Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Three is the magic number

09/12/2024

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

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
LINK: https://www.tvbeurope.com/production-post/three-is-the-magic-number...
See more stories from tvb

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

06/05/2026

NAB Launches Weekly Podcast on Local Broadcast Policy

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/05/2026

Mavis Launches Mavis Studio iPad For Media Production

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/05/2026

Narrative Entertainment partners with Encompass to provid...

Narrative Entertainment has partnered with Encompass to deliver high-quality subtitling of its Great! network content using the Altitude Intelligence AI assiste...

06/05/2026

SipRadius extends its seamless creation and connectivity...

SipRadius, widely recognized for making content processing and connectivity secure and seamless, is proud to launch a dramatic new approach to AI content creati...

06/05/2026

Big Blue Marble at ANGA COM - TV as a Service in the spot...

When the broadband and media industry gathers at ANGA COM in Cologne from May 19 to 21, Big Blue Marble will be at the forefront. The international broadcast an...

06/05/2026

Cinegy makes its MPTS debut with software-defined televis...

Cinegy GmbH, a leading developer of software-defined television technology, is proud to exhibit at MPTS for the first time. Visitors to the stand will discover ...

06/05/2026

Val Jeanty Receives 2026 Doris Duke Artist Award

Val Jeanty Receives 2026 Doris Duke Artist Award Jeanty, a composer, percussionist, and turntablist, is the fourth Berklee recipient of the prestigious award ...

06/05/2026

Zeiss Launches CinCraft LensCore

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/05/2026

Gomez Urges Rigorous FCC Review of Paramount-WBD Merger

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/05/2026

Wisycom Solves Extreme RF Challenges Across Miles of Live...

When live cycling races and international marathons stretch for miles across cities and countryside, there is no margin for RF failure in live broadcast. As Chi...

06/05/2026

ZEISS CinCraft LensCore - Cinema Lens Looks for Compositi...

Oberkochen/Germany, May 5, 2026 ZEISS announces the launch of CinCraft LensCore, a novel solution for creating physically based cinematic lens looks for visual...

06/05/2026

NVIDIA Spectrum-X - the Open, AI-Native Ethernet Fabric - Sets the Standard for Gigascale AI, Now With MRC

The race to build the world's most powerful AI factories demands networking ...

06/05/2026

May 05, 2026

How changes to proteins can alter drug interactions for new precision therapies Scripps Research team maps how chemical modifications to proteins affect drug bi...

05/05/2026

Lessons from fragile contexts on responding to disinformation

Experts from the world of academia, tech, business, politics and media convened for a Thomson Talks at the Cambridge Disinformation Summit in April. It's th...

05/05/2026

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Phone Cameras Bring New Excitement to Street League Skateboarding

Three phones were hardwired for power and transmission to the truck; camera feat...

05/05/2026

Case Study: How Zaki Rose Rebuilt Its Production Infrastructure, and What It Means for Sports Content Creators

The creative studio behind campaigns for the NBA, Fanatics Sportsbook & Casino, ...

05/05/2026

Nielsen Co-Viewing Pilot Shows Average 4% Viewership Increase for February Live Events

Nielsen has announced results from a co-viewing pilot program covering February&...

05/05/2026

Nippon TV and FOR-A Win NAB Product of the Year and Future Best of Show Awards for viztrick AiDi

viztrick AiDi, an on-device AI solution developed by Nippon TV, delivered global...

05/05/2026

ARRI Introduces Omnibar LED Linear Fixture for Film, Live Entertainment, and Content Creation

ARRI has announced Omnibar, a battery-powered, IP65-rated multi-color LED linear...

05/05/2026

France Tlvisions Becomes First Broadcaster to Deploy Imagine Communications SNP-XS

Imagine Communications has announced that France T l visions is the first broadc...

05/05/2026

WNBA Announces Historic Canadian Media Rights Agreement with Bell Media

The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and Bell Media today announced a multiyear agreement to broadcast and stream WNBA games in Canada beginni...

05/05/2026

Save the Date: SVG Remote Production Forum Heads to WBD's Techwood Studios in Atlanta on Sept. 23-24

SVG is proud to announce Warner Bros. Discovery's Techwood Studios in Atlant...

05/05/2026

Look Who's Talking: ESPN Integrates New Automated Commentator-ID Technology Into Scorebar Graphic for UFL Coverage

With no operator required, AutoMic workflow automates talent identification on U...

