by Nancy Jundi as originally published by CinemaEditor Magazine
Maybe it’s because I’ll follow Courtney Cox and Busy Philipps to the ends of the TV Earth, but “Cougar Town” is, hands down, some of the quickest wit on primetime. How can you not love a show that celebrates M&M tea and wine glasses named Big Joe (RIP)? Originally intended to be a sitcom following a forty-something single mother as she explored the world of dating younger men, “Cougar Town” developed into a peek into the hilarious antics of neighbors living in a Florida cul-de-sac. By it’s second season audiences were invested (and not just because of the ever prominent penny can) in all seven main characters – men, women, young and…uhm…of cougar age. While there are more than a fair share of inside jokes running through the series, it never even comes close to toeing the “Arrested Development” line of alienating a new audience. The real threat comes from laughing too hard and missing a joke. I often thank my lucky DVR stars in this instance.
John Mullin, Assistant Editor on “Cougar Town”, may be a familiar name to you after serving as our segments editor on the A.C.E. Eddie Awards for three years (2008, 2009 and 2010) before passing the opportunity on to this years’ editor, Stacy Pietrafitta Baldari. As a segments producer on the show, I came to realize how fortunate I was to have John on our team. From his technical knowledge to his keen eye, John always knew how to make mere award reels come to life for us. As with most people that talented, Mullin was snatched up by incredible shows like “Mad Men”, “Cold Case”, and the short lived “Dirty, Sexy, Money”. Mullin also served as editor on “Cougar Town’s” batch of webisodes, “Andy’s Dreams,” which are posted on ABC.com. After wrapping season two and being kind enough not pain me with a horrific cliffhanger, but rather crazed anticipation of season three, Mullin played a game of Who’s On First with Cinema Editor.
1. Where did you grow up and did that background lend to an interest in film or editing in particular?
I hail from Valparaiso, Indiana – about an hour outside of Chicago. I loved going to the movies, of course, but my main introduction to filmmaking was actually my father. He was constantly shooting super 8 footage of my sisters and I, and would edit his films out on the porch on weekends, cutting out superfluous bits, and dubbing in narration, etc. He had an amazing sense of how to time things for maximum impact that I’m still a little in awe of, frankly. I didn’t necessarily think I’d be an editor at that age, but when I later announced that I wanted to get into film professionally, he knew he had only himself to blame!
2. How did you get your start in editing?
My early jobs in LA were as a set PA on some big VFX movies. Almost immediately, it was clear that set life wasn’t for me. My friend Alexander got me my first true post production job in reality television, and I worked in that arena for a bit before going to the American Film Institute Conservatory. After graduation, I was on a low budget movie next door to a really good editor named Roger Bondelli, ACE. He was getting ready to start a pilot at ABC and asked me to be his assistant, despite the fact that I clearly had no idea what I was doing. I survived that, and have worked in TV (with the occasional feature) ever since!
3. Is there one scene in television or film that you can remember having given you an appreciation for what an editor does?
The cool answer is JFK, which I first saw when I was 13 and was completely obsessed with for years. Joe Hutshing and Pietro Scalia found such an exciting way to crosscut action and flashbacks and to integrate existing documentary footage that it was impossible to not be blown away by it! A much less cool answer is late night TV… I always loved it when shows like “Not Necessarily The News” and “Late Night With David Letterman” would take footage from a movie or from the news and rearrange it to make it look like something wildly different happened. That kind of creative thinking for how to twist and repurpose footage has been really useful when trying to solve problems in the editing room, actually.
4. Is there something you’ve cut or worked on that you’re especially proud of?
I edited a bunch of bizarre webisodes during the last season of “Cougar Town” which were really a blast. As an assistant editor, “Cold Case” was the perfect combination of wonderful people and challenging material. Each week we had a completely different guest cast, and the show shot its flashback scenes on every film and video format imaginable. Having to figure out how to indicate all that on a negative list prepared me for anything.
5. Is there a scene in television or film that you would love to go back and put your own spin on?
If the editing feels “right” and effectively draws you into the story, it’s hard for me to argue with the creative decisions. I really only think about it when something feels strange or like it’s not serving the story as well as it could. The great Donn Cambern taught at AFI when I was there, and he would say that he only has two editing rules: Don’t bore and don’t confuse. The further along I get, the more I realize that he’s completely right: Those are the only ones worth following!
6.What platforms are you familiar with?
Nearly every project I’ve worked on in LA has been Avid. The one exception is Cougar Town, which edits on Final Cut Pro. I took the job in part because I wanted to learn the software inside and out and I liked the challenge of working on a platform that I wasn’t entirely comfortable with. Luckily, the other assistant there is the amazing Tim Serda: He really helped me figure things out, and gave me just enough guidance so I didn’t look stupid (well, not inordinately stupid).
I cut my student films at the University of Iowa on a KEM. The school had two Avids at the time, and they both belonged to the football team. So… we cut the workprint, and then assembled the negative and ordered all the opticals ourselves. Much later, when I got into editing professionally, I realized what an amazing advantage it was to already have an understanding of how that process works.
7. Technically speaking, what have you found to be your system’s best feature?
Both Avid and FCP handle certain functions extremely well. FCP is amazingly flexible, but you have to really know what you’re doing otherwise things get balled up quickly. Avid forces you to bring in media the right way from the beginning, meaning that once you’re up and running, it’s easier to focus on the creative side of the process and worry less about the technical end. I won’t take sides in the epic Avid / FCP debate, but each has great advantages for different kinds of projects, and getting good at one helps you creatively use the other.
8. What feature are you hoping to see in the future?
I’d like a program that monitors my weight throughout the season and shames me into eating better. Thoughts like, “you know, I haven’t been getting enough fried chicken lately…” become way too common after a few late nights. Short of that, I can never get enough speed when rendering media, outputting Quicktimes, and converting for DVD or upload.
I try to resist features that take the place of old fashioned tools like memory, to be honest. I’m not a fan of Script Sync because really internalizing the footage keeps your mind sharp and saves you time in the long run. After I knew my wife for a couple years, I realized that I had to think hard before I could remember her mobile phone number, and that’s kind of sad. You do your best thinking if you’ve done the homework and really know what you’ve got.
9. Is there one person in the industry, living or dead, be it director, editor, or otherwise would you like to work with?
Honestly, no. Whenever I meet people I really admire, I tend to become more buffoonish and inarticulate than usual. I think there are tremendous lessons to learn from each and every person you work with, but it’s also important to choose people who involve you in the process. An assistant editor is there in part to learn to be an editor. If someone sees your job as a strict combination of data entry and tech support, it’s probably not worth your time. You might as well find a more lucrative line of work that demands fewer hours.
10. What show, other than your own, do you look forward to?
I love both “Dexter” and “Damages.” TV comedy has been excellent in recent years as well: “Louie” and “Community” are both wonderfully dark and subversive, and I never miss an episode of “30 Rock” or “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
