Michelle Tesoro, ACE had just finished recutting the independent film Flag Day with director-actor Sean Penn. Bradley Cooper saw the movie and asked Penn about Tesoro, which led to her eventually being handed the figurative editor’s baton to take on Maestro (Netflix).
As director and actor–as well as co-writer with Josh Singer on the screenplay–Cooper is the ultimate conductor of Maestro, a film that takes us on stage and off, capturing parts of Leonard Bernstein's public life as a music icon while also diving into his private world centered on a loving yet complicated marriage to Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein. Art and life come together in this love story pairing the protagonists portrayed, respectively, by Cooper and Carey Mulligan.
Mulligan’s performance is masterful as we feel her love for her husband and their three children juxtaposed with this fiercely independent woman's frustration and at times loneliness in light of his string of male lovers. There’s also Bernstein’s work and music–a career which educated Americans on the joy and importance of the arts–which are a source of pride and inspiration to his wife
Tesoro observed that the biggest challenge that Maestro posed to her as an editor was “sticking to the spine of the story of Lenny and Felicia, and not letting other storylines, however fascinating, pull focus away from the ebb and flow of their relationship.”
Relative to how she worked with Cooper to do justice to his vision for the film, Tesoro related, “Once I assembled a rough cut of a scene we would get on Evercast right away and work on it together–hand-in-hand. We would work very fast together getting through the entire run of the film once a day. We’d watch a longplay on PIX that night and discuss what we wanted to try the next morning. Then we’d go through the entire film again making it a little better everyday. When you work that intensely you need to be in sync, and once we surrendered to each other’s quirks we were the A-Team.”
Late last month the overall "A-Team" gained recognition at the Gotham Awards where Maestro received a Cultural Icon & Creator Tribute.
The Icon & Creator Tribute was created in order to recognize cultural icons and the filmmakers responsible for bringing that icon’s story to life. With the Cultural Icon & Creator Tribute, The Gotham Institute honored the legendary Bernstein, the acclaimed musician, conductor, composer, teacher and author, while celebrating Cooper and his masterful effort cinematically capturing his story.
“With Maestro, Bradley Cooper and the film’s entire creative team have vividly brought to life the story of an almost mythical figure in popular culture,” said Jeffrey Sharp, executive director of The Gotham Film & Media Institute. “Cooper has crafted a powerful story that highlights the ecstatic highs and anguished lows that come with a life pursuing love, family, and art. It is our privilege to honor Bernstein, Cooper, and this spectacular film.”
Asked what her biggest takeaway or lessons learned were from her experience on Maestro, Tesoro related, “I don’t think I’ve had enough time to reflect–you’ll have to ask me in another ten years. Mostly I’m grateful for taking part in telling the Bernstein family’s story. Seeing the reactions on Jamie, Alex, and Nina’s faces [the Bernstein children]–tears streaming–reminds me of why we make films. I’m also grateful for having worked with so many talented people and I hope to walk away with the same passion for my craft as they have for theirs.”
Tesoro’s dedication to craft is reflected in many notable projects. She won both an Emmy and an ACE Eddie Award in 2021 for her cutting of The Queen’s Gambit episode titled “Exchanges.” Ten years earlier, Tesoro won a Best Editing award at SXSW for the feature Natural Selection. Her body of work as an editor also spans such credits as On The Basis of Sex, director Mimi Leder’s feature starring Felicity Jones as Ruth Bader Ginsburg; an installment of Ava DuVernay’s miniseries When They See Us; the Western miniseries Godless; and multiple episodes of House of Cards.
(This is the sixth installment of a 16-part series with future installments of The Road To Oscar slated to run in the weekly SHOOT>e.dition, The SHOOT Dailies and on SHOOTonline.com, with select installments also in print issues. The series will appear weekly through the Academy Awards gala ceremony. Nominations for the 96th Academy Awards will be announced on January 23, 2024, The 96th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 10, 2024.)
