Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1533763
uits LA is a new legal drama television series that was creat- ed by Aaron Korsh for NBC. The show marks the second spin-off of Suits and is centered around Ted Black (Stephen Amell), a former federal prosecutor from New York who's reinvented himself by representing the most powerful clients in Los Angeles. His firm, however, is at a crisis point, and in order to survive, he must embrace a role he held in contempt his entire career. Ted is surrounded by a group who test their loyalties to both him and each other while mixing their personal and professional lives. In addition to Amell, the series stars Lex Scott Davis, Josh McDermitt and Bryan Greenberg. Suits LA is produced by UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group. Dan Rovetto, ACE, is one of three editors cutting the series. He edited the pilot, which debuted on February 23 rd , and is also signed on to cut Episodes 104, 107, 110 and 113 - the season finale. Here, Rovetto shares details on his edit decisions and how the show comes together. Dan, how did you get involved in editing Suits LA? "My path to Suits LA began back in 2012 when I joined the original series, Suits, as an assistant editor during the start of its second season. Back then, I was living in Santa Monica with my wife and kids, and working as a nighttime assistant editor on the reality show Flying Wild Alaska. It had been about two years since we made the cross-country move from New Jersey to Los Angeles in order to chase my dream of working in the world of scripted television and feature films." Tell us about your career path. "I started my career in entertainment in the production and development department at MTV in Times Square. This was during the years of Laguna Beach, The Hills and Jackass, and it was there that I got my first introduction to editing, which I immediately fell in love with. It seemed to combine my desire to be creative while affording me the opportu- nity to have a positive impact on people lives — even if that just meant providing a little entertainment. "After working my way up to editing in reality television, I discovered that while I had a genuine love for the craft, my true passion lay in the scripted shows and films I grew up watching with my par- ents. Movie nights were big in my house, and whether it was The Godfather or the latest Star Wars film, the combination of carefully-crafted narratives and the visual artistry of performance truly ignited my creativity. So, before I advanced too much further in the world of reality TV, I made a commitment to do whatever it took to break into scripted. "Turns out what it took was convinc- ing my wife, who was pregnant with our third child at the time, to move all the way across the country, away from anyone we knew. Her support during this time was nothing short of impressive, and with such a huge sacrifice being asked of my family, I knew I had to give it my all. In those early days, I finished editing a documentary, which I started in New York, and then went back to assis- tant editing in reality at night. Knowing what my goals were made this seemingly backwards step in my career worth it, and working at night turned out to be a blessing in disguise. During my days I was able to network, and with the guid- ance and support of Lori Jane Coleman, ACE (my earliest and most instrumental mentor), I was able to shadow assistant editors in scripted TV. It was during one of those shadowing sessions that Lori introduced me to the editor who would give me my big break, bring me onto Suits, and go on to become one of my biggest advocates and closets friends — Peter Forslund, ACE." Tell us about your history working on Suits. "During my time assistant editing on Suits, I did whatever I could to be the best AE possible while supporting both my editor and the post department. Once I felt like I had my AE duties on lock, I would focus on taking any oppor- tunity to make a name for myself as an editor, whether that was cutting scenes, episode recaps, gag reels or webisodes. And in not too long, I had the opportu- nity to cut my first episode during the back half of Season 3. Season 4, I cut one more, and then Season 5, I officially started editing for the series. "From that point, I was fortunate enough to establish myself as Aaron Korsh's go-to editor. We collaborated together on some of Suits' most pivotal episodes, season premieres and fina- les, the backdoor pilot for Pearson, and eventually the series finale, which took place in its ninth season. "Now if you had told me back then that years later there would be this Suits resurgence with a reboot pilot in the works, I definitely would not have believed you. But here we are. And in the interest of full disclosure, even with all of my previous editing experience on the original series, I was asked to interview for the pilot. Yup, that's right. Did it sting a little? Sure. But honestly, I understood. Remember this was March of 2024 during a very slow time in Hollywood. There were many talented editors with plenty of pilot experience available and of course any show creator would want to hire the absolute best person for such a high-stakes, high-profile project like this. I'm just grateful that person turned out to be me." What were your initial thoughts after reading the script? "When I first read the script to the pilot, a scene with Stephen Amell's character, Ted Black, really jumped out at me and I knew I wanted to reference it in my interview. In the scene, Ted's estranged father tries to make amends by offering to make Ted a partner at his law firm on day one. 'You could skip right to the front of the line' his father says. But Ted's not having it. He doesn't want anything from his father, especially something that he hasn't earned. "There are times as an editor when you read a script and feel like it's speaking SUITS LA EDITED BY MARC LOFTUS DAN ROVETTO, ACE, HELPS NBC LAUNCH NEW SPIN-OFF S EDITING www.postmagazine.com 16 POST MAR/APR 2025 Dan Rovetto in his edit suite.