Long way to the top: Aussie editor Kirk Baxter celebrates Oscar win for The Social Network

March 1 2011, 1:34 pm | BY Lynchy | 4 Comments

Screen shot 2011-03-01 at 1.33.29 PM.jpgKirk Baxter, the Oscar Award winning Australian film editor of The Social Network, must feel on top of the world today after a big night at the Oscars followed by the Governor’s Ball.

Baxter was raised in Sydney and commenced his career as an in-house editing assistant at Ross Wood Productions in Paddington, and then later at Karl Marks Post Production where he began to edit for commercial clients.

He then moved to the UK and cemented his career at established post house Final Cut in London, before moving to headline the roster in their newly opened New York office.

After continued success in New York, he headed to LA and Rock Paper Scissors. David Fincher was a client and collaborator of Angus Wall there, and Baxter was asked to do some additional editing work on Zodiac in 2007. That role led him to a full editing credit on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and an Academy Award nomination in 2009.

Last Sunday caps a brilliant career so far, yet it’s far from over. Baxter is currently editing the US version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo for David Fincher and Sony Pictures.

Last night’s Oscars show also delivered the prestigious award to award-winning Australian

author/illustrator Shaun Tan for “The Lost Thing” in the best animated short film category.

 

Nylon Studios’ composer Michael Yezerski wrote the music for the amazing 15-minute animated short that tells the story of a boy who finds an unusual creature on a beach and tries to find a home for it. The film was directed by Tan and Andrew Ruhemann and produced by Sophie Byrne.

 

Says Yezerski: “The music of the film needed to tell an emotional story, but also evoke the strange world of the ‘Lost Thing.’  In collaboration with Shaun and Andrew, I developed a non-traditional musical landscape for the score that would be both heartwarming and yet somehow a little unfamiliar, which reflects the themes of the film.”

 

In November, Yezerski won an Australian Screen Music Award for his work on the film. The film previously won top prize at the prestigious Annecy International Animated Film Festival.