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
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
28/11/2025
Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
26/11/2025
A cinematic snow sculpture at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Randall Michelson...
26/11/2025
Book podcasts are booming. On Spotify, you'll find everything from celebrity book clubs to deep dives with bestselling authors. And in markets where audiobo...
26/11/2025
Mumbai, November 24, 2025: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, JioStar, in collab...
26/11/2025
LONDON Factual content producer ITN Productions has launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins....
26/11/2025
MIAMI TelevisaUnivision said it struck a new multiyear distribution agreement with YouTube TV that includes distribution of TelevisaUnivision's U.S. network...
26/11/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leader in software-defined data storage and data services, today announced the launch of the Atlas Corporate Creative Solution. This new Atl...
26/11/2025
Disguise, the industry-leading company powering the world's biggest live performances, is partnering with pioneering LED wall manufacturer DVS to give atten...
26/11/2025
HighField AI, the pioneer in agentic and multimodal automation for broadcast and media production, today announced the expansion of its global channel partner n...
26/11/2025
As high-stakes Premier League fixtures approach and additional premium content launches, with MONO positioning themselves to dominate Thailand's sports stre...
26/11/2025
Hosting a wide variety of events from high-intensity NHL games to complex live music concerts and major entertainment productions, Montreal's 21,000 capacit...
26/11/2025
Vizrt, the leader in live production technology revolutionizing viewer engagement and experience, releases AI-driven advances focusing on speed, intelligence, a...
26/11/2025
ITN Productions, an award-winning factual content producer, today launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins. Responsible for delivering a leading...
26/11/2025
Ikegami reports ongoing advances throughout 2025 in developing and delivering coordinated television production solutions that maximize quality, versatility and...
26/11/2025
Following the Nov. 21 blackout of NBCUniversal channels on Fubo, the two sides have traded barbs about their inability to reach a new carriage deal....
26/11/2025
LONDON As TV sports rights become increasingly important for both broadcasters and streamers, Ampere Analysis predicts global investment in the genre will surpa...
26/11/2025
LOS ANGELES Vubiquity said it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Media & Entertainment Competency as part of the AWS Partner Network (APN). This designa...
26/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau said it has entered into a consent decree with Comcast calling for the cable company t...
26/11/2025
Berklee Named to the Hollywood Reporters Top Music Schools List The publication highlights the college's screen scoring program, industry partnerships, and ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
Animated Series Love Through a Prism' Casts New Light on ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
NALIP Unveils Fifth Cohort of Director Incubator
Social Impact
26 November 2025
United States
Link copied to clipboard
The National Assoc...
26/11/2025
YouView Achieves Greenly Gold Certification for SustainabilityNov 26, 2025
YouView is proud to announce a Gold Certification award from Greenly for our perform...
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
