Andrew Coutts’ editing work includes a vast range of high-profile television, feature film, and commercial productions, but what he is best known for throughout the entertainment industry is his unparalleled ability to edit horror driven films in a way that makes moviegoers jump out their seats.
Horror films have always relied on a myriad of different devices to unsettle and scare their audiences. Sometimes it’s a melodic, ethereal soundtrack that blends impish childhood melodies with intense orchestral stabs; and sometimes it’s the use of a talented special effects crew, who labor ruthlessly over sculpting the perfect mask or rendering a computer generated ghost that could fool Edgar Allen Poe himself. However, undisputedly the most powerful tool in a horror filmmaker’s toolbox, or any filmmaker for that matter, is a talented and dedicated editor, one who fits together the puzzle pieces of scenes, shots and sounds to create a truly horrifying picture to enthrall audiences again and again.
With years and years of editing for disturbing and sometimes downright grotesque films under his belt, Andrew Coutts has strung together some of the scariest films to grace the silver screen. Born and raised not far from Toronto, Canada, Coutts first found his natural talent for editing and filmmaking in high school, where he had to direct, shoot, and edit a short film for a class project. Even though he enjoyed all of the creative processes of filmmaking, it was editing that sparked his interest most.
Coutts says, “It was at this point that I discovered my love for storytelling through the craft of editing. The ah-ha moments where you find just the right way of editing a scene that makes it suddenly all come together, finding the performances that hit just the right tone, working out the pacing and rhythms of the story… it’s the craft of editing as a whole that I love.”
Coutts’ love-at-first-sight with editing has evolved into a more than fifteen year career in post-production, where he has worked with massive production companies such as Lionsgate, Lifetime, and Bravo, as well as Indie developers. Coutts has worked as an editor on several of the films from the Saw series, which grossed well into the millions, and several award winning features, such as The Day, which swept the Toronto Film Festival Midnight Madness Program. Coutts’ passion and talent for storytelling through editing is evident in his work and his attitudes toward the projects he has taken on.
“I love storytelling, I love crafting scenes and sequences that I can envision the impact on the audience. Whether it’s a tension filled horror scene where through editing and pacing we’ve built suspense and shock the audience with a scare moment, or putting together poignant performances… knowing how to best pace scenes in horror is integral to how scary the film is perceived,” says Coutts.
The editors dedication and apt for commanding the audiences fears has won him several award nominations, such as the Canadian Cinema Editors Award nomination for the film Sequence, and the Directors Guild of Canada Award Nomination for In God’s Country. His upcoming projects, such as season two of Sleepy Hollow, and the films Blood Sucking Bastards (starring Pedro Pascal from Game of Thrones), and Grizzly (starring Billy Bob Thornton) are sure to enthrall audiences with his trademark editing prowess and passion. As one of the most powerful tools in a Director’s arsenal, Andrew Coutts is set to shock and move audiences for years to come.