Michael Kahn

Biography

Michael Kahn (born December 8, 1930, in New York City) is an American film editor best known for his long partnership with Steven Spielberg. Since 1977 he has cut nearly every one of the director's films, which places him among the most consistent editors of big-budget spectacle and historical drama in recent decades.

Before turning to film, Kahn worked as a producer for a New York advertising agency. In the 1960s he joined the post-production department at Desilu, where he apprenticed under editor Dann Cahn. His first major job came as head editor of the sitcom Hogan's Heroes, which he cut over six seasons, handling 131 of the show's 168 episodes. He then widened his experience with low-budget features, including several directed by Robert Clouse, and with cult titles.

His work with Spielberg began with Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), which earned him his first Oscar nomination for Best Film Editing. He went on to edit almost all of the director's subsequent films, the main exception being E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, which was cut by Carol Littleton. His best-known work includes the Indiana Jones films, Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan, which brought him three Academy Awards, as well as Jurassic Park, Munich and Lincoln. His editing is associated with precise rhythm and a sure hand for holding emotion without overstating it.

Kahn has kept working with traditional tools. For years he cut on a Moviola and a KEM, and since the early 2010s he has also used Avid on Spielberg's films. Since 2017 he has co-edited his films with Sarah Broshar. His legacy includes Academy Award, BAFTA and Primetime Emmy honors, and in 2013 Spielberg established an endowed chair in editing in his name at the University of Southern California.

Key films

• Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981): the first of the collaborations that brought him two of his three Oscars, with an edit that keeps the adventure moving.
• Schindler's List (1993): one of his Oscars, in a restrained cut that balances historical record and dramatic tension.
• Saving Private Ryan (1998): his third Oscar, for an opening landing sequence that shaped war cinema afterwards.
• Catch Me If You Can (2002): a chase comedy in which the editing sustains the pace of the escape and the intrigue.
• Lincoln (2012): Spielberg's political drama, where the cutting follows the negotiations with precision and restraint.