05/05/2026

Return Flight: How Live Broadcast Drones Died - and Were Reborn - on the Ski Slopes of Northern Italy

A crash in 2015 set the industry back, but this winter proved that drones are he...

05/05/2026

RADAR Spotlights the Next Generation of Asian Artists, From Indonesia to Taiwan

Another year, and more proof that Asia continues to shape some of the world's most exciting new sounds. This year's RADAR artists draw from deep local r...

05/05/2026

Spotify and ACL Music Fest Team Up to Give Fans a Personalized Experience for 2026

The Austin City Limits Music Fest 2026 lineup just dropped, and this year, Spoti...

05/05/2026

Bjooks to launch Beat Gems Kickstarter

New drum machine book campaign incoming Bjooks have announced that during Superbooth 2026, they will be launching a Kickstarter campaign to fund the product...

05/05/2026

Native Instruments release Komplete 26

Flagship all-in-one production bundle updated The latest version of Native Instruments' flagship virtual instrument and plug-in bundle has just been ann...

05/05/2026

Rohde & Schwarz to host RF Testing Innovations Forum 2026, helping design engineers elevate their RF expertise

Rohde & Schwarz to host RF Testing Innovations Forum 2026, helping design engine...

05/05/2026

L3Harris Provides Key Technologies for Newly Commissioned Navy Submarines

L3Harris provides communications, electronic warfare, sensors and mission systems that enable Virginia-class submarine crews to operate with confidence in conte...

05/05/2026

AgileTV consolidates its strength in 2025: EBITDA and cash conversion increase thanks to revenue growth and operational efficiency

The company grew by 7.6% in net revenue and 16.3% in EBITDA, achieving a 33% inc...

05/05/2026

Gray Media Closes Purchase of 10 Allen Media Group Stations

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

05/05/2026

Dang Ly Joins Operative as Chief Product Officer

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

05/05/2026

CIMM, TVB Release Local TV Currency Measurement Guidelines

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

05/05/2026

ARRI Introduces Omnibar LED Linear Fixture

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

05/05/2026

France Televisions Continues ST 2110 Migration With Imagi...

Project Marks First Major Broadcast Deployment of Latest Addition to SNP Lineup Imagine Communications today announced that France T l visions is the first br...

05/05/2026

Shotoku Broadcast Systems Wins 2026 NAB Show Product of t...

Shotoku Broadcast Systems Wins 2026 NAB Show Product of the Year Award Shotoku Broadcast Systems announced today that its Swoop range of robotic cranes has be...

05/05/2026

DigitalGlues creativespace Intelligence Wins Futures Best...

DigitalGlue's creative.space Intelligence Wins Future's Best of Show Award, Presented by TV Tech creative.space Intelligence (CSI), part of the creativ...

05/05/2026

Zixi Showcases Next-Generation Live Video Workflows and M...

Zixi, a leader in live video delivery and workflow orchestration, will showcase next-generation broadcast workflows at the Media Production and Technology Show ...

05/05/2026

Stingr marks its launch with a new approach to second-screen interactivity

Stingr marks its launch with a new approach to second-screen interactivity Brie Clayton May 5, 2026 0 Comments Huge leap forward in revenues and engag...

05/05/2026

Shotoku Broadcast Systems Wins 2026 NAB Show Product of the Year Award

Shotoku Broadcast Systems Wins 2026 NAB Show Product of the Year Award Brie Clayton May 5, 2026 0 Comments Shotoku Broadcast Systems announced today tha...

05/05/2026

DHD to Promote Latest Advances in Audio Production at MPT...

Following a successful NAB Show in Las Vegas, DHD will promote examples from its wide range of broadcast-quality audio production equipment at the May 13th-14th...

05/05/2026

LucidLink Redefines Cloud Media Workflows at MPTS 2026

LucidLink today announced its programme for MPTS 2026, where it will exhibit at Stand M59 at Olympia London, 13 to 14 May. The company will showcase its latest ...

05/05/2026

Limecraft Announces Version 2026-3 of its Cloud-Based Tel...

Limecraft today announces the release of Limecraft 2026.3, the third platform update in its 2026 release cycle. Limecraft is an AI-powered production platform t...

05/05/2026

Stingr marks its launch with a new approach to second-scr...

Huge leap forward in revenues and engagement...

05/05/2026

Broadcast Solutions strengthens CTO Office for technical...

Broadcast Solutions, a leading system integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, has taken another significant step in st...