Christina Jean "Chris" Innis is an American
film editor
Film editing is both a creative and a technical part of the post-production process of filmmaking. The term is derived from the traditional process of working with film which increasingly involves the use of digital technology.
The film edit ...
and
filmmaker
Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...
.
She was awarded the 2010
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
,
BAFTA, and
ACE
An ace is a playing card, Dice, die or domino with a single Pip (counting), pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit (cards), suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large a ...
awards for "Best Film Editing" on the film ''
The Hurt Locker
''The Hurt Locker'' is a 2008 American war thriller film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Mark Boal. It stars Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Christian Camargo, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse, and Guy Pearce. The film follo ...
'' shared with co-editor,
Bob Murawski
Bob Murawski (born June 14, 1964) is an American film editor. He was awarded the 2010 Academy Award for Best Film Editing for his work on ''The Hurt Locker'', which he shared with his wife, fellow editor Chris Innis. He often works with film dir ...
. She is an elected member of the
American Cinema Editors
Founded in 1950, American Cinema Editors (ACE) is an honorary society of film editors that are voted in based on the qualities of professional achievements, their education of others, and their dedication to editing. Members use the post-nominal ...
(ACE) and has served as an associate director on the board.
Early life
Innis was born and raised in
San Diego, California
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...
, the daughter of
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
Donald Innis
Donald Alywn Innis, (born in 1931 in Olean, New York), is an American architect based in San Diego, California. Innis is also an inventor and engineer and has pioneered the idea of floating real estate, specifically the notion of a floating airpo ...
and his wife, teacher and floral designer Virginia.
Chris Innis moved to the San Francisco
Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...
where she graduated from
U.C. Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...
, majoring in film studies. While a student at Cal Berkeley, Innis interned for several San Francisco production companies, including the commercial company owned and operated by cinematographer
Ron Eveslage.
Career highlights
Innis completed post-graduate film studies at
The California Institute of the Arts
The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of bot ...
and received a
MFA degree in filmmaking. During this time, Innis edited music videos featuring rappers
Ice Cube
An ice cube is a small piece of ice, which is typically rectangular as viewed from above and trapezoidal as viewed from the side. Ice cubes are products of mechanical refrigeration and are usually produced to cool beverages. They may be produc ...
,
Onyx
Onyx primarily refers to the parallel banded variety of chalcedony, a silicate mineral. Agate and onyx are both varieties of layered chalcedony that differ only in the form of the bands: agate has curved bands and onyx has parallel bands. The c ...
and
DMX, as well as edited the first music video for the band Fine ''Industrial is Dead'' directed by
Jordan Scott (daughter of notable film director
Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is a British film director and producer. Directing, among others, science fiction films, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades thr ...
). Innis also directed and/or produced almost two dozen
karaoke
Karaoke (; ; , clipped compound of Japanese ''kara'' "empty" and ''ōkesutora'' "orchestra") is a type of interactive entertainment usually offered in clubs and bars, where people sing along to recorded music using a microphone. The music is ...
videos of hits for Japanese firm
Pioneer Electronics
commonly referred to as Pioneer, is a Japanese multinational corporation based in Tokyo, that specializes in digital entertainment products. The company was founded by Nozomu Matsumoto in January 1, 1938 in Tokyo as a radio and speaker repair s ...
.
After a move to
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
, Innis worked as the production coordinator on the first season of the long-running hit television series ''American's Funniest Home Videos''. She later worked her way up in post-production alongside film editor, Pietro Scalia, who she assisted on the Academy Award-winning
Oliver Stone
William Oliver Stone (born September 15, 1946) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Stone won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay as writer of '' Midnight Express'' (1978), and wrote the gangster film remake '' Sc ...
film ''
JFK
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...
''.
Innis and Scalia worked for six years together on a variety of films including
Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is a British film director and producer. Directing, among others, science fiction films, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades thr ...
's ''
G.I. Jane
''G.I. Jane'' is a 1997 American war drama film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Demi Moore, Viggo Mortensen, and Anne Bancroft. The film tells the fictional story of the first woman to undergo special operations training similar to the U ...
