Joi McMillon

Joi McMillon is an American film editor. In 2003, she graduated from Florida State University College of Motion Picture Arts. McMillon is known for her work on the Academy Award-winning film Moonlight (2016), and If Beale Street Could Talk (2018), both winning several respective accolades.

Career

McMillon initially planned to be a journalist, but a high school field trip to Universal Studios introduced her to the craft of editing and inspired her to apply to film school.^[1] She attended Florida State University College of Motion Picture Arts, graduating in 2003.^[2]

Joi McMillon's first job on an editorial team was as a night assistant editor on The Surreal Life, Season 3 with Flavor Flav and Brigitte Nielsen. Her first time cutting footage together was a teaser for Beauty and the Geek.

In 2017, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Film Editing (shared with Nat Sanders) at the 89th Academy Awards. McMillon is the first black woman to be nominated for an Oscar for film editing.^[3]^[4]^[5] Barry Jenkins said of her nomination in 2017: "I respect her work. It makes me very proud of the work she did to see that I'm not the only one. Clearly all these folks in the academy respected the work she did as well."^[6] McMillon also won (with Nat Sanders) Best Film Editing for her work on Moonlight at the 2017 Spirit Awards.^[7]

Since then, she has edited numerous films and a television series. In 2018, she collaborated with Nat Sanders again on the editing of If Beale Street Could Talk. In 2020, McMillon cut together Zola with filmmaker Janicza Bravo. Zola went on to win 2022 Winner Independent Spirit Award for Best Editing. In 2021, Joi led the editorial department on The Underground Railroad, a short series adapted from Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel for Amazon Studios.

Filmography

Editor

Blue Boy (Short, 2009)
Shades of Gray (Short, 2009)
Shoot the Moon (Short, 2009)
Chlorophyl (Short, 2011)
The Other Side of Silence (Documentary, 2012)
The Radio Gamers (Short, 2013)
Off-Season (Short, 2013)
SMILF (Short, 2015)
Anne & Jake (TV series) (7 episodes, 2015)
Girls (TV series) (1 episode, 2016)
Man Rots from the Head (Short, 2016)
Moonlight (2016)
Lemon (2017)
Hum (Short) (2017)
American Woman (2018)
If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)
Zola (2020)
The Underground Railroad (TV series) (2021)
Mufasa: The Lion King (2024)

Editorial department

The Biggest Loser (TV series) (assistant editor - 5 episodes, 2004)
The Surreal Life (TV series) (assistant editor - 12 episodes, 2004)
Going Hollywood (TV series) (first assistant editor - 2005)
Beauty and the Geek (TV series) (first assistant editor - 15 episodes, 2005-2006)
The Sarah Silverman Program (TV series) (assistant editor - 5 episodes, 2007) (first assistant editor - 1 episode, 2007)
Talk to Me (apprentice editor, 2007)
Taking 5 (first assistant editor, 2007)
Judy's Got a Gun (TV Movie) (assistant editor, 2007)
Columbus Day (first assistant editor, 2008)
American Violet (first assistant editor, 2008)
Not Easily Broken (first assistant editor, 2009)
I Can Do Bad All by Myself (first assistant editor, 2009)
Why Did I Get Married Too? (first assistant editor, 2010)
Arcadia Lost (first assistant editor, 2010)
For Colored Girls (first assistant editor, 2010)
Madea's Big Happy Family (first assistant editor, 2011)
Good Deeds (first assistant editor, 2012)
Madea's Witness Protection (assistant editor, 2012)
Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor (first assistant editor, 2013)
Wyatt Cenac: Brooklyn (TV Movie) (assistant editor, 2014)
Togetherness (TV series) (assistant editor - 5 episodes, 2015)
Another Evil (additional editor, 2016)
Sausage Party (assistant editor: live action footage, 2016)
Mr. Church (first assistant editor, 2016)

Other credits

Little Brown Boy (2003) (Short)
My Josephine (2003) (Short)
Straw Hat (2004) (Producer, Assistant Director)
Medicine for Melancholy (2008) (special thanks)
Sausage Party (2016) (special thanks)

