Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1468810
'The show is like a rollercoaster.' 39 S P R I N G Q 2 I S S U E C O V E R S T O R Y By Peter Tonguette E very editor wants to help tell stories that millions of people will see. For those who work in post-pro- duction, the long hours spent poring over dailies, collaborating with directors and producers, and making scenes j u s t s o a re re w a rd e d w h e n audiences respond apprecia- tively. Happily, when picture editors work on a film or show in the Marvel Cinematic Uni- verse, their chances are high of reaching a large number of enthusiastic viewers. " I t h i n k a l l o f u s w o u l d agree that as hard as we work on these things, it's almost like: a tree falls in the forest, does it matter?" said Terel Gibson, ACE, one of three picture edi- tors to work on one of the latest and most distinctive offerings in the MCU, Marvel Studios' limited series "Hawkeye." "You k n o w w h e n y o u' r e m a k i n g a M a r v e l s h o w t h a t i t ' s g o i n g t o r e a c h t h e w i d e s t possible audience. That's in- credibly exciting." T h e s i x- e p i s o d e l i m i te d series, which premiered on Dis- ney+ on Nov. 24, stars Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, the mae- stro of marksmanship formerly affiliated with the Avengers. In a story that unfolds in New York during Christmastime, Hawkeye, also known as Clint Barton, finds his holiday season curtailed when an aspi- rant superhero, the Hawkeye-worshiping but eminently skillful in her own right Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), enters his orbit. The series might be considered a Christmas MCU show in the same way that "Die Hard" is a Christmas action movie, and the result resonated with audiences. "Who doesn't love Christmas? I think that's just such a wonderful vibe going in," said picture editor Rosanne Tan, ACE. "We all kind of go down the rabbit holes on Twitter or YouTube, just checking the views of people checking the trailers. It's just amazing: millions of views within hours." But it wasn't just diehard MCU fans who responded to the series, which offered both the usual MCU-style action as well as an emotional through- line that suggested nothing so much as a holiday classic on the order of, say, John Hughes's classic 1987 comedy- drama "Planes, Trains and Automo- b i l e s." C o n s e q u e n t l y, M C U novices took notice, too. "I watched it over Thanks- giving with the family — with m y m o t h e r - i n - l a w a n d m y brother-in-law and some of the family," Gibson said. "What's i n t e r e s t i n g i s h o w w e l l i t played, particularly for my mother-in-law, who has prob- ably seen two Marvel movies in her entire life. To see it play as well as it did for her was re- ally nice. . . . There's enough for people that know it inside and out, and there's also enough for people that are coming in relatively cold." Yet it wasn't just the show's unusual tone and backdrop that repre - sented a risk. At the center of "Hawkeye" is not only one of the MCU's lesser-known Avengers but a character making her first appearance in the MCU, Kate Bishop. That represented a double challenge for the post-production team. "We have this interesting format where HOW THE POST-PRODUCTION TEAM FOR 'HAWKEYE,' THE LATEST MARVEL EPIC, HIT THE TARGET Caroline Wang and Rosanne Tan. P H OT O : M A R K E D WA R D S Opposite: Rahul Das, left, Terel Gibson, Kaitlyn Hollingsworth Hecker, Tim Roche, James Gadd, Rosanne Tan, Caroline Wang.