'',
Sam Raimi
Samuel M. Raimi ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the Spider-Man (2002 film series), ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007) and the ''Evil Dead'' franchise (1981–present). He also directed the 1 ...
's ''
The Quick and the Dead'', ''
White Man's Burden
"The White Man's Burden" (1899), by Rudyard Kipling, is a poem about the Philippine–American War (1899–1902) that exhorts the United States to assume colonial control of the Filipino people and their country.Hitchens, Christopher. ''Bloo ...
'' starring
John Travolta
John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor. He came to public attention during the 1970s, appearing on the television sitcom ''Welcome Back, Kotter'' (1975–1979) and starring in the box office successes ''Carrie'' (19 ...
, and Sam Raimi's cult horror TV pilot ''
American Gothic
''American Gothic'' is a 1930 painting by Grant Wood in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Wood was inspired to paint what is now known as the ''American Gothic'' House in Eldon, Iowa, along with "the kind of people efancied shoul ...
''.
Innis progressed as a
music editor
A music sequencer (or audio sequencer or simply sequencer) is a device or application software that can record, edit, or play back music, by handling note and performance information in several forms, typically CV/Gate, MIDI, or Open Sound Cont ...
and film editor for Sam Raimi (film director best known for ''
The Evil Dead
''The Evil Dead'' is a 1981 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Sam Raimi, produced by Robert Tapert and executive produced by Raimi, Tapert, and Bruce Campbell, who also starred alongside Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeMan ...
'' and the successful original ''
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...
'' films).
[ THH News – "The Hurt Locker"] Innis was hired by Raimi for the job of lead editor on the CBS/Universal TV horror series ''
American Gothic
''American Gothic'' is a 1930 painting by Grant Wood in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Wood was inspired to paint what is now known as the ''American Gothic'' House in Eldon, Iowa, along with "the kind of people efancied shoul ...
''. Innis has since edited several films including 2010's Best Picture winner ''
The Hurt Locker
''The Hurt Locker'' is a 2008 American war thriller film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Mark Boal. It stars Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Christian Camargo, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse, and Guy Pearce. The film follo ...
'', which won six
Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
including best editing.
Innis has worked as a producer, writer, and editor with
Bob Murawski
Bob Murawski (born June 14, 1964) is an American film editor. He was awarded the 2010 Academy Award for Best Film Editing for his work on ''The Hurt Locker'', which he shared with his wife, fellow editor Chris Innis. He often works with film dir ...
for the distribution of cult films for
Grindhouse Releasing
Grindhouse Releasing is a Hollywood-based independent cult film distribution company led by film editor Bob Murawski and co-founded by Sage Stallone. Grindhouse digitally remasters, restores, and produces bonus materials and video documentaries f ...
and Box Office Spectaculars.
[ "Cannibal Holocaust" 25th Anniveray Edition review, by Jari Kovalainen, January 1, 2006](_blank)
/ref>[ DVD Maniacs Review "Cannibal Holocaust" 25th Anniversary Collector's Edition](_blank)
/ref>[*Also see DVD credits for Grindhouse Releasing & BOS DVD releases of ''Cat in the Brain'', ''Pieces'', ''Cannibal Holocaust'', ''Cannibal Ferox'', ''I Drink Your Blood''] She has also worked on the digital restorations of ''The Big Gundown
''The Big Gundown'' ( it, La resa dei conti, lit=The Settling of Scores) is a 1966 Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Sollima, and starring Lee Van Cleef and Tomas Milian.
Plot
Possessing a reputation for bringing criminals to justice, r ...
'' and '' The Swimmer''. She wrote, produced, directed and edited a -hour, five-part documentary ''The Story of the Swimmer'' featuring behind-the-scenes interviews with cast and crew of the 1968 film '' The Swimmer'' including Joan Rivers
Joan Alexandra Molinsky (June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014), known professionally as Joan Rivers, was an American comedian, actress, producer, writer and television host. She was noted for her blunt, often controversial comedic persona—heavi ...
, Janet Landgard
Janet Landgard (born December 2, 1947) is an American actress and model. She starred with Burt Lancaster in the 1968 film '' The Swimmer'' written by Eleanor Perry and directed by Frank Perry. Landgard was also a regular on the 1960s television se ...
