Reflecting the three stars on screen, Only Murders in the Building relies on a trio of editors to help bring the comedy and intrigue of the show to the screen
By Jenny Priestley
Published: December 9, 2024 Updated: December 10, 2024
Reflecting the three stars on screen, Only Murders in the Building relies on a trio of editors to help bring the comedy and intrigue of the show to the screen
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin>
What happens when you take two baby boomers, a millennial, lashings of comedy and a murder mystery? You get 49 Emmy nominations, and the most-watched comedy premiere in streaming service Hulu's history.
Only Murders in the Building launched on Hulu in the United States and Disney Plus internationally in August 2021, and has just wrapped up its fourth season, with season five already commissioned.
Martin Short, Selena Gomez and Steve Martin on set (Disney/Hulu/Eric McCandless) The show was created by Steve Martin and John Hoffman, and reunites Martin with his Three Amigos and Father of the Bride co-star Martin Short, with actress/singer Selena Gomez appealing to the younger generation.
Each season follows the trio as they investigate suspicious murders in their Upper West Side apartment building, the Arconia, and produce a podcast about each case.
Three editors Due to the pandemic, the show's second season began filming later than planned which meant all of the editors involved in season one were no longer available. Shelly Westerman, Payton Koch and Peggy Tachdjian joined the show in season two and all have received Emmy nominations for their work on season three.
A mutual friend recommended me, explains Tachdjian. They reached out to interview me, but at the time, the schedule didn't work, and I wasn't going to be available. I recommended Shelly and she got the job right away. A few weeks later, their schedule was pushed and she called me and told me that the third editor had dropped out. So I reached back out and asked if they were still looking, and it just worked out perfectly.
Westerman, Koch and Tachdjian had all worked together previously on a number of projects for Ryan Murphy Productions, with Koch working as an edit assistant to Westerman. Shelly got the job on Only Murders and she called me up and said, come and be my assistant on season two, let's edit everything together, and we'll try and get you the bump up, says Koch. I was like, done! Signed, sealed, delivered, I'm on my way.
The pair collaborated on season two, editing every scene of their allotted episodes together. At the end of season two, showrunner John Hoffman told Koch he would be making the move up to editor when the show returned. Two seasons later, and here we are. It's just been the most amazing experience, and I'm eternally grateful, he says.
For all three editors, joining Only Murders in the Building gave them the opportunity to work with two comedy icons. I grew up watching Steve and Marty, says Westerman, and then when I met John Hoffman he was just lovely. It was an easy decision and I'm so grateful to be given the opportunity.
When we were first reached out to about the show, season one hadn't even aired yet. There was only a teaser trailer. I saw that it was Steve and Marty and Selena Gomez, who I didn't know that much about at the time but I've grown to love now, adds Tachdjian. I was just really kind of fascinated by the trio, and it just looked really fun. We'd all come from working on Ryan Murphy shows where there's a lot of horror or kind of dark stuff, and this was just a very light comedy so it felt really exciting. Also, I'm from New York. I loved the idea of working on something that was taking place in New York, where the city feels like a character, so that was kind of exciting for me.
Three takes Working with two hugely experienced comics in Martin and Short means that on average, the editors receive between 2-3 takes of each scene due to how well-rehearsed the cast are before the cameras begin rolling. There are gags that Steve will do and the director will tell me he's been rehearsing for three weeks, says Westerman. I'll be like, what? He's Steve Martin! The director will say no, he's very rehearsed, very ready to go and there's very little ad-lib.
Photo by: Patrick Harbron/Hulu Of course, each director works differently. Koch cites the season finale of season two where director Jamie Babbit shot 52 hours of footage for a 30-minute episode. [There] was a huge scene with all the characters, he explains, it was the biggest scene I've ever had to do, and it was the most amount of footage that we've had on the show. Normally it's 20-25 hours of footage per show.
All of the editors get involved with the show during production, cutting dailies as soon as they're available. Each episode takes around two weeks to put together the first assembly before the editors work with the episode director on the final cut. The show has been edited in Avid Media Composer right from the start.
My whole career has been in Avid so I don't even know how to use anything else, states Tachdjian. I really love the workflow. I love the ease of it. I feel I'm very fast on Avid. I can do everything I want to do. There are so many tools that help us day to day to be faster, more organised, more efficient.
I've spent 28 years editing on Avid, adds Westerman. I like the ability to customise it. My layout looks pretty simple. I'll see my assistant's layout, and I'll say, are you running a spaceship here?
Each editor has a specific tool within Media Composer that helps with their work. For Koch, it's fluid morphs. Those are helpful when the producers are telling us to make it faster and pace
Europe Stories
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
15/09/2025
Global K-Pop sensation aespa is redefining what it means to be rich with the r...
15/09/2025
Every day, millions of people around the world turn to Spotify to enjoy the audi...
15/09/2025
After months of intensive planning and implementation, Brembo SGL Carbon Ceramic...
15/09/2025
Unique sports content orchestration platform builds momentum among SES's cus...
15/09/2025
-- Opens door to growth in renewable energy New Delhi, India - 15th September -- Global business and industry leaders from around the world are joining technol...
13/09/2025
Harmonic's Software-Based XOS Advanced Media Processor Provides Unparalleled Efficiency and Unlocks New Business Models SAN JOSE, Calif. - Sept. 13, 2025 -...
12/09/2025
For fans, we know how important it is to stay plugged into music culture and dis...
12/09/2025
Link ping, Sweden and Shipley, United Kingdom, September 12, 2025 - Agama, the expert in video observability and analytics for service quality and customer expe...
12/09/2025
Feature-length retrospective from Studio Crook to air in 2026
Sir David Jason returns to the nation's favourite comedy channel, U&GOLD, for Open All Hours:...
