As a kid, TOM ELKINS made dozens of 8mm films, some of them
horror, with titles like “The Killer Trike”. His professional career
began when he was hired by Herman Cain, then-president of the
national restaurant chain Godfather’s Pizza, to make humor-based
training videos and TV commercials in Omaha, NE.
He later broke into feature films, initially as a production
assistant (“Gattaca”), then as a production coordinator, with
credits that include Mel Gibson’s “Payback,” and “The Big
Lebowski” for the Coen Brothers.
Elkins eventually moved into feature editing as an assistant, and
had the good fortune of working with — and learning
from — Oscar-winning editors such as Mike Hill and Dan Hanley on
“The Da Vinci Code” and “The Missing”, and David Brenner on
“Wanted”. He was later hired by Wes Craven’s editor, Patrick
Lussier, for Wes’s “Cursed” and “Red Eye”, and continued moving
up the ladder. Lussier went on to direct “White Noise II” for
Gold Circle Films, on which he gave Elkins his first opportunity as a
feature film editor.
Among other credits, Elkins edited 2009’s thriller, “The Haunting
in Connecticut”, the success of which helped earn him the
opportunity to direct (and edit) the sequel, released by Lionsgate
in 2013.
Soon after, he edited the box-office hit “Annabelle” for New Line
Cinema, as well as “Inferno” for Ron Howard, and “Flatliners” for
Sony Pictures.
More recently, Tom served as editor on the MGM thriller “The
Prodigy”, Orion Pictures well-received reboot of “Child’s Play” and
“Wrong Turn” for Constantin. Two of his latest films, “Prey for
the Devil” for Lionsgate and “The Invitation” for Sony Pictures,
are 2022 theatrical releases. Currently, Elkins is editing
“Horrorscope” for Sony.