Margaret Sixel

Margaret Sixel has creatively contributed to the production of numerous projects throughout her career, including Babe (1995), in which George Miller credits her for turning the picture around by "declaring an early cut [of the film] too episodic and lacking in narrative tension, and suggesting the linking devices of chapter headings and singing mice."[2] She received a "Special Thanks" credit for the film, as well as a "Thanks" in the credits of Happy Feet Two for contributions to "the story structure."[3]

In regard to their creative relationship, Sixel has remarked that both Miller and herself collaboratively make up a "complete person."[4] She has stated that being his spouse only helps in that they understand each other's sensibilities better, since "98 percent of the time [they] agree on [their] choices," which is important, "because when you are not in sync, lots of people have opinions in the editing room and you can really go off in the wrong direction."[5]

In 2012, Sixel began editing Mad Max: Fury Road under the direction of George Miller. When asked why he chose his wife to edit his film, Miller observed that she had never cut an action movie before, and that if it were to be edited by "the usual kind of guys, it would look like every other action movie we see."[6]

Because the majority of the film revolves around an intense road battle, featuring dozens of vehicular stunts and hundreds of individual extras, the location team would shoot with upwards of 20 cameras on any given set up.[7] As a result, the editorial team on location processed between 10 and 20 hours of footage on a daily basis, which had to be flown back to Sydney, Australia, where Sixel and her editorial team would work on shaping the footage in conjunction with production.[7] By the time principal photography had wrapped, Sixel was given over 470 hours of footage to edit, which took three months to merely view in its entirety.[6][7]

For two years, Sixel worked for roughly 10 hours a day, 6 days a week, for a total of over 6,000 collective hours of editing to create the film's eventual 120 minute running length.[6] The final edit of the film consisted of over 2,700 individual cuts, over twice as many as Miller's previous Mad Max installment, The Road Warrior (1981), which featured only 1,200 cuts in its 90-minute running time.[8]

In 2016, Sixel won the Academy Award for Best Editing for her work on editing Mad Max.[9] By winning this award, she became the first South African born editor to win an Academy Award. She also won the Best Editing award at the 21st Critics' Choice Awards,[10] the 2016 ACE Eddie Award for Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic,[11] and the BAFTA Award for Best Editing.[12]

In regard to her role as a woman editor, Sixel has stated that she does not consider her gender to be relevant in the editing process.[5] In an interview, she has stated that she works "with a lot of guys in the editing room. We don't think about it. I'm really into cutting film, and while George [Miller] likes to think it's a positive, I don't feel very female about it."[5] In regard to her editorial team, Sixel has noted that 25 percent of her staff are women.[5] Additionally, throughout her career working with Miller, Jason Ballantine was her first assistant and additional editor on every feature film from Babe: Pig in the City to Mad Max: Fury Road.

• The Last Bastion (1984) (assistant editor; assistant dubbing)
• The Great Gold Swindle (1984) (second assistant editor)
• Emoh Ruo (1985) (assistant editor)
• The Blue Lightning (1986) (assembly editor)
• A Case of Honour (1989) (first assistant editor)
• Romero (1989) (assistant editor)
• Flirting (1991) (dialogue editor)