Mary Jo Markey, ACE

Mary Jo Markey, ACE, is an accomplished editor in both film and television.  After her studies in English Literature at Ohio State University and her move to the west coast, she got her first look at a cutting room and what editors do while working as an assistant to Robert Redford, and from that moment she wanted to know more.  With Redford’s help, Markey was hired to be an apprentice to Dede Allen in the Milagro Beanfield War cutting room, which was the beginning of her editing career.

After cutting a series of independent films and television movies, Markey began her collaboration with JJ Abrams as one of the editors of the TV series Felicity during its first three seasons (1998-2000).  Markey then moved over to edit the first two seasons of Alias, during which she received her first Emmy nomination for the episode “Q and A.”  Later, in 2005, Markey won the Emmy for Drama Series Editing for her work on the Lost pilot.  In 2006, Markey’s collaboration with J.J. Abrams moved to the large screen with Mission Impossible III.  Their work together continued with the HBO pilot Anatomy of Hope, 2009’s Star Trek (which led to an ACE Eddie nomination), the Undercovers pilot, Super 8, and Star Trek Into Darkness in 2013.  

Besides projects with Abrams, Markey has edited the award-winning HBO film Life Support, which was selected as the closing night film for the 2007 Sundance Film Festival (and brought her an additional Emmy nomination as well as an ACE Eddie nomination), The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Great Wall, directed by master of Chinese cinema Zhang Yimou, and the sci-fi thriller Life.  But the highlight of her credit list has to be Star Wars: The Force Awakens, an enormous hit which resulted in an academy award nomination and an additional ACE Eddie nod for Markey.  

Ms. Markey is an active member of several professional organizations. She was the creator of the first “PRIME CUTS: Emmy Winning Editors on Their Craft,” (which celebrated its thirteenth anniversary this year), served for four years on the Academy of Motion Pictures Editing Branch Committee, and is currently serving her second term as an ACE board member.   She makes frequent appearances on panels and seminars, has served as a mentor to her former assistants and P.A.’s, and has never lost her love for the craft and creativity of editing.