Interview: ‘Still’ Editor Michael Harte on Michael J. Fox, ‘Back to the Future’, and Needle Drops
In Maker’s Dozen, we ask folks in and around the film industry 12 questions and have them ask one of us.
Michael Harte is a BAFTA-winning, Emmy-nominated documentary editor. His credits include Three Identical Strangers, Don’t F**k With Cats, On The President’s Orders, and the new Davis Guggenheim film Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, which is available now on Apple TV+.
We spoke with Michael about Michael J. Fox’s filmography and comedic timing, current trends in film editing, needle drops he’d love to use, and more!
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
1. What’s the Michael Harte origin story?
I started editing in Dublin. I wanted to be a producer or director—I wasn’t into editing. I was working for a production company in Dublin called Liberty Films. I would research for them and make tea. It was at the time when editing suites started to become more affordable, so I set one up. Editors would start to come in and my job was to make sure they were cool and had tea and lunch. I would also ingest video tapes.
This guy came in one day and he had a Harley-Davidson and a beach house, and he was an amazing editor who cut at lightning speed. I was like, “Who is this guy?” It was Bob Caldwell. One night when we were in the edit, he deleted all the media by mistake on the hard drive. He had a deadline 4 to 5 days later and it was a Friday. I said to him, “I’ll work the weekend and I’ll come to your house and we can reingest the material.” He said, “If you figure this out for me, I’ll turn you into an editor. You won’t be an assistant. I’m in trouble.” He was setting up his own editing boutique in Dublin, and he was true to his word. He employed me and let me cut material straight away. I was 21. My technical ability isn’t great because I bypassed the assistant editor role, but I got in very early thanks to Bob.
2. Still was really wonderful. In your research of Michael J. Fox’s filmography, what’s something you discovered for the first time or appreciated anew?
There wasn’t much I could learn from Back to the Future because I’d seen them all so many times. Teen Wolf is the same. Anything from the ‘80s I didn’t need to do any research for. The Frighteners was really good, and I hadn’t appreciated it initially. It’s a great movie. The American President was great as well, and he had really good range there. The main thing is how funny he is. How good he is at delivering lines and delivering the joke. Perfect comic timing.
3. Still director Davis Guggenheim dumps hours of footage on your plate. Where do you even begin to start piecing it together?
We got lucky with Michael’s audiobooks. A book is a good starting point for any documentary. He had recorded Lucky Man already, so we basically had what feels like an interview with him to use as a foundation. If we hadn’t had that, we would have struggled for a long time. He’d given us this perfect three-act structure in that book alone, so without that we would have been limited early on because there’s so many movies and TV shows to go through. I would have gotten lost without the structure.
4. The mix of interviews, narration, movie clips, and reenactments in Still felt really fresh and compelling. What’s your favorite edit in the movie?
It’s the scene where he’s jumping between Family Ties and Back to the Future. We called it the moonlighting scene. When I look back at that scene, it’s the best example of me and Davis battling it out on whether it should be documentary archive or recreations. To be able to use the clips in a creative way, for a mass audience, is an editor’s dream. I grew up obsessing with Back to the Future, and I still do. Every time I start an edit I watch it. Structurally it’s flawless. So to be able to play with that material and the soundtrack and have the star narrate it, it was really difficult because I was terrified I would ruin its legacy.
5. Back to the Future is a perfect film. What’s something only an editor would notice about it?
The scene at the end when the DeLorean is driving back while Doc is hanging off the clocktower. You watch that scene and ironically it’s like clockwork. The rhythm, the tension… the cuts get faster as the car gets closer. And the music is incredible.
6. What current trend in film editing are you a fan of?
I’m watching The Bear at the moment and you can clearly see the rhythm is next-level. It’s frantic when it wants to be. We played with a similar thing in Still where you can have scenes that are very, very fast and then stop. So if anything the trend is to not be predictable within your own editing, without throwing the audience off completely. The editing can change based on what the film needs, and I think The Bear is a great example.
7. This month we’re covering summer movies. What’s your go-to movie for summer vibes?
Jaws. I think that’s the one.
8. What’s a song you’d love to use for a needle-drop moment in a movie one day?
I got to use a lot of them in Still: “Sabotage” by Beastie Boys, “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns N’ Roses, “New Sensation” by INXS. I’m currently working on a series with David Beckham on Netflix, so I get to use a lot of British stuff that I loved growing up. Another one is Elton John’s “Funeral for a Friend”. I don’t know where I’ll use it, but it’s this amazing intro to one of the best opening tracks.
9. Which documentary do more people need to see?
A friend of mine, James Jones, just made one called Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes. It’s really strong.
10. What real-life event or moment deserves its own documentary?
Breakfast with my 3-year-old. It would be the most dramatic documentary the world has ever seen!
11. What’s your go-to advice for aspiring editors?
Watch all your material if you can. It can be hard to maintain focus when watching hours and hours of raw footage, but every shot has the potential to transform a scene.
12. What’s your favorite movie of 2023 so far?
I haven’t seen it yet but I’m convinced it’s Oppenheimer. I’m seeing that tomorrow. I saw Barbie and it was off the charts.
+1. What’s your question for us?
What do you love about Back to the Future?
(Chad:) Like you said, it’s a flawless movie. Perfect screenplay and casting. There’s so many hidden references you don’t get until you’re several viewings in, so I love that there’s always something to see every time you watch it.