Editor – Phil Hignett
Finding Emily editor Phil Hignett returns to The Rough Cut to discuss cutting a romantic comedy built around music, timing, chemistry and the difficult balance between letting a joke land and giving a relationship enough space to feel real. Working with director Alicia MacDonald, Phil helped shape a film that draws on the pleasures of the classic British rom-com while giving the genre a younger, more contemporary point of view.
Directed by Alicia MacDonald and written by Rachel Hirons, Finding Emily stars Spike Fearn as Owen, a musician and sound engineer who becomes determined to find a woman named Emily after discovering that the phone number she gave him is missing a digit. His search leads him to Emily Raine, played by Angourie Rice, an American psychology student who agrees to help him while secretly using his increasingly elaborate search as material for her academic work. As Owen’s quest spreads across campus and begins attracting attention, the relationship developing between the two of them becomes far more important than the person he originally set out to find.
Music is central to the identity of the film, from Owen’s own musical life to the Manchester setting and a soundtrack that helps establish the rhythm and emotional tone of the story. In our conversation, Phil talks about cutting comedy and romance within the same scene, shaping the chemistry between Owen and Emily, working with fast overlapping dialogue, using music as an editorial engine, and knowing when a two-shot or a held reaction can say more than another cut.
The discussion also gets into some of the film’s more unusual editorial challenges, including the way Owen’s search spreads through social media, the large number of Emilys who become part of the story, the balance between making Owen’s behavior feel romantic and allowing the audience to question it, and the film’s distinctive use of music during some of its biggest emotional moments.
PHIL HIGNETT
Phil Hignett is an editor whose credits include Finding Emily, Sex Education, Stath Lets Flats, Wedding Season, Renegade Nell and Am I Being Unreasonable? His work spans television, features and commercial editing, with a particular emphasis on comedy, performance and the precise timing required to balance humor with character.
Phil began his career in commercial editorial before moving into long-form work, eventually collaborating with filmmakers including Ben Taylor and Alicia MacDonald. His work on Sex Education was recognized with a BFE Cut Above Award for Best Edited Series: Comedy, shared with fellow editors Steve Ackroyd, David Webb and Izabella Curry.
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