Interview by Paul Salfen
“The Blue Angels” hits IMAX theaters for one week only, between May 17 and May 23. It will also be available to stream globally on Prime Video starting Thursday May, 23.
Paul Crowder is a former UK musician turned award-winning movie editor and director with a unique voice. Crowder spent the first 20 years of his career as both a studio engineer and a professional drummer. He jammed with Paul McCartney age 14, and signed his first record deal with A&M Records at 18. At 21, as an assistant studio engineer, he worked on hits for such artists as George Michael, on Last Christmas and Careless Whisper; Siouxsie and the Banshees, on Live LP Nocturne; and Aha, on Take on Me. Moving the other side of the studio glass, Crowder then had a few European hits with the band The Adventures from 1985 – ’89, including Top 20 hits in 1988, and toured with Tears for Fears and Fleetwood Mac. His drumming career saw him move from London to Los Angeles in 1989 and he has made LA his home ever since. He continued to play music around Los Angeles and toured with Eric Burdon and Robbie Krieger. He was also a founding member of Flogging Molly and was the drummer, with Kathy Valentine, of the Go-Gos alter band The Delphines (now The Blue Bonnets).
After briefly dabbling in acting, Crowder segued into picture editing in the mid-90s, looking to be home having started a family. He started out in television working for all the major networks and also editing a large number of Behind The Music episodes for VH1. During his fledgling years as an editor, he worked with Stacy Peralta on two projects for the Museum of Television and Radio. He went on to edit Peralta’s documentary film Dogtown and Z-Boys, which won the Audience Favorite and Best Director Awards at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, and Best Documentary Award at the 2002 Independent Spirit Awards. Following that success, Crowder edited Peralta’s Riding Giants, garnering the 2004 A.C.E. Eddie for Best Edited Documentary.
He made his directorial debut in 2006 with Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos, teaming up with friend and writer Mark Monroe. He then co directed and edited the Grammy-nominated Amazing Journey: The Story of the Who, again with Monroe as writer. The two formed Diamond Docs in 2006. Crowder directed and edited the acclaimed films Last Play at Shea (2009) and 1: Life On The Limit (2013). He also edited Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Dave Grohl’s directorial debut, Sound City. In 2015, he teamed up with Ron Howard on the Grammy- and Emmy Award-winning The Beatles: Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years, earning nominations for an Emmy and A.C.E for Best Editing, and then Pavarotti, as editor and executive producer. All films were made in association with Diamond Docs. During that time, Crowder edited the Chris Paine documentary Do You Trust This Computer, with Elon Musk as executive producer. He was also co-executive producer and editor of Imagine Entertainment’s documentary Once Were Brothers, based on Robbie Robertson’s autobiography about his career with The Band and executive produced by Martin Scorsese. He edited the powerful Netflix documentary on police brutality, 137 Shots, and then teamed again with Stacy Peralta to edit his documentary The Yin and Yang of Gerry Lopez about the legendary surfer. He was also finishing editor on the 2020 Netflix series Challenger: The Final Flight.
Crowder was an executive producer on Frank Marshall’s The Bee Gees: How to Mend a Broken Heart and worked again with Marshall as one of the editors of Hulu’s McCartney 3-2-1. In addition, he directed two episodes of UFO, the four-part series for Showtime and J.J. Abrams, also editing all four episodes. Recently, Crowder teamed again with Ron Howard and Imagine to executive produce and edit their documentary Jim Henson Idea Man, for Disney+. He is also producer and editor of an independent film called Tolstoy the Tomato Thief, about the plight of super tusker elephants in Kenya due to the human wildlife conflict. In addition, he is directing two episodes of an untitled show for MGM+, with Bad Robot and Zipper Bros.
Still a musician, Crowder helps with the composing and plays on the scores of most of the documentaries. He can also be seen playing the clubs of LA with his current band, punk legends, The Automatics. He is also releasing a solo L.P. this summer called The Adventures of Crowderville, an album of cover songs featuring musicians he has played with throughout his musical career.
Greg “Boss” Wooldridge: is a veteran of 27 years in Naval Aviation. His flight experience is highlighted by his incredible flight time total of 8300 hours, more than anyone in the Navy when he hung up his flight suit. The high point of his flying career was leading the Navy’s famed Blue Angels a record three times. His team was the only team to fly an airshow over Moscow. Following his second tour as flight leader of the Blues, he commanded the Navy’s premier Naval Air Station in Lemoore California. While there, his leadership led to the base being awarded the President’s Installation of Excellence Award as the best base in the Navy.
Delaying Navy retirement, he answered an urgent call to return to a struggling Blue Angels team for a third leadership stint. He turned the team around, leading them to a highly acclaimed 50th Anniversary year.
Following the Navy, Wooldridge went to FedEx Express as a pilot. While there, he was designated a Line Check Airman. In that role, he trained and did checks on fellow pilots. He was instrumental in improving safety throughout the aviation world through the implementation of a debrief protocol that was unique to the Blue Angels.
Based upon the multiple experiences of leading high performance organizations, Wooldridge began speaking to companies, associations and teams across the U.S. and as far abroad as New Zealand. A sampling of his clients includes Chevron, SAIC, Textron, and Mass Mutual. Many others have benefitted from his firsthand knowledge of bringing success to a level unimagined. Wooldridge has built trust and experienced the same confidence in return. He continues to pursue excellence in many new endeavors calling for leadership and determination.
