Lisa Fruchtman (born August 1948) is an American film and television editor, and documentary director with about 25 film credits. Fruchtman won the Academy Award for Best Film Editing for The Right Stuff (1983). With her brother, Rob Fruchtman, she produced, directed, and edited the 2012 documentary Sweet Dreams.

Editing career After her high school years, Lisa Fruchtman enrolled at the University of Chicago and received an A.B. degree there in 1970. She began her career as a film editor in Hollywood in 1973 with the documentary short Ten: The Magic Number. Fruchtman was an assistant to editors Barry Malkin, Richard Marks, and Peter Zinner on The Godfather Part II (1974), directed by Francis Ford Coppola. This film was edited to have a complex structure that weaves a contemporary story with a background story in Sicily at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries; the film was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Editing.

Fruchtman was one of several editors hired by Coppola in 1977 for the post-production of Apocalypse Now. Coppola had shot about 250 hours of film that needed to be cut down to 2.5 hours for its theatrical release. Malkin and Evan Lottman had done preliminary editing, but then dropped out of the project. The difficult editing required nearly two years. The film was released in August 1979. LoBrutto's account is based on earlier interviews with Marks, Greenberg, and Murch. In 1980, she and her co-editors Richard Marks, Walter Murch, and Gerald B. Greenberg were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing, the ACE Eddie Award, and the BAFTA Award for Best Editing.

In 1984, she won the Oscar for Best Film Editing for The Right Stuff (1983), along with her co-editors Glenn Farr, Stephen A. Rotter, Douglas Stewart and Tom Rolf. The film was directed by Philip Kaufman. The editors were also nominated for the ACE Eddie Award for the film.

Fruchtman's first solo credit as editor for a major studio film was for Children of a Lesser God (1986), director Randa Haines' first major film. Fruchtman later cut Haines' The Doctor (1991) and Dance with Me (1998).

In 1991, she was nominated for another Oscar, for Coppola's The Godfather Part III with her co-editors Malkin and Murch. All three editors had long experience working with Coppola, on the earlier Godfather films and others.

In 1996, Fruchtman was nominated for an Eddie for the television film Truman, directed by Frank Pierson. The movie depicts U.S. President Harry S. Truman during World War II. She was also nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award (Outstanding Editing for a Miniseries or a Special - Single Camera Production).

In 2010, she received the Professional Achievement Award for alumni of the University of Chicago.

Filmography (selection) This filmography is based on the listing at the Internet Movie Database.

+ Editor Year Film Director Notes1979 Apocalypse NowFrancis Ford CoppolaSecond collaboration with Francis Ford Coppola1980 Heaven's GateMichael Cimino1981 Street MusicJenny Bowen1983 The Right StuffPhilip Kaufman1986 Children of a Lesser GodRanda HainesFirst collaboration with Randa Haines1990 The Godfather Part IIIFrancis Ford CoppolaThird collaboration with Francis Ford Coppola1991 The DoctorRanda HainesSecond collaboration with Randa Haines1993 ShimmerJohn Hanson1997 My Best Friend's WeddingP. J. Hogan1998 Dance with MeRanda HainesFourth collaboration with Randa Haines2002 TeknolustLynn Hershman Leeson 2004 The WoodsmanNicole Kassell A Love Song for Bobby LongShainee Gabel2006 BonnevilleChristopher N. Rowley2015 Love & TaxesJacob Kornbluth

+ Editorial department Year Film Director Role1974 The Godfather Part IIFrancis Ford CoppolaAssistant editorFirst collaboration with Francis Ford Coppola2006 Christmas in WonderlandJames OrrEditorial consultant2010 Little SisterRichard BowenSupervising editor

+ Additional crew Year Film Director Role2007 When a Man Falls in the ForestRyan EslingerConsultant2022 What Comes AroundAmy RedfordEditorial consultant

+ Thanks Year Film Director Role Notes1985 On the EdgeRob NilssonSpecial thanks to1993 Wrestling Ernest HemingwayRanda Haines ThanksThird collaboration with Randa Haines2006 Colma: The MusicalRichard Wong2013 TestChris Mason JohnsonSpecial thanks

Documentaries

+ Editor Year Film Director1973 Ten: The Magic NumberBarrie Nelson1977 The Grateful Dead Movie2012 Sweet Dreams2016 Vegas BabyAmanda Micheli

+ Editorial department Year Film Director Role2016 Crossing BhutanBen HenretigStory editorSupervising editor2017 Saving CapitalismSupervising editor2018 The ProvidersStory consultant

+ Additional crew Year Film Director Role2016 Crossing BhutanBen HenretigStory editor

+ Director Year Film2012 Sweet Dreams

+ Producer Year Film Director Credit2012 Sweet Dreams Producer2024 Counted OutVicki Abeles

Shorts

+ Editor Year Film Director1986 Captain EOFrancis Ford Coppola

+ Editorial department Year Film Director Role2012 Witness 11Sean MitchellConsulting editor

TV movies

+ Editor Year Film Director1995 TrumanFrank Pierson1999 Witness ProtectionRichard Pearce2003 NormalJane Anderson

+ Editorial department Year Film Director Role2002 Point of OriginNewton Thomas SigelConsulting editor

References