12/09/2025
Friday 12 September 2025
The Boomtown Rats, Nyah Grace, Soweto Kinch, Royal Ballet and Madness also announced to perform at the ceremony on Tuesday
Sky today ...
12/09/2025
Wuppertal September 12, 2025
Riedel Unveils Ultra-Light Bolero Mini Wireless Intercom BeltpackAt IBC2025 in Amsterdam, Riedel Communications unveiled Bolero M...
12/09/2025
Wuppertal September 12, 2025
Riedel Communications Acquires hi human interfaceRiedel Communications today announced the acquisition of hi human interface fro...
12/09/2025
CORE+ virtually removes distortion, setting a new standard for church sound and giving worship teams the clarity and confidence they need.
Read the full artic...
12/09/2025
The Late Late Show is back with a bang after the summer break, and Patrick Kielt...
12/09/2025
The World Athletics Championships, Ireland v France in the Women's Rugby World Cup quarter-final, the Irish Champions Festival, and two Sports Direct Men...
12/09/2025
The Records Show starts Sunday at 6.30pm on RT One and RT Player.
Katie Hanno...
11/09/2025
RADAR, Spotify's program for emerging talent, recently hit a major milestone...
11/09/2025
Link ping, Sweden, September 11, 2025 - Agama, the expert in video observability & analytics for service quality and customer experience, announced today the la...
11/09/2025
Under the USD 89.6 Million award, SES Space & Defense will provide global commer...
11/09/2025
Leading Balkan DTH provider adds capacity to consolidate its m:Sat TV platform at 23.5 degrees East and serve more customers across the region
Luxembourg, 11 S...
11/09/2025
UKTV's free streaming service U launches on Sky Q
Free streaming service U has launched on Sky Q in the UK, UKTV and Sky confirm today, expanding the footp...
11/09/2025
From the discreet 2061 lavaliers to 4099 and 4011 mics, the setup delivered clean, natural sound in one of the most challenging broadcast environments.
Read th...
11/09/2025
From rugged build quality to natural, detailed sound, the verdict is clear: big performance can come in a very small package.
Read the full review here!...
11/09/2025
Tonight on Prime Time
RT One and RT Player at 9:35pm
Tonight RT Prime Time...
11/09/2025
RT Statement: 2026 Eurovision Song Contest
At the General Assembly of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) in July, a number of EBU members raised concerns ...
10/09/2025
Lossless on Spotify Premium is here.
Lossless audio has been one of the most a...
10/09/2025
The Television Will Be Revolutionised Sep 10, 2025
Written by Sunit Kotecha, Director of Delivery and Operations, YouView
2025 marks a century since the f...
10/09/2025
First of Spains F110 frigates get future-ready with Rohde & Schwarz communicatio...
10/09/2025
Harmonic's cOS Platform Supports DOCSIS and Fiber, Enabling Midco to Deliver Reliable Multi-Gigabit Connectivity to Subscribers SAN JOSE, Calif. - Sept. 10,...
10/09/2025
RT brings three days of live radio, live entertainment, live news, live weather, personal appearances, and more
Join RT Radio 1: Morning Ireland, The Oliver ...
09/09/2025
Since 2020, Spotify's RADAR program has been a launchpad for emerging talent...
09/09/2025
In 2020, Spotify launched RADAR with a clear mission: to identify, nurture, and ...
09/09/2025
If you're on BookTok, you know the drill. You scroll, you tap, and suddenly your To Be Read list is overflowing with trending must-reads. Not unlike Spoti...
09/09/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
09/09/2025
Harmonic's VOS360 Ad SaaS Enables Personalized Ad Delivery and Seamless Integration with the Ad Tech Ecosystem SAN JOSE, Calif. - Sept. 9, 2025 - Harmonic ...
09/09/2025
St. Luke's Episcopal Church in New Jersey needed audio that truly connects and they found the answer.
Read the full case study here!...
09/09/2025
From AI-driven sound design to adaptable systems and uncompromising audio quality, the discussion highlights how innovation is shaping the future of performance...
09/09/2025
The conversation covers DPA's natural, uncolored sound, how to choose the right mic for any application and the company's latest innovations including C...
09/09/2025
From the origins of CORE to the latest CORE+ upgrade, the article explores how DPA minimizes distortion, expands dynamic range and ensures clarity at every SPL ...
09/09/2025
September 9 2025, 07:22 (PDT) Dolby Revolutionizes Entertainment on Four Wheels...
09/09/2025
The Autumn Schedule has begun on RT Raidi na Gaeltachta, with a feast of music, entertainment, news and current affairs programmes as well as an interesting s...
08/09/2025
The company continues to focus on its own training programs. Recently, 20 new ap...
08/09/2025
How an MVP-first approach helps you move faster, stay flexible, and deliver smarter.
Too often, media technology projects aim to solve everything at once ma...
08/09/2025
Fox Corporation Announces Resolution of Murdoch Family Trust Matter New York, NY and Los Angeles, CA - September 8, 2025 - Fox Corporation ( FOX or the Comp...
08/09/2025
Fox Corporation Announces Secondary Offering of Class B Common Stock New York, NY, and Los Angeles, CA - September 8, 2025 - Fox Corporation ( FOX or the Co...
08/09/2025
Fox Corporation Announces Pricing of Secondary Offering of Class B Common Stock New York, NY, and Los Angeles, CA, September 8, 2025 Fox Corporation ( FOX ...
08/09/2025
PantoneLIVE Adds New Color Libraries to Meet Growing Demand for Two-Piece Alumin...
Reflecting the three stars on screen, Only Murders in the Building relies on a trio of editors to help bring the comedy and intrigue of the show to the screen
