From Philadelphia, and Temple University, to Oscar-Winning Film Editor
By Steve Tawa
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- One of the big technical awards during this year's Oscars went to a Philadelphia native and Temple University graduate, for his editing of the film Argo.
If you check the Hollywood A-list for film editors, William Goldenberg's name comes up quite often. While there was plenty of pre-Oscar hype for Ben Affleck's Argo for best film (see related story), the 53-year-old editor also quickly became a frontrunner when he won the Eddie Award last week for best edited feature film.
"I think I came to editing late in the game," Goldenberg said today. "I sort of got the feeling that I was going to be good at it when I was in college and went to film school [Temple U., Class of '82]. I wasn't eight years old, making movies in my garage," he admits.
Goldenberg also stacked the Oscar odds in his favor by competing against himself: he was the co-editor on another nominated film, Katheryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty.
He says there was good DNA in both movies, but he was glad to win for Argo: "We had a great script, great director, photography, and writers. I just had to bring it home, I guess."
Before the nominations this week, Goldenberg -- also a graduate of Northeast Philadelphia High School -- was nominated for Oscars twice before, for his work on Seabiscuit in 2003 and The Insider in 1999.
Read Bill Wine's review of the movie Argo
