Mary Sweeney

Biography

Mary Sweeney (born January 1, 1953) is an American film editor and producer best known for collaborating with the avant-garde American film director, David Lynch. Sweeney worked with Lynch on several critically acclaimed films and television series, most notably as a film editor on the cult hits Twin Peaks, Lost Highway (1997), and Mulholland Drive (2001) for Lynch's Asymmetrical Productions company. She was the co-author, with John Roach, of The Straight Story (1999). Sweeney was for many years a domestic partner with David Lynch. The couple married in 2006 but filed for divorce one month later, citing irreconcilable differences. Together the couple has one son, Riley Sweeney Lynch, born in 1992. A long-time Hollywood resident, Sweeney is head of The Sullivan Canyon Riders Club, a Los Angeles-based equestrian club. The club has worked to prevent land used by equestrians from being sold to developers, an effort that was supported financially by well-known film director Steven Spielberg and actress Kate Capshaw. Biography Sweeney began her career as an assistant editor for film editor Duwayne Dunham on such films as Blue Velvet and Wild at Heart, and the television series Twin Peaks. She soon became director David Lynch's first choice as film editor. As their working and off-screen relationships developed, Lynch promoted Sweeney to producer (she was responsible for handling the post-production end of each show). In 1994, Sweeney read an article in the New York Times about an old man who drove a tractor cross-country just to see his ailing brother. The article piqued Sweeney's interest, and for four years she sought to the film rights to the story. Sweeney retraced the journey of the tractor owner, Alvin Straight. Along the way she met several of the same people whom Straight had met, which helped her and her co-author John Roach draft their screenplay. When Sweeney broached the idea of making a movie based on Straight's journey to her partner David Lynch, he was initially uninterested in the project, but after he read the script, he changed his mind. Lynch decided to direct the film, which would be his "straightest" narrative film to date. Sweeney made her feature film directorial debut in 2009 with the film Baraboo, which she also wrote. The film follows several people living in a motel in a Midwestern town and shows how they interact with each other. as Producer: 2009 Baraboo (producer) 2006 Inland Empire (producer) 2006 In the Eye Abides the Heart (short) (producer) 2001 Mulholland Dr. (producer) 1999 The Straight Story (producer) 1999 Mulholland Dr. (TV movie) (producer) 1997 Lost Highway (producer) 1994 Nadja (producer) as Editor : 2009 Baraboo 2001 Mulholland Dr. 1999 The Straight Story 1999 Mulholland Dr. (TV movie) 1997 Lost Highway 1993 Hotel Room (TV mini-series) – Tricks (1993) 1992 Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me 1990 Twin Peaks (TV series) – Episode #2.7 (1990) as Writer: 2011 Two Knives (written by) 2009 Baraboo (written by) 2006 In the Eye Abides the Heart (short) 1999 The Straight Story (written by) as Director: 2009 Baraboo 2006 In the Eye Abides the Heart (short) as Editorial Department: 1990 Wild at Heart (first assistant film editor) 1990 Industrial Symphony No. 1: The Dream of the Brokenhearted (TV movie) (editor: phone conversation scene) 1986 Blue Velvet (assistant editor) 1984 Merton (associate film editor) 1983 Tender Mercies (apprentice editor)