An award-winning filmmaker comes home; Zac Stuart-Pontier at the Big Eddy

JONATHAN CHARLES FOX
Posted 8/21/12

Now in its fifth year, the Big Eddy Film Festival is coming to town, and this year, editor/producer Zac Stuart-Pontier is along for the ride. Born in Honesdale, PA, Zac spent his formative years in …

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An award-winning filmmaker comes home; Zac Stuart-Pontier at the Big Eddy

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Now in its fifth year, the Big Eddy Film Festival is coming to town, and this year, editor/producer Zac Stuart-Pontier is along for the ride. Born in Honesdale, PA, Zac spent his formative years in and around Narrowsburg, NY (and The River Reporter; he is the son of current publisher Laurie Stuart and former editor Glenn Pontier). He is excited to be returning to the region to represent his latest film, “Bleed for This,” which is being screened at major film festivals before opening nationwide in November of this year. Stuart-Pontier will introduce the film, and will participate in a panel discussion, “The Art of Editing,” on Saturday, September 17 at 4:30 p.m.

“Bleed for This,” written and directed by Ben Younger, is based on the life of former world champion boxer Vinny Paz who, after a near-fatal car crash, made one of the sport’s most incredible comebacks. It stars Miles Teller, Aaron Eckhart and Katey Sagal.

Stuart-Pontier met director Younger when he was a local high school student with plans to go to film school. When Stuart-Pontier was a junior at New York University, Younger hired him for his first Hollywood job as a production assistant on “Prime,” a feature film starring Uma Thurman and Meryl Streep.

“I took time off from college to work on that film,” Stuart-Pontier said, “and Ben has always been incredibly supportive.” Since then, Stuart-Pontier has been busy working in film and television, winning a 2015 Emmy Award for Outstanding Picture Editing for his work on “The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst.”

When asked about having the opportunity to have his work seen locally, Stuart-Pontier was enthusiastic. “I’m always excited to share my work at home” he said. “I owe a lot to the community and feel as if I was always empowered artistically. The Delaware Valley Arts Alliance (DVAA) has been an important part of my life, and my history with the organization goes back a long way.” Stuart-Pontier met Big Eddy program director Tina Spangler while working as an intern at the Sundance Channel.

“Tina was [and is] a big deal over at Sundance,” Stuart-Pontier said, “and she was great. That internship made me want to be an editor, even though I started out with the idea that I might go into acting. Soon after the internship with Tina, I helped a friend [at NYU] edit a student film and I won an editing award for it. ‘Oh! That’s funny,’ I thought. ‘I didn’t know I could do that!’”

That experience was followed by more friends and filmmakers asking Stuart-Pontier to work on their projects, and he quickly discovered that he “really enjoyed putting the pieces together and making a movie. “The film comes alive for me during that process,” Stuart-Pontier enthused. “You have to really look at all of those pieces, as if they really were parts of a puzzle, except with film, the end result can be interpreted in many ways.” Explaining the film editing process, he continued, “It’s not necessarily the best scene that works. It’s how they all work together, and all of a sudden, it goes out into the world and takes on a life of its own. I really like that.”

When asked about the audience reaction to “Bleed for This,” Stuart-Pontier is looking forward to having the chance to discuss it after the screening with family and friends. “I have no idea of what people are going to think, or what they will say about the film. I haven’t seen it myself in months, so it will be interesting for me as well,” he said. “One thing I can tell you is that that I’m really happy to be sharing it with my hometown.”

Having heard that folks are excited that it will be a part of the Big Eddy Film Festival, Stuart-Pontier concurred. “They should be excited,” he said “It’s a big deal.” Personally, Stuart-Pontier is excited on a number of levels. “I really think Narrowsburg and the Tusten Theatre are ideal for a film festival and this movie. It’s intimate,” he says of the theatre, “and this is an intimate experience for me, too. I’m too close to the project to see it from the same point of view as the audience,” which is likely to include Stuart-Pontier’s parents.

“I hope they like it” he said. “I think my mom will; it has a happy ending and is a great story of redemption. Ben did an amazing job of figuring out how to bring this story to life.”

For film details and tickets to the Big Eddy Film Festival, visit www.bigeddyfilmfest.com or call 845/252-7576.

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