Editor Ronald Sanders

Starting with 1979’s Fast Company, Ronald Sanders has edited every David Cronenberg picture save one.

‘The Brood was shot at about the same time as Fast Company, which is why I didn’t have the time to do it [and Alan Collins got the call],’ says Sanders. The veteran editor was also on hand to cut the filmmaker’s latest, A History of Violence. Sanders credits the long-standing collaboration, which has yielded him Genie Awards for Dead Ringers, Crash and eXistenZ, to basic compatibility.

‘At my initial job interview back in 1979, we discovered that we shared an interest in motorcycles and motorcycle racing,’ Sanders explains. ‘We then got along well during the editing of [the car racing flick] Fast Company. With David, if you get along under whatever criteria he judges you by, you’re asked back on future projects.’

Sanders describes editing with Cronenberg as ‘a very quiet, non-confrontational process.’ He adds that it all begins with a clean slate. ‘He doesn’t storyboard his shoots. He prefers spontaneity. David likes to talk to the actors on the day of shooting and decide with them how the scene’s going to be played.’

Cronenberg then lets Sanders start assembling a rough cut as shooting progresses, guided by the original script and the editor’s reaction to the footage.

‘A week after shooting’s done, I usually have a first cut done on an Avid that I send to David on DVD,’ Sanders says. ‘We use this as the basis for the final picture, with a lot of give-and-take happening in the cutting room. Typically, David doesn’t leave the cutting room until the final version is done.’

Sanders sums up why the director is so good to work for: ‘David… knows exactly what he wants. This is basically what every editor dreams of – a director who knows what he wants to see on screen.’ *

Composer Howard Shore

Today, Howard Shore is one of the film industry’s most respected composers, with three Academy Awards for the Lord of the Rings trilogy and more than 80 credits to his name, including The Aviator and the forthcoming King Kong. He also played sax with the legendary Canadian rock/jazz band Lighthouse and went on to write the opening theme for NBC’s Saturday Night Live, spending six years as the show’s musical director.

Despite all these achievements, mention David Cronenberg to him and Shore is both humbled and, well, awed.

‘When I was growing up [in Toronto], David was always the coolest guy in my neighborhood,’ he explains. ‘I finally got up the nerve to

approach him about writing music for his film The Brood in 1978.’

Cronenberg clearly liked Shore’s music, because the composer would go on to provide disparate scores for all the director’s subsequent films, except for The Dead Zone, which was scored by Michael Kamen, another industry heavyweight. Shore’s work on Dead Ringers (1988) won him a Genie Award. Despite being busy with some of the biggest productions on the planet, Shore has always made himself available to Cronenberg.

‘Because David is a few years older than me, he always felt like an older brother,’ Shore says. ‘I’m constantly learning things from him. We have been friends and collaborators for over 27 years. My composition ideas were allowed to evolve over that period in a very creative way. We’ve grown up together making films.’ *

Production designer Carol Spier

A key member of David Cronenberg’s team, production designer Carol Spier first started working with the filmmaker on the 1979 feature Fast Company. Since then, Spier’s artistic vision has helped bring to life the idiosyncratic worlds in all of the director’s films except for Spider. (Because she had a prior commitment on Blade II, Cronenberg turned to Andrew Sanders on that film.) The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television has recognized Spier’s work on Dead Ringers (1988) and Naked Lunch (1991) with Genie Awards.

‘Working with David is very much like working with family,’ Spier explains. ‘He’s very loyal to people and expects them to be loyal to him. In fact, we’ve worked together so long that Denise [Cronenberg, David’s sister and costume designer] keeps telling me I’m his second sister.’

Spier points out that Cronenberg’s oft-noted calm demeanor isn’t entirely divorced from the wild visions of David Cronenberg the director.

‘Occasionally, I’m struck by the contradiction between these two personas, but then I recall the little glint that I always see in his eye,’ Spier observes. ‘David just has an incredible imagination, and when you work with him, he makes you use your imagination as well. That’s what makes working with him a challenge, because he is always pushing beyond the norm.’ *