Nat Sanders

{{short description|American film editor (born 1980)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2013}} {{Infobox person | name = Nat Sanders | image = | caption = | image_size = | birth_name = Nathaniel Sanders | alias = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1980|8|8}} | birth_place = New London, Connecticut, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | alma_mater = Florida State University | occupation = Film editor | years_active = | website = }}

'''Nathaniel Sanders''' (born August 9, 1980) is an American film editor. He is best known for his collaborations with Destin Daniel Cretton and Barry Jenkins. He won Independent Spirit Awards for both ''Short Term 12'' (2013) and ''Moonlight'' (2016), as well as being nominated for an Academy Award for the latter.

==Life and career== Sanders was born in New London, Connecticut. He studied film at the Florida State University College of Motion Picture Arts, graduating in 2002. After moving to Hollywood, his first job as an editor was on the reality television show ''The Biggest Loser''—a job that he quit when another FSU alumnus, writer-director Barry Jenkins, made his 2008 film ''Medicine for Melancholy'', which Sanders moved to San Francisco to edit.<ref name=fsu>{{cite web|url=http://film.fsu.edu/News/Top-Stories/Nat-Sanders-Editor-of-Critically-Acclaimed-Indie-Films|last=Mills|first=Brenda|title="Filmmaker Magazine" Names FSU Grad New Face of Independent Film|publisher=Florida State University College of Motion Picture Arts|date=April 26, 2013|accessdate=April 21, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140423043752/http://film.fsu.edu/News/Top-Stories/Nat-Sanders-Editor-of-Critically-Acclaimed-Indie-Films|archive-date=April 23, 2014|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref> (In 2014, Sanders thanked Jenkins for "saving me from a career in reality television".)<ref name=wire>{{cite web|url=http://www.indiewire.com/article/is-there-any-hope-for-little-indies-to-win-big-awards-the-independent-spirit-awards-beg-the-question|title=Can Little Indies Hope to Win Big Awards? The Independent Spirit Awards Beg the Question|publisher=Indiewire|first=Eric|last=Kohn|date=March 2, 2014|accessdate=April 21, 2014}}</ref> When ''Medicine for Melancholy'' premiered at the 2008 South by Southwest film festival, Sanders met director Lynn Shelton and soon after headed to Seattle to edit her film ''Humpday'', which was released in 2009.<ref name=fsu/>

Following the release of ''Medicine for Melancholy'' and ''Humpday'', Sanders was named one of ''Filmmaker Magazine''{{'s}} "25 New Faces in Independent Film" in 2009. He worked at the Sundance Institute's Directors' Lab while editing his next project, the 2010 film ''The Freebie''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://filmmakermagazine.com/archives/issues/summer2009/25faces.php#.U1SIIFfI12E|last=Longworth|first=Karina|title=25 New Faces of Independent Film|work=Filmmaker Magazine|date=Summer 2009|accessdate=April 21, 2014}}</ref> In 2010, he had a minor acting role in ''Tiny Furniture''; he was friends with Lena Dunham, the film's writer, director and lead actress. Sanders also edited Mark and Jay Duplass's film ''The Do-Deca-Pentathlon'', which was released in 2012, four years after it had originally been filmed.<ref name=ihi>{{cite web|url=http://iheardin.com/2014/02/28/filmmaker-spotlight-behind-the-screen-with-editor-nat-sanders/|last=Davidson|first=Jaye Sarah|title=FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT: Behind the Screen with Short Term 12 Editor Nat Sanders|date=February 28, 2014|publisher=iheardin.com|accessdate=April 21, 2014|archive-date=April 7, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407182709/http://iheardin.com/2014/02/28/filmmaker-spotlight-behind-the-screen-with-short-term-12-editor-nat-sanders/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Sanders met Destin Daniel Cretton at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, and in 2012 Cretton hired Sanders to edit ''Short Term 12'', a feature-length adaption of Cretton's 2009 short film of the same name.<ref name=ihi/> In March 2014, Sanders won the Independent Spirit Awards' inaugural Best Editing award for his work on ''Short Term 12''.<ref name=wire/> After ''Short Term 12'', he edited ''Laggies'', his fourth collaboration with Lynn Shelton, and the first season of ''Togetherness'', an HBO series created by Mark and Jay Duplass.<ref name=ihi/>

In 2016, Sanders, alongside Joi McMillon, edited the Barry Jenkins drama ''Moonlight''. Sanders was responsible for editing the first and second chapters, while McMillon was responsible for the third.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://variety.com/2017/artisans/production/director-barry-jenkins-moonlight-1201970061/|title=Florida State Classmates Helped Make Barry Jenkins' 'Moonlight' Shine|last=Galas|first=Marj|date=2017-01-26|newspaper=Variety|access-date=2017-02-16|language=en-US}}</ref> The pair received much acclaim for their work, and were both nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing at the 89th Academy Awards.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/movies/oscars-2017-nominees-ballot.html|title=2017 Oscar Ballot|date=2017-01-24|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=2017-02-16|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

He lives in Los Angeles with his wife.

==Filmography==

===Films=== * ''Medicine for Melancholy'' (2008) * ''Humpday'' (2009) * ''The Freebie'' (2010) * ''On the Ice'' (2011) * ''Your Sister's Sister'' (2011) * ''The Do-Deca-Pentathlon'' (2012) * ''Short Term 12'' (2013) * ''Laggies'' (2014) * ''Moonlight'' (2016) * ''The Glass Castle'' (2017) * ''If Beale Street Could Talk'' (2018) * ''Just Mercy'' (2019) * ''Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings'' (2021) * ''Next Goal Wins'' (2023) * ''Spider-Man: Brand New Day'' (2026)

===Television=== * ''Togetherness'' (2015)

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{IMDb name|1477623}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanders, Nat}} Category:Living people Category:Florida State University alumni Category:1980 births Category:American film editors Category:Best Editing Independent Spirit Award winners