Aaron I. Butler

Aaron I. Butler, ACE, is an Emmy Award-winning, two-time ACE Eddie Award-nominated editor. He is best known for the film "J.T. LeRoy" starring Kristen Stewart, Laura Dern, Diane Kruger and Jim Sturgess which was the closing night film at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2018. Other theatrical films he edited have premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, the Venice Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival. He began his career in 1997 at the Saul Zaentz film center in Berkeley, CA where he shot and edited his first documentary "Learning to Fly" with Academy Award-nominated director Bill Jersey. The film won Gold Medals at the New York Festivals and the US International Film Festival and aired on PBS. In 2002 Aaron edited on the documentary series "The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow," which won the IDA Award for limited series and the Peabody Award, and was nominated for three Emmys. Aaron later moved to Los Angeles, where he edited the Sundance Channel series "Pleasure for Sale" in 2008, followed by the final season of "Taxicab Confessions" for HBO in 2010. In 2013 he produced and edited the HBO documentary feature "American Winter" for which he was nominated for an Emmy and an ACE Eddie Award. Next he edited on the Showtime documentary series "Time of Death" which won the IDA award for Best Limited Series, followed by the Showtime documentary feature "L Word Mississippi: Hate the Sin," which won the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Documentary. In 2014 he edited the final episode of the CNN documentary series "The Sixties" which was nominated for the IDA Award for Best Limited Series. In 2015 Aaron edited the feature "I Am Michael" starring James Franco, Zachary Quinto and Emma Roberts. It was executive produced by Gus Van Sant, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and was nominated for Best First Feature at the Berlin International Film Festival. The next feature he edited was "In Dubious Battle" directed by James Franco and starring Robert Duvall, Ed Harris, Sam Shepard, Bryan Cranston and Vincent D'Onofrio. The movie premiered at the Venice Film Festival and won the Fondazione Mimmo Rotella Award. In 2016 he developed and produced the documentary feature "Out of Iraq," for which he won an Emmy Award. Next he produced and edited the HBO theatrical documentary feature "Cries From Syria" with Oscar nominated director Evgeny Afineevsky, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Aaron was nominated for an ACE Eddie Award and a PGA Award and won the Peter Jennings Award for his work on "Cries From Syria." The movie won the Critic's Choice Award for Best Documentary Director, the IDA's Courage Under Fire Award, the Cinema for Peace Award and the Humanitas Prize. In 2017 Aaron edited the narrative feature "J.T. LeRoy" starring Laura Dern, Kristen Stewart, Diane Kruger and Jim Sturgess. It was the closing night film at the Toronto International Film Festival. In 2018, after being nominated for his second ACE Eddie Award, he was invited to join the American Cinema Editors. In 2019 Aaron edited the IMAX film "Jesus is King" by Kanye West.