75th ACE Eddie Awards Predictions: Is Another ‘Anora’ Win Coming to Close the Season?
Just when you thought it was over, they pull you back in. The 2024/2025 awards season isn’t quite over, folks. The ACE Eddie Awards, which recognize outstanding editing in 14 categories of film, television and documentaries, delayed from their January 18 ceremony due to the L.A. wildfires that halted all events in the city at the time. But now the time has come as they are this Friday, March 14. So why not have one last set of predictions to go along with it?
No longer a precursor with the Oscars behind us and the Film Editing Academy Award winner known, it might feel like the main film winners here are a bit obvious. That we have hindsight. Or do we? For many, Anora was a big surprise winner here at the Oscars, and when it happened it all but secured that it was going to win Best Picture by the end of the night. But, as ACE separates drama and comedy and the presumed runner-up at the Oscars, Conclave, isn’t competing against Anora here. Is it the default drama winner? It faced only one other Oscar nominee at ACE, Emilia Pérez, a film far more competitive in this category than some might think. All other nominees didn’t make the Oscar cut, like Civil War, Dune: Part Two and Furiosa: A Mad Max Story. Could one of those surprise here? Doesn’t seem likely. Also, why is Emilia Pérez in drama and Wicked in comedy? I digress, but make it make sense.
Back to Anora though; it also faces just one Oscar nominee in its ACE category with Wicked. Like Emilia Pérez, an energetic musical with lots of cuts and sequences of singing, dancing and more, it feels like the most competitive contender for Anora. But then there’s the film that not only should have been Oscar-nominated but a contender to win and that’s Challengers. The overwhelming critical pick this awards season, it might be the closest to an upset despite the Oscar snub.
For animated features, while Flow bested The Wild Robot at the Oscars, the latter was quite the guild champion all season and I would imagine it will be here as well, all things being equal at the time of voting on the awards.
In television, you can only align Emmy wins so far as guilds use a calendar year release vs the Emmy calendar of June 1 – May 31. There are some gimmes like Shōgun and Baby Reindeer that will likely repeat their Emmy wins with the same episodes (“A Dream of A Dream” and “Episode 4,” respectively), although Baby Reindeer will go up against the action of The Penguin, a guild beast this season. In comedy series, The Bear‘s Emmy win came from season two but it competes here for season three due to its summer release. With previous two wins here for both of its seasons it’s probably a safe bet that the frenetic pace of the show will be able to triumph once again.
As previously announced, acclaimed filmmaker Jon M. Chu will receive the ACE Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award, recognizing a filmmaker who exemplifies distinguished achievement in the art and business of film. Also previously announced, film editors Maysie Hoy, ACE and Paul Hirsch, ACE will receive Career Achievement Awards for their outstanding contributions to film editing.
The show will pivot from a Black-Tie, red carpet event to a “Come as You Are” community-building fundraiser with a portion of ticket sales being donated to LA wildfire relief and will take place Friday, March 14, 2025 at UCLA’s Royal Hall in Los Angeles..
Here are my winner predictions for the 75th Annual ACE Eddie Awards.
BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (Drama, Theatrical)
Civil War – Jake Roberts, ACE
Conclave – Nick Emerson (Predicted winner)
Dune: Part Two – Joe Walker, ACE
Emilia Pérez – Juliette Welfling (Could win)
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – Eliot Knapman and Margaret Sixel, ACE
BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (Comedy, Theatrical)
Anora – Sean Baker (Predicted winner)
Challengers – Marco Costa (Could win)
A Real Pain – Robert Nassau
The Substance – Coralie Fargeat, Jérôme Eltabet, Valentin Féron
Wicked – Myron Kerstein, ACE
BEST EDITED ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Flow – Gints Zilbalodis (Could win)
Inside Out 2 – Maurissa Horwitz
Moana 2 – Jeremy Milton, ACE, Michael Louis Hill
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl – Dan Hembery
The Wild Robot – Mary Blee (Predicted winner)
BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Beatles ’64 – Mariah Rehmet, ACE (Predicted winner)
Jim Henson Idea Man – Sierra Neal; Paul Crowder, ACE (Could win)
Her Name was Moviola – Howard Berry
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story – Otto Burnham
Will & Harper – Monique Zavistovski, ACE
BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY SERIES
Chimp Crazy (102 – “Gone Ape”) – Evan Wise, ACE; Charles Divak, ACE; Adrienne Gits, ACE; Doug Abel, ACE
The Jinx – Part Two (203 – “Saving My Tears Until It’s Official”) – Richard Hankin, ACE; Charles Olivier (Predicted winner)
Quiet On Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV (102 – “Hidden in Plain Sight”) – Daphne Gómez-Mena; Jane Jo, ACE
STEVE! (Martin) a Documentary in 2 Pieces (101 – “Then”) – Alan Lowe
STEVE! (Martin) a Documentary in 2 Pieces (102 – “Now”) – Jeff Malmberg, ACE; Aaron I. Naar (Could win)
BEST EDITED MULTI-CAMERA COMEDY SERIES
Frasier (207 – “My Brilliant Sister”) – Russell Griffin, ACE (Could win)
Poppa’s House (102 – “Sleepover”) – Angel Gamboa Bryant, ACE (Predicted winner)
The Upshaws (506 – “Do I”) – Angel Gamboa Bryant, ACE; Brian LeCoz
BEST EDITED SINGLE CAMERA COMEDY SERIES
The Bear (301 – “Tomorrow”) – Joanna Naugle, ACE (Predicted winner)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (1206 – “The Gettysburg Address”) – Steven Rasch, ACE
Nobody Wants This (101 – “Pilot”) – Maura Corey, ACE
Only Murders in the Building (410 – “My Best Friend’s Wedding”) – Shelly Westerman, ACE; Payton Koch
What We Do in the Shadows (603 – “Sleep Hypnosis”) – Liza Cardinale, ACE; Dane McMaster, ACE (Could win)
BEST EDITED DRAMA SERIES
3 Body Problem (105 – “Judgment Day”) – Michael Ruscio, ACE
Fallout (101 – “The End”) – Ali Comperchio
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (101 – “First Date”) – Kyle Reiter, ACE; Isaac Hagy, ACE (Could win)
Shōgun (110 – “A Dream of A Dream”) – Maria Gonzales, ACE; Aika Miyake (Predicted winner)
Slow Horses (401 – “Identity Theft”) – Robert Frost
BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (NON-THEATRICAL)
Am I OK? – Kayla M. Emter, ACE; Glen Scantlebury, ACE
Road House – Doc Crotzer, ACE (Predicted winner)
Unfrosted – Evan Henke, ACE (Could win)
BEST EDITED LIMITED SERIES
Baby Reindeer (104 – “Episode 4”) – Peter H. Oliver; Benjamin Gerstein (Could win)
Disclaimer (105 – “V”) – Adam Gough, ACE, BFE
Fargo (510 – “Bisquik”) – Regis Kimble
The Penguin (101 – “After Hours”) – Henk van Eeghen, ACE (Predicted winner)
Ripley (105 – “V Lucio”) – Joshua Raymond Lee; David O. Rogers
BEST EDITED NON-SCRIPTED SERIES
Conan O’Brien Must Go (104 – “Ireland”) – Matthew Shaw; Brad Roelandt (Could win)
Couples Therapy (401) – Ryan Loeffler; Eileen Meyer
Welcome to Wrexham (305 – “Temporary”) – Tim Wilsbach, ACE; Steve Welch, ACE; Michael Brown; Michael Oliver; Tim Roche; Matt Wafaie; Jenny Krochmal (Predicted winner)
BEST EDITED VARIETY TALK/SKETCH SHOW OR SPECIAL
Ali Wong: Single Lady – Sean Hubbert
John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in L.A. (104 – “Paranormal”) – Kelly Lyon, ACE; Sean McIlraith; Ryan McIlraith (Could win)
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (1103 – “Boeing”) – Anthony Miale, ACE (Predicted winner)
BEST EDITED ANIMATED SERIES
Bob’s Burgers (1413 – “Butt, Sweat, and Fears”) – Stephanie Earley, ACE; Jeremy Reuben, ACE (Could win)
The Simpsons (3514 – “Night of the Living Wage”) – Don Barrozo
X-Men ’97 (105 – “Remember It”) – Michelle McMillan (Predicted winner)
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
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