David Brenner, the Oscar-winning film editor who worked on a string of blockbusters as well as nine films for director Oliver Stone, died on Thursday. He was 59. The news was confirmed by Avatar producer Jon Landau, with whom Brenner had been working on the sequels.
Landau called Brenner’s editing skills “extraordinary,” but said what was most impressive about him was “his remarkable compassion for others and the love and commitment he had for his family.”
Avatar director James Cameron called Brenner an “editor extraordinaire” and “a very dear member of the #AvatarFamily” whose “talent, compassion and friendship will be truly missed.”
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Over three decades in the film business, Brenner worked with top directors on a remarkable number of big-budget hits, including Independence Day, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Transformers: Age of Extinction, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Justice League (both versions) and the Avatar sequels.
He first worked with Stone on 1986’s Salvador as an assistant editor. That relationship grew through Platoon and Wall Street until Brenner moved up to co-editor — with Joe Hutshing — on Talk Radio. The duo then edited two more films for Stone, The Doors and Born on the Fourth of July, the latter of which earned them a shared Best Film Editing Oscar. It was Brenner’s second film as a full-fledged editor.
In addition to those films, he also worked with Stone on Heaven & Earth (1993), World Trade Center (2006) and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010).
Other directors he had multi-film collaborations with include Zac Snyder — on the aforementioned Justice League supercut as well as Man of Steel (2013) and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016). He also co-edited the 300 sequel Rise of an Empire with Wyatt Smith in 2014, which Snyder co-wrote and produced.
Brenner worked with Roland Emmerich on four films: Independence Day (1996), The Patriot (2000), The Day After Tomorrow (2004) and 2012 (2009).
His collaborations with James Mangold included Kate & Leopold (2001) and Identity (2003).
Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment set up a GoFundMe page which, according to Landau, is not only to help the Brenner family financially, but “to let his wife Amber and his children Annie, Haider and Sasha know how many other lives David touched.”
We have lost a very dear member of the #AvatarFamily, David Brenner, an editor extraordinaire on the Avatar sequels. Our hearts go out to his wife Amber and their children Annie, Haider and Sasha. His talent, compassion and friendship will be truly missed. pic.twitter.com/sXlV3mSX2l
— James Cameron (@JimCameron) February 18, 2022
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