in 2011 Winner". BAFTA. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
  10. ^ "Film Editing 1993". BAFTA. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
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