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Recipients	Result
2016	Academy Awards	Best Film Editing	Moonlight	Joi McMillon (shared with Nat Sanders)	Nominated
	Alliance of Women Film Journalists	Best Editing			Nominated
	American Cinema Editors Awards	Best Edited Feature Film - Dramatic			Nominated
	Critics' Choice Awards	Best Editing			Nominated
	Central Ohio Film Critics Association	Best Film Editing			2nd Placed
	Chicago Film Critics Association Awards	Best Editing			Nominated
	Independent Spirit Awards	Best Editing			Won
	Indiewire Critics' Poll	Best Film Editing			Won
	London Critics Circle Film Awards	Technical Achievement of the Year			Nominated
	Online Film Critics Society Awards	Best Editing			Nominated
	Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards	Best Film Editing			Nominated
	San Francisco Film Critics Circle	Best Film Editing			Nominated
	Satellite Awards	Best Editing			Nominated
	Seattle Film Critics Awards	Best Film Editing			Nominated
	St. Louis Film Critics Association	Best Editing			Nominated
	Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Awards	Best Editing			Nominated

References

^ "The Lenny Interview: Joi McMillon". Lenny Letter. 2017-02-24. Archived from the original on 2017-03-13. Retrieved 2017-03-12.
^ "FSU alumni make history with 8 Oscar nominations for 'Moonlight' - Florida State University News". Florida State University News. 2017-01-24. Retrieved 2017-03-12.
^ Giardina, Carolyn (January 24, 2017). "Oscars: 'Moonlight' Editing Nomination Marks a First". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
^ Aguirre, Abby. "Moonlight's Cinematographer on Filming the Most Exquisite Movie of the Year". Vogue. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
^ Williams, Brennan (January 27, 2017). "Meet Joi McMillon, The First Black Female Oscar Nominee For Film Editing". The Huffington Post.
^ Anderson, Tre'vell (23 February 2017). "Meet 'Moonlight's' Joi McMillon, the first black woman editor to receive an Oscar nomination". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2017-02-24.
^ Sisavat, Monica. "Moonlight Editor Joi McMillon Just Made History at the Spirit Awards". POPSUGAR Celebrity. Retrieved 2017-02-27.

External links

[1] "The Lenny Interview: Joi McMillon". Lenny Letter. 2017-02-24. Archived from the original on 2017-03-13. Retrieved 2017-03-12.

[2] "FSU alumni make history with 8 Oscar nominations for 'Moonlight' - Florida State University News". Florida State University News. 2017-01-24. Retrieved 2017-03-12.

[3] Giardina, Carolyn (January 24, 2017). "Oscars: 'Moonlight' Editing Nomination Marks a First". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 24, 2017.

[4] Aguirre, Abby. "Moonlight's Cinematographer on Filming the Most Exquisite Movie of the Year". Vogue. Retrieved January 7, 2017.

[5] Williams, Brennan (January 27, 2017). "Meet Joi McMillon, The First Black Female Oscar Nominee For Film Editing". The Huffington Post.

[6] Anderson, Tre'vell (23 February 2017). "Meet 'Moonlight's' Joi McMillon, the first black woman editor to receive an Oscar nomination". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2017-02-24.

[7] Sisavat, Monica. "Moonlight Editor Joi McMillon Just Made History at the Spirit Awards". POPSUGAR Celebrity. Retrieved 2017-02-27.

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v t e Independent Spirit Award for Best Editing
2010s	Nat Sanders (2013) Tom Cross (2014) Tom McArdle (2015) Joi McMillon and Nat Sanders (2016) Tatiana S. Riegel (2017) Joe Bini (2018) Ronald Bronstein and Benny Safdie (2019)
2020s	Chloé Zhao (2020) Joi McMillon (2021) Paul Rogers (2022) Daniel Garber (2023)

Authority control databases
International	VIAF WorldCat
National	Germany United States Israel