The editor/director of SKIN DEEP: THE BATTLE OVER MORGELLONS, Pi Ware, received his 5th Emmy Award nomination, this year for editing the Netflix/PBS special Dave Chappelle: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize For American Humor.
Throughout the past five years, while Pi has been directing the feature documentary Skin Deep, he has continued to edit documentaries and television programs, including this tribute to Dave Chappelle.
This year's Mark Twain Prize television program deviated boldly from the traditional awards show structure. Hand-held documentary footage was spliced in the middle of musical performances and in between guests. Introductions and walkups were dumped entirely. Speeches split. Linear time ignored. The result is a tapestry that melds the formal qualities of the Kennedy Center and the anything-can-happen vibe of a live comedy show.
“This new approach has been a real breath of fresh air,” says Pi. “And it works perfectly for Dave Chappelle. We basically took the feel of Dave’s documentary Block Party and married it—using every different editorial trick in the book—to the 'shiny floor awards show' formula. And believe me, that took a whole team to do.”
Now streaming now on Netflix.
The show is also Emmy-nominated for Outstanding Variety Special. Pi was nominated 3 previous times for editing the AFI Life Achievement Award and won an Emmy Award for editing the HBO Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.
