Elena Maganini, the editor who won an Emmy for the Dexter pilot, died on October 21 in Burbank from complications of breast cancer. She was 70, according to Variety.
A career beginning in Chicago
Born in Chicago, Maganini graduated from the University of Illinois and studied filmmaking at Columbia College Chicago. She began at production company Sinnot & Associates before earning her first feature credit on John McNaughton's 1986 Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer.
Her collaboration with McNaughton continued through Wild Things, Mad Dog & Glory, Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll, The Borrower, Speaking of Sex and Lansky. Other feature work included Next Friday and Ed Gein, extending her credits beyond the film that first established the partnership.
Television work and remembrance
Maganini's move into television brought the Emmy-winning Dexter pilot and work on Madam Secretary, Good Behavior, Clarice, Manifest and The Cleaning Lady. She also received Emmy and Cable ACE nominations for If These Walls Could Talk, directed by Cher and Nancy Savoca, and belonged to American Cinema Editors.
Survivors listed in the obituary include her husband, Motion Picture Editors Guild communications director Scott Collins, daughter Gabriella Coronel and daughter-in-law Adrienne Coronel.
The next announced remembrance is a memorial service at the Fine Arts Theatre in Beverly Hills at 1 p.m. on November 15. It follows a career connecting independent features with sustained work across American television.