Earlier this year, Steve Wechsler cut John Ford/John Wayne: The Filmmaker and the Legend, for PBS/WNET (Channel 13) New York and their American Masters series. On July 7, Wechsler, along with the documentary’s director and writer, were recognized with Emmy nominations for the project. It is Wechsler’s fifth nomination to date. A “hired gun” who says he “travels from project to project,” Wechsler completed the American Masters project in one of WNET’s Avid suites with Media Composer and Adobe After Effects and Photoshop.
1. What are you working on today?

I am just completing the editorial for the 90-minute PBS American Masters documentary Walter Cronkite: Witness to History that will air July 26, 2006. Narrated by Katie Couric, the documentary includes interviews with Ben Bradlee, Tom Brokaw, Sir David Frost, David Halberstam, Molly Ivins, Sidney Lumet, Senator John McCain, Robert MacNeil, Bill Moyers, Andy Rooney, Mike Wallace, Morley Safer, Helen Thomas, President Jimmy Carter, Barbara Walters, Don Hewitt, William F. Buckley, Jr., Joe and Shirley Wershba, Leslie Stahl and Daniel Schorr, among many others, all of whom offer fresh insights into the life and work of the broadcasting legend.
2. What have you found is the best tool or innovation that has come out in the last year?
I have a favorite Avid tool that has been around for a while but overlooked to a great extent: It’s called Script Integration and allows an editor to import a word document, like an interview transcript, enter time code data at the beginning and ending of paragraphs, and then interpolates the data and parks you on a word or phrase. It is invaluable for word replacements and searching for key interview answers.
3. The project (film, television, commercial or music video) that most impressed you in the last year? Why?
I was fascinated by the film The Smartest Guys in the Room [directed by Alex Gibney]. It was insightful, shocking and timely. It was intriguing watching the inside story of a company which was able to execute the most elaborate shell game in corporate history before it all unraveled and it was painful to watch employee’s pension plans go up in smoke.
4. The best or favorite project that you worked on in the past year? And why?
Probably the John Ford/John Wayne documentary, which was American Masters’ 90-minute season opener. John Ford is considered by many to be America's greatest director-winner of six Academy Awards, more than any director before or since. John Wayne is the actor whom he transformed from a B-western cowboy into a larger-than-life national icon. Their friendship and professional collaboration spanned 50 years, changed each other's lives, changed the movies and, in the process, changed how America saw itself. It was wonderful to be immersed in their work and to discover new aspects of their relationship. The show was widely recognized, and just earned us several Emmy nominations, to boot.

I also had great fun working on Extremes and In-betweens: A Life in Animation, a 90-minute documentary for PBS’ Great Performances series on animation sensation Chuck Jones. It was a star-studded entertainment special which took a whirlwind ride through animation history, with a focus on the joy, the imagination and the genius of Chuck Jones. The show included animated clips, archival footage and new interviews with Jones and a core of experts and enthusiasts including Steven Spielberg, John Lassiter, Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, Joe Dante, and Leonard Maltin who offered fresh insight into both the world’s hippest art form and the mercurial figure who occupied such an important place in its history.

5. Name the top 4 artists on your iPod?
Bill Evans Trio -Waltz for Debbie
Cal Tjader- Monterey Concerts
Miles Davis- Kind of Blue
Keb’ Mo’ ‘ Keb’ Mo’