David Bowie, Floria Sigismondi and LEGO: The Work That Made Marco Perez
Marco Perez is a Swiss-Italian-American film editor who has edited for directors such as Wim Wenders, Spike Lee, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, James Grey, Ellen Kuras, Floria Sigismondi, Craig Gillespie, Scott Wientrob, Wally Pfister, Joel Schumacher, and many others. He has edited narrative feature films, feature documentaries, commercials, and art projects, and his award-winning work has been showcased in the most prestigious film festivals worldwide, including Cannes, Venice, Toronto, Tribeca and Sundance.
In 2021, Marco won the Best Film Editing award at the River Run Film Festival and the Best Editing award at the 2022 Paris International Film Festival for his work on the narrative feature film 'A Beautiful Curse'.
His recent work includes the documentary 'Diane Von Furstenberg—Woman in Charge' directed by Academy Award winner Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Trish Dalton, and the feature film 'Paradox Effect' by Scott Wientrob.
LBB> The ad/music video from my childhood that stays with me…
Marco> A very clear memory of my early childhood is my mother asking me to stop staring at the commercial breaks. I still can’t tell exactly why, but I was mesmerised by those short stories. I don’t remember a specific ad, but I felt there was a little magic in almost every one. There was a special craft at work there, in the good ones, in the silly ones, and also in the bad ones. It’s a peculiar enchantment that still lives within me.
LBB> The ad/music video/game/web platform that made me want to get into the industry…
Marco> Floria Sigismondi’s early music videos were mind-bending for me. I remember her early work for David Bowie, Bjork, Sigur Ros… I had never seen anything like that. Or better yet… I had seen it.
I knew the references, the paintings, the art, the silent movies, the operas… but I had never thought it could be possible to put all that into something so contemporary and so touching. When Floria asked me to edit for her, it was one of the greatest honours of my life.
LBB> The creative work (film/album/game/ad/album/book/poem etc) that I keep revisiting…
Marco> I don’t typically revisit many things, but when I stumble on the work of Jonathan Glazer, Michel Gondry, Spike Jones, Floria… I am struck again by the awe I felt the first time I saw their work.
LBB> My first professional project…
Marco> Right after finishing film school, an editorial in Milano hired me as an AE. Six months into my first real job, I was sent to LA to follow the shoot and the edit of a worldwide campaign for Pirelli.
As shooting wrapped - since the creative team liked me - the executive producer gave me a chance and told me, ‘If you can cut the agency version before we get back to Milano, I’ll present your edit to the creatives.’ I spent 72 sleepless hours in the editing room, but in the end, the agency loved my edit, and so did the client. My life changed, and the sleepless hours I spent in the editing room increased exponentially.
LBB> The piece of work (ad/music video/ platform…) that made me so angry that I vowed to never make anything like *that*…
Marco> I don’t get angry when I watch someone else’s work. Every piece of work speaks of the humans who made it; and I find this beautiful.
On top of that, I usually get my best ideas from the work I do not like. It’s a bizarre mechanism: when I see something I don’t like, it immediately sparks an urge to find how it could be done differently, possibly better. I find it particularly inspiring when I don’t like the work of a director or artist I admire. It is the work I study more.
LBB> The piece of work (ad/music video/ platform…) that still makes me jealous…
Marco> Jealousy isn’t in my chords. But when I see something good, I’m pushed to think I’m not working hard enough. I feel I need to chase better ideas and better ways to build creative bonds with my fellow filmmakers. If a director, a creative, a writer, or a producer makes a great pass, I can’t waste time being jealous. I need to run, catch the ball, and pass it further.
LBB> The work that I’m proudest of…
Marco> The worldwide LEGO campaign ‘Play is Your Superpower’, directed by Ellen Kuras, has a special place in my heart.
The collaboration with Ellen, the Droga5 team, and LEGO was something special, but, most importantly, it was a project I could share with my seven-year-old daughter. She liked it so much that one day, she saw the billboard of the LEGO campaign in a tunnel leading to the subway and started stopping commuters and passers-by, telling them, ‘My father did this.’ That made me really proud.
Another thing I love about this project is that it allowed me to solidify the relationship between Union Editorial, my company in the US, and Marshall Street Editors, the London editorial representing me in the UK. The synergy between Union and MSE allowed me to prep for the job in the US, start editing on set in Prague, and lock the edit with the creatives in London. It was seamless and fun.
LBB> The recent project I was involved in that excited me the most…
Marco> Two projects come to mind: working with director/cinematographer Edu Grau on the worldwide campaign for UBS and editing for Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Trish Dalton, and Red Bull Studios, the upcoming documentary about the female soccer team of Jamaica - 'Reggae Girlz'
The film narrates the Jamaican team’s run at the 2023 World Cup. It is inspiring how, against all odds, they kicked Brazil out of the competition and how an underfunded and dismissed group of talented women surprised the world and made football history.
'Reggae Girlz' is my second collaboration with Academy Award winner Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Trish Dalton. For Trish and Sharmeen, I’ve also edited the feature documentary 'Diane Von Furstenberg - Woman in Charge'. DVF premiered last year at the opening gala night of the Tribeca Film Festival and is now available on Disney+ and Hulu.
