David Brenner, an Oscar-winning film editor who has worked extensively with Zack Snyder and Oliver Stone, among other filmmakers, has died. He was 59.
Brenner died suddenly in his home in West Hollywood on Thursday, his wife, actress Amber Brenner, first told THR. The news was also confirmed in a GoFundMe page set up by “Avatar” producer Jon Landau, as well as in a social media post by Snyder. Amber Brenner did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
A cause of death has not been released.
Brenner won his Oscar in 1990 (shared with Joe Hutshing) for working on Stone’s “Born on the Fourth of July.” He’s also credited on numerous other films, including, “The Doors,” “Independence Day,” “The Day After Tomorrow,” “World Trade Center,” “Man of Steel,” “300: Rise of an Empire” and, most recently, “Zack Snyder’s Justice League.” He was currently at work editing James Cameron’s “Avatar” sequels.
“For those of us lucky enough to know David, it was not his editorial skills that were most impressive (and they were extraordinary), it was his remarkable compassion for others and the love and commitment he had for his family,” Landau said in part on GoFundMe. “David will live in our hearts & memories, and he will forever be a part of our ‘Avatar’ Family.”
“The kindest man, a loving father and husband, a gifted artist…you’ll be deeply missed,” Snyder wrote in his post about Brenner.
Brenner’s first film was 1985’s “Radioactive Dreams,” where he served as an apprentice editor. He eventually teamed with Stone on some of the director’s earlier films such as “Platoon,” “Salvador” and “Wall Street” and was mentored by British editor Claire Simpson. His Oscar for “Born on the Fourth of July” would be for just his second feature as a film editor.
In an interview with ProVideoCoalition from last year, Brenner discussed that he took the same approach to tracking and massaging multiple character arcs on whatever film he’s working on, be it an enormous blockbuster or a smaller scale project.
“No matter what the budget or scale, as the editor, you’re just trying to get the story and characters to work. Whether or not it’s a $200M action film or a $20M art house film, you’re still trying to get the movie to play,” he said.
Brenner is survived by his wife Amber of 19 years and three children.