Angela M. Catanzaro, ACE has worked in both television and feature films, across diverse genres, and with nearly every major studio, network, and streaming service. Among her credits are numerous TV pilots and critically-acclaimed series including Friday Night Lights, The Shield, Suits, Parenthood, Away, and The Man in the High Castle, with her work on the Friday Night Lights series finale earning her an American Cinema Editors Eddie Award nomination.
In recent years, Angela has spent most of her time editing feature films. Her credits include young adult drama Five Feet Apart, and she’s twice teamed up with director Martin Campbell on action-thrillers The Foreigner and The Protégé. Angela earned a second Eddie Award nomination and an Emmy nomination for her work on Prey, the latest installment of The Predator franchise.
Angela serves on the editing faculty at the American Film Institute, and is a member of The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the Motion Picture Editors Guild, American Cinema Editors, and the ACE Diversity Mentorship Program.
Avid: What did you enjoy the most about working on Prey?
Angela M. Catanzaro: Prey combines all the cinematic elements I love. It was special to be a part of telling this story in particular because rarely on screen do we ever see a heroine like Naru. Our director and producing team went to great lengths to insure the accurate representation of Comanche culture during that time period. I also love the epic scope of the movie, the incredible cinematography, the expertly choreographed fight scenes, the killer score, and the fact that we managed to make a franchise movie about an alien hunter that also has tremendous heart. What do I enjoy the most? All of it.
Avid: How did you find out about the nomination and what was your reaction?
Angela M. Catanzaro: The morning nominations were announced, I was drinking coffee at my laptop in the kitchen when a congratulatory iMessage from an editor friend popped up on my screen. I think I said “what?” out loud, followed by an excited shriek that sent one of my dogs into a barking fit. That crazy commotion and initial disbelief was followed by a wave of immense gratitude. I have a couple friends nominated in the same category, and I love that we all get to celebrate together.
Avid: What tools of Media Composer helped you craft this episode?
Angela M. Catanzaro: We did a lot of sharing of bins across many systems, both while working remotely and working on the Fox studio lot. The media and file management was critical for these operations to run smoothly. Where I think Media Composer really shined for us was in prepping the film for screenings where we didn’t have the luxury of time to do a traditional full-on temp mix or color grade of the show. Thankfully were able to use all the audio tools in the software while working on a small mixing stage to create a version of a temp mix ourselves. We also were able to bring a colorist in to utilize the color correction tools within Media Composer to do a full pass of color correction, all while we were still making final picture changes. So the work never slowed down, even while prepping for a screening.
Avid: How has knowing Media Composer helped your career?
Angela M. Catanzaro: While I did learn to cut on actual film, I have been using Media Composer exclusively my entire career. I am a person who likes to see options. I love experimenting. It’s really easy for me to do this in the software, so instead of continually asking “I wonder what would happen if we…,” I just do it! And then when a director or producer asks those same questions, I have in many cases already prepared the answer. So for me, it’s helped me be a much more efficient collaborator. I also feel that as workflows continue to evolve, Media Composer has adapted the tools and interface to really serve the changing needs of editorial.
Avid: Would you recommend editing to someone interested in a career in TV?
Angela M. Catanzaro: Editing is a great career if you like solving puzzles. If you are excited by the idea of embracing technology to tell stories in the most compelling way possible, this is for you. You must absolutely have a passion for the medium and be prepared to move quickly, especially working in television. No two days are ever the same for me in editorial, and I absolutely love it.
Angela M. Catanzaro’s Media Composer timeline for Prey.