John Gilbert

Film editor and producer John Gilbert began working on films in the late '80s, editing his first feature "Crush" in 1992. Directed by emerging New Zealand director Alison Maclean and starring a young Marcia Gay Harden, the drama about the aftermath of a car accident was a critical success garnering Maclean a Golden Palm nomination at Sundance. Continuing to work with talented young directors in New Zealand's small film community, Gilbert edited the thriller "Jack Be Nimble" and the comedy "Chicken," about an actor in decline who stages his own death. In 1999, Gilbert worked with award-winning director Annie Goldson on his first documentary film, "Punitive Damage," the story of Kamal Bamadhaj, who was executed along with 270 others in East Timor by the occupying Indonesian military. Making a complete 180-degree turn, Gilbert. joined fellow New Zealander Peter Jackson on a film that put him and New Zealand on the map, Gilbert edited the first film in Jackson's adventure epic trilogy "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," earning Oscar and BAFTA nominations for editing. An unprecedented accomplishment, the film boasted a talented international cast and the most visionary special effects of that time. Balancing his career between large productions and indie projects, Gilbert edited the New Zealand-centric films like the biopic "The World's Fastest Indian," starring Anthony Hopkins, and "Matariki," an ensemble drama directed by Michael Bennett. Returning to fantasy, Gilbert edited "Bridge to Terabithia" in 2007, followed by the heist caper "The Bank Job."