# Conrad Buff IV

Conrad Buff IV (born July 8, 1948) is an American film editor with more than 25 film credits since 1985. Buff is known for winning an Academy Award for Best Film Editing and an ACE Eddie Award for Best Edited Feature Film for Titanic (1997); the awards were shared with his co-editors James Cameron and Richard A. Harris. He also won the Satellite Award for Best Editing for Thirteen Days (2000).

## Life and career

Buff was born in Los Angeles, the son of architect Conrad Buff III, and the grandson of children's book creators Mary and Conrad Buff (painter Conrad Buff II). He attended Eagle Rock High School in Los Angeles and Pasadena City College for two years before joining the U. S. Navy. Buff learned film editing while working for the Navy's Motion Picture Office in Hollywood. In the first phase of his civilian career Buff was the "visual effects editor" on several successful films, ranging from The Empire Strikes Back (1980) through Ghostbusters (1984). Buff was an assistant editor on Return of the Jedi (1983); he worked with editor Sean Barton and director Richard Marquand. His first editing credit was as the co-editor with Barton for Jagged Edge (1985), which was also directed by Marquand.
Buff is noted particularly for his editing of four films directed by James Cameron, including Titanic. Buff edited The Abyss (1989) with Joel Goodman. Buff was nominated for an Oscar and an Eddie for the editing of Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991 - with Mark Goldblatt and Richard A. Harris). He was again nominated for an Eddie for True Lies (1994) (also with Goldblatt and Harris). In addition to its actual awards, Titanic was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Editing.
Buff has edited four films with director Roger Donaldson: The Getaway (1994), Species (1995), Dante's Peak (1997; co-edited with Tina Hirsch and Howard Smith), and Thirteen Days (2000), which won the Satellite Award for Best Editing.
Since Thirteen Days, Buff has edited eight films directed by Antoine Fuqua: Training Day (2001), Tears of the Sun (2003), King Arthur (2004; with Jamie Pearson), Shooter (2007; with Eric Sears), The Equalizer 2 (2018), Infinite (2021), Emancipation (2022), and The Equalizer 3 (2023).
Buff has been elected to membership in the American Cinema Editors.

## Filmography

Filmography based on the Internet Movie Database.
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
| 1970 | Equinox | Jack WoodsDennis Muren | |
| 1978 | Battlestar Galactica | Richard A. CollaAlan J. Levi | |
| 1980 | The Empire Strikes Back | Irvin Kershner | |
| 1981 | Raiders of the Lost Ark | Steven Spielberg | |
| 1982 | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | Steven Spielberg | |
| 1982 | Poltergeist | Tobe Hooper | Visual effects editorial supervisor; Michael Kahn was main editor |
| 1983 | Return of the Jedi | Richard Marquand | |
| 1984 | Ghostbusters | Ivan Reitman | |
| 1984 | 2010: The Year We Make Contact | Peter Hyams | |
| 1985 | Jagged Edge | Richard Marquand | |
| 1986 | Solarbabies | Alan Johnson | |
| 1987 | Spaceballs | Mel Brooks | |
| 1988 | Short Circuit 2 | Kenneth Johnson | |
| 1989 | The Abyss | James Cameron | |
| 1990 | Side Out | Peter Israelson | |
| 1991 | Terminator 2: Judgment Day | James Cameron | Nominated — Academy Award for Best Film Editing Nominated — ACE Eddie Award for Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic |
| 1991 | The Last Boy Scout | Tony Scott | |
| 1992 | Jennifer 8 | Bruce Robinson | |
| 1994 | The Getaway | Roger Donaldson | |
| 1994 | True Lies | James Cameron | Nominated — ACE Eddie Award for Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic |
| 1995 | Species | Roger Donaldson | |
| 1995 | Virtuosity | Brett Leonard | |
| 1997 | Dante's Peak | Roger Donaldson | |
| 1997 | Switchback | Jeb Stuart | |
| 1997 | Titanic | James Cameron | Academy Award for Best Film Editing ACE Eddie Award for Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic Online Film & Television Association Award for Best Editing Satellite Award for Best Editing Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Editing |
| 1999 | Arlington Road | Mark Pellington | |
| 1999 | Mystery Men | Kinka Usher | |
| 2000 | Thirteen Days | Roger Donaldson | Satellite Award for Best Editing Nominated — Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Editing |
| 2001 | Training Day | Antoine Fuqua | |
| 2002 | Antwone Fisher | Denzel Washington | |
| 2003 | Tears of the Sun | Antoine Fuqua | |
| 2004 | King Arthur | Antoine Fuqua | |
| 2005 | Harsh Times | David Ayer | |
| 2005 | Get Rich or Die Tryin' | Jim Sheridan | |
| 2006 | Seraphim Falls | David Von Ancken | |
| 2007 | Shooter | Antoine Fuqua | |
| 2007 | The Seeker | David L. Cunningham | |
| 2008 | The Happening | M. Night Shyamalan | |
| 2009 | Terminator Salvation | McG | |
| 2010 | The Last Airbender | M. Night Shyamalan | |
| 2011 | Rise of the Planet of the Apes | Rupert Wyatt | |
| 2012 | Snow White and the Huntsman | Rupert Sanders | |
| 2016 | The Huntsman: Winter's War | Cedric Nicolas-Troyan | |
| 2016 | Monster Trucks | Chris Wedge | |
| 2017 | American Assassin | Michael Cuesta | |
| 2018 | The Equalizer 2 | Antoine Fuqua | |
| 2021 | Infinite | Antoine Fuqua | |
| 2022 | Emancipation | Antoine Fuqua | |
| 2023 | The Equalizer 3 | Antoine Fuqua | |