Alisa Lepselter

Alisa Lepselter (born 1963) is a film editor who has edited director Woody Allen's films since 1999.

Lepselter began her editing career as an intern with editor Craig McKay on Something Wild (directed by Jonathan Demme-1986). She was an apprentice with editor Barry Malkin on Francis Ford Coppola's segment of New York Stories (1989). She was Thelma Schoonmaker's assistant editor on Martin Scorsese's adaptation of The Age of Innocence (1993), and was Robert M. Reitano's assistant on three films associated with Nora Ephron (My Blue Heaven (1990), This is My Life (1992), and Mixed Nuts (1994)).

Lepselter's first editing credit was for Nicole Holofcener's Walking and Talking (1996), which was also Holofcener's first film as a director. Since Sweet and Lowdown (1999), she has edited all of Woody Allen's films; she succeeded Susan E. Morse, who edited Allen's films for the previous 20 years.

Lepselter was nominated for an American Cinema Editors "Eddie" Award for Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008).

Filmography as editor

The director and release year of each film is indicated in parentheses.

• Walking and Talking (Holofcener-1996)
• Sweet and Lowdown (Allen-1999)
• Small Time Crooks (Allen-2000)
• The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (Allen-2001)
• Hollywood Ending (Allen-2002)
• Anything Else (Allen-2003)
• Melinda and Melinda (Allen-2005)
• Match Point (Allen-2005)
• Scoop (Allen-2006)
• Cassandra's Dream (Allen-2007)
• Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Allen-2008)
• Whatever Works (Allen-2009)
• You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (Allen-2010)
• Midnight in Paris (Allen-2011)

Further reading

• Frazer, Bryant (Dec. 29, 2005). "Match Point". Deep Focus. Archived from the original on 2006-10-20. http://web.archive.org/web/20061020200845/http://www.deep-focus.com/flicker/matchpoi.html. "I can’t help but think that if Allen’s editor Alisa Lepselter, who he’s been working with since 1999, would rule his cutting room with an iron fist, his recent movies would be about 20 percent shorter and maybe 50 percent better." 
• Caranicas, Peter (January 7, 2009). "Directors play favorites with editors: Eastwood, Allen stick with usual collaborators". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117998141.htm. Retrieved 2010-10-28. "Personality plays a key role in Lepselter's relationship with Allen. 'I'm pretty diplomatic, and I didn't come in there to challenge him,' she says. 'It took him awhile to trust me. He had worked with (editor) Susan Morse for many years and I'm sure they finished each other's sentences.'" 
• Kasman, Daniel (October 15, 2010). "Tailor Made (On "Hereafter" and "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger")". mubi.com. http://mubi.com/notebook/posts/2412. "Dark Stranger fits like a too-tight, synthetic blouse—the actors having to punch out of their claustrophobic, nearly television-like frames (the film should have been shot in 1.33), the awkward long takes of Allen's previous film abandoned by DP Vilmos Zsigmond and editor Alisa Lepselter for shot/reverse-shot scenes which pin everyone a bit too close."