KNIFE SKILLS

In 2017 I received an email from Nick August-Perna, a filmmaker friend of mine, asking me to look at a feature film that he had spent two years working on with Academy Award-winning director Thomas Lennon. He said that he and Tom were getting nowhere on it. They thought there was a good film in there somewhere. But they were lost. Would I mind watching it? I did, and after reviewing it carefully, I gave them seven pages of notes—encouraging them, but also suggesting new ways to connect the material together. Respectfully, I offered a way to structure the film that might tell the story more clearly and dramatically. In an odd (and happy) turn of events, the two asked me to re-edit the movie, essentially working from my own notes. I proposed a much shorter 40-min. cut (from 60 mins.) of what would become the Oscar-nominated documentary “Knife Skills.” I also hired and supervised an animator to create graphics that would weave scenes together in a simple yet visually sophisticated way.

OFFICIAL FILM DESCRIPTION: What does it take to build a world-class French restaurant? What if the staff is almost entirely men and women just out of prison? What if most have never cooked or served before, and have barely two months to learn their trade? “Knife Skills” follows the hectic launch of Edwins restaurant in Cleveland. These men and women all have something to prove, and all struggle to launch new lives, an endeavor as pressured and perilous as the ambitious restaurant launch of which they are a part. “Knife Skills” was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Documentary Short Subject.