CineMontage

Spring 2017

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51 Q2 2017 / CINEMONTAGE KS: We need to be as supportive as possible of the directors in service of their work. Even if I know a shot isn't going to make it past the producers, I really want to collaborate with the director as much as possible. I would rather present the producers with something that draws out the director's absolute best work — even if we're bound to have to put a different sort of polish on it later and re-orient it back into the David Simon aesthetic of the particular show we're on. Alex, Matthew and I are the style-bearers on this series. We're the people who know a little bit more about the show and we help the directors along. We work with them during the shoot and then for a five-day director's cut. We then say goodbye to them to start working with the producers. We have to have serialized loyalty: Director first, producers later. AH: We try to protect the directors by not putting something in front of the producers that is going to make them feel like this director just doesn't get it. I've seen it from both sides now as a director on these shows. As a TV director, you're really just giving the producers the pieces they need to make their show. You may want to put your own spin on it, but if you set out to redefine the language of a show, you're not going to get hired back. So we walk a fine line as editors in television to try to give the directors what they want — because obviously that's our job when they're in the room with us — but also to not expose them to an unflattering judgment by the producers. Kate, Matthew and I all have feet in both the TV world and the film world. We've all worked on movies and television, and it is a really different dynamic. With a feature, the director is the author, whereas television is a producer's medium, as the saying goes. So we tend to defer to that. CM: Finally, what's the value to having an editorial staff that has spent so much time together? KS: It's fantastic to work with long-standing collaborators and friends because there is so much trust and respect. We can watch each other's scenes and episodes and comment without fear of judgment; we come at it from a place of total trust and support, not ego. It's a great pleasure to work with your friends. f The Deuce. HBO "In every scene and every beat, I'm trying to get as much emotion, feeling and meaning as I possibly can. But we don't want to foreground any of the technique or production." – Kate Sanford

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