, Marge Champion
Marjorie Celeste Champion ( Belcher; September 2, 1919October 21, 2020) was an American dancer and actress. At fourteen, she was hired as a dance model for Walt Disney Studios animated films. Later, she performed as an actress and dancer in film ...
, Burt Lancaster's daughter Joanna Lancaster, producer Michael Hertzberg and former film executive Ted Zachary (New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after acq ...
). The documentary has been called "miraculous... never a dull moment", "a fascinating Hollywood story" which is "impressive...and should be in the running for Best (Blu-ray) Feature of the year".
Chris Innis appears in the documentary ''78/52'' directed by Alexandre O. Philippe, a post-modern breakdown of the iconic shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
's '' Psycho''.
Personal life
Since 2008, Innis has been married to fellow film editor and film distributor
A film distributor is responsible for the Film promotion, marketing of a film. The distribution company may be the same with, or different from, the production company. Distribution deals are an important part of financing a film.
The distributo ...
Bob Murawski. The two were first introduced to one another by Sam Raimi and met while both were editing ''American Gothic''. The couple married shortly after completing work on ''The Hurt Locker
''The Hurt Locker'' is a 2008 American war thriller film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Mark Boal. It stars Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Christian Camargo, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse, and Guy Pearce. The film follo ...
''. Her sister is Bay Area artist Cynthia Ona Innis.
Selected filmography
Awards and nominations
*'' The Swimmer'' – (Won) – The 2014 International Press Academy's Satellite Award
– Outstanding Overall Blu-ray/DVD (producer /Grindhouse Releasing
Grindhouse Releasing is a Hollywood-based independent cult film distribution company led by film editor Bob Murawski and co-founded by Sage Stallone. Grindhouse digitally remasters, restores, and produces bonus materials and video documentaries f ...
)
*''The Hurt Locker
''The Hurt Locker'' is a 2008 American war thriller film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Mark Boal. It stars Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Christian Camargo, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse, and Guy Pearce. The film follo ...
'' – (Won) – 2010 Academy Award – Best Film Editing
*''The Hurt Locker'' – (Won) – 2010 BAFTA – Best Film Editing
*''The Hurt Locker'' – (Won) – 2010 ACE Eddie Award – Best Film Editing
*''The Hurt Locker'' – (Won) – The Online Film Critics Society – Best Film Editing
*''The Hurt Locker'' – (Won) – The Las Vegas Film Critics Association – Best Film Editing
*''The Hurt Locker'' – (Won) – Boston Society of Film Critics
The Boston Society of Film Critics (BSFC) is an organization of film reviewers from Boston, Massachusetts in the United States.
History
The BSFC was formed in 1981 to make “Boston’s unique critical perspective heard on a national and internati ...
– Best Film Editing
*''The Hurt Locker'' – (Won) – The International Press Academy's Golden Satellite Award – Best Film Editing[Brevet, Brad (2009-12-21)]
"'Hurt Locker' Leads Pack with Four Wins at 2009 Satellite Awards"
. ''Ropeofsilicon.com''. Retrieved 2009-12-21.
*''The Hurt Locker'' – (Won) – International Cinephile Society Award – Best Editing
*''The Hurt Locker'' – (Nominated) – The Broadcast Film Critics Association Critic's Choice Awards – Best Film Editing
*''The Hurt Locker'' – (Nominated) – Hollywood Post Alliance Awards Outstanding Editing – Feature Film
See also
* List of Academy Award winning couples
References
External links
*
"Tech Support Interview: The Crafts of The Hurt Locker", Incontention, by Guy Lodge, January 7th, 2010
Below the Line Magazine – "Contenders – Editors Bob Murawski and Chris Innis, The Hurt Locker", by Mary Ann Skweres, March 2, 2010
{{DEFAULTSORT:Innis, Chris
Living people
American Cinema Editors
American documentary filmmakers
American film editors
Film producers from California
American women screenwriters
Best Editing BAFTA Award winners
Best Film Editing Academy Award winners
California Institute of the Arts alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)
Film directors from California
People from San Diego
UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni
Screenwriters from California
American women film editors
American women documentary filmmakers
21st-century American women