Oscar-winning editor Paul Hirsch shares his memories of working on Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, the films of Brian De Palma and more!

Film editor Paul Hirsch won an Oscar for his work on Star Wars alongside Richard Chew and Marcia Lucas, and was the sole editor of The Empire Strikes Back.

Hirsch has also edited 11 Brian De Palma films – including Carrie, Phantom of the Paradise, Blow Out and Mission: Impossible – as well as classics like Footloose, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Falling Down, Ray, Source Code, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol and many more over the course of a career that has spanned five decades and counting.

This week, Hirsch joins us to discuss his autobiography, A Long Time Ago in a Cutting Room Far, Far Away, in a wide-ranging conversation that covers: 

• Cutting his teeth on Brian De Palma's early films
• Working for George Lucas, a director with an editor's sensibility 
• The sequence you won't believe the studio wanted to cut from Star Wars 
• How wipe transitions became a Star Wars tradition 
• What really happened at the infamous early screening of Star Wars for Brian De Palma, Steven Spielberg and co  
• Paul's thoughts on the sequel trilogy and The Mandalorian 
• And much more!

A Long Time Ago in a Cutting Room Far, Far Away is available now through Chicago Review Press. 

Force Material is a podcast exploring the secrets and source material of Star Wars with hosts Rohan Williams and Baz McAlister. Listen and subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Stitcher, PlayerFM and Castro; stay in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; and support the show by browsing our range of shirts, hoodies, kids apparel, mugs and more at TeePublic.