Diana Ginsburg

Diana Ginsburg is a South African born, later American, editor, film maker, author and photographer.

Also known by her married name, Diana Friedberg.

Biography

She obtained a BA in Drama from the University of Cape Town Drama Department (1967) and a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Cinema from the University of Southern California (1976).

She started out as an editor and director in South Africa (see the next section below) then relocated to Hollywood with her husband and family in 1986. With an MFA from USC in film production Friedberg has edited and produced features, episodic television, animation series and non-fiction productions for companies as diverse as Disney, National Geographic, The History Channel, A&E, Discovery, NBC, USA, Stephen J. Cannell, and Leonard Nimoy Productions.

Married to Lionel Friedberg, she also uses her married name, Diana Friedberg, on occasion.

Contributions to South African theatre, film, media and performance

Editing career

She started working in Cape Town as an Assistant Editor for AKA Productions (doing commercials) (1967 -1968) and similar work as assistant editor with internationally acclaimed director Ashley Lazarus for Audio Kine Africa in 1968 (their clients including the cigarette companies Peter Stuyvesant, Rothmans, Dunhill and Lexington).

In 1969 she worked as an Editing Intern for Universal Pictures MOW on John Blackburn’s 1962 thriller novel The Gaunt Woman (adapted into a television film called Destiny of a Spy, directed by Boris Sagal, starring Rachel Roberts and Lorne Greene, at Pinewood Studios, London, 1969).[1]

On her return to South Africa she became an assistant editor, script supervisor and and editor, with companies like Cavalier Films, Capital Films, C-Films and Bevil Films.

Afrikaans and English feature films edited in the period 1970-1974 include: Crazy People, Abashokobezi, Pens En Pootjies, The Virgin Goddess, House Of The Living Dead, Die Spook Van Donkergat (which she also directed), My Broer Se Bril, Die Lewe Sonder Jou, Zebra, A New Life, Vicki, Gold Squad, Die Drie Van Der Merwes, Sien Jou Môre.

Besides her editing activities she also taught and wrote about editing. Among her publications are Make the Cut: A Guide to Becoming a Successful Assistant Editor in Film and TV (2010)[2] and Jump Cut. How to Jump Start your Career as a Film Editor (2016)[], co-authored with Lori-Jane Coleman.

Producing and directing career

She moved from editing to directing when she served as an assistant director and supervising editor on Abashokobezi for C Films and then became one of first women in South Africa to direct a feature film when she did Die Spook van Donkergat for Capital Films (1973).

From there she would go on to produce, direct, and/or edit more than 40 South African documentaries, dramatic TV shows and -series to between 1977 and 1986.

Among them were:

Marigolds In August, Winners 2, Follow That Rainbow, Makoma, Their Frontier, The Sea, They Came From The East, Then Came The English, Fairest Cape, Putco Buses, The Unbroken Thread, Thabure, Sewer Rats, Parent And Child, Space Cadets, Maripane, Intergalaxy, Dr Kleiman, Maberone, The Sorcerer, The Cape Malays, Coast Watch, Mrs Dumbleby, African Fireside Tales, Mrs Dumbleby 2, Isihogo Sisemhlabeni, Itreyni, Jantjie, Portrait Of Hout Bay, Half A Century Skywards to celebrate 50 Years of Civil Aviation in South Africa and the 50th Anniversary of South African Airways, From Barter to Banknote (two Half-hour shows on the history of money), A Delicate Balance (six 30-Minute shows about the world’s environmental problems and the devastating impact it has on South Africa), Art and About (13 13-miute episodes), Performers Of The Dawn (about the EOAN group), Legacy (about the history and impact of the Jewish People in South Africa) , etc.