Cutting Class

This is it! The last of the bonus episodes and the last of "Season One." 3 years later, what a trip. To round out these bonuses I've got a great guest to talk about the art of editing podcasts. Jason Stewart (aka DJ Them Jeans) is the co-host and editor of the podcast How Long Gone, which, along with co-host Chris Black, has released three hour-long episodes a week for the last four years, covering all things culture, fashion and entertainment. Prior to How Long Gone he was also the host & editor of two other podcasts, Tall Tales and The Stew, so he’s really a podcast editing veteran. How Long Gone has risen to the top of the podcast charts because of the funny fast-paced conversations of Jason & Chris and their guests, and a lot of that has to do with Jason’s editing style which is brisk, but not noticeable. The result is 700+ episodes of sharp-witted dialogue that makes the listener wish that they were also in the conversation. The conversations don’t drag on, they whiz by, and some of my favorite parts are the songs he chooses to end each episode on as well as where and how he places their ad reads, which we get into a little bit in this episode (cause that's all editing, baby!) Thanks again, everyone, for listening and supporting this podcast. It's been a really great experience and I'm looking forward to Season Two!

Daniel Wohl is a Paris-born, LA-residing, award winning composer who has scored many notable TV shows & films, had his works performed publicly by symphonies and has had his solo albums given high marks and praise from New York Times and Pitchfork alike. He’s scored multiple seasons of the hit show Search Party, the Mark Ronson show “Watch the Sound” the Morgan Neville-directed docs “They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead” and “Shangri-La” as well as Tales of the Walking Dead, Robert Zemeckis’ Project Blue Book and many others. In 2023 he composed the score for the art installation Luna Luna and his score with musician Arooj Aftab for the film Rise, Again is currently touring as part of the Sun Dogs series, performed by Alarm Will Sound. I think the relationship between the editor and composer is the most interesting part of post-production, as well as one that is very overlooked. They're often working off of each other, responding to each other, depending on who started first, or how many rounds of revisions are possible within a given timeline. Both are working with their own rhythms and their own ideas for accenting time. So there’s a lot of room for either conflict or magic, depending on how synced the two roles are. I’ve always wanted to talk to another composer about their experiences and once I met Daniel I knew he was a great person to talk to about this subject. So hopefully this is as enjoyable and enlightening for you as it was for me.

*More Bonus content from the Non-Editors Talking About Editing series* Zak Stoltz is the brilliant VFX supervisor known for his work on Everything Everywhere All at Once and an all-around excellent motion graphics artist and director. Zak introduced me to Paul Rogers, the Oscar-winning editor of Everything Everywhere and former Cutting Class guest, and I thought it would be interesting to hear a little bit from his side about working on that film. Plus he’s worked with The Daniels for ages including on the Turn Down For What music video so there’s a bit more crossover. Great convo, Great guy. Enjoy.

Bonus Round Interviews, non-editors talking about editing: Jeff Kling is the Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Das Favorite. He has previously been CCO of Lightning Orchard, CCO of Fallon Worldwide, and ECD of Wieden Kennedy among many other roles in his storied history. Jeff is responsible for the universally beloved Dos Equis’ Most Interesting Man in the World campaign, the Miller High Life Errol Morris campaign, the Arby’s “We Have the Meats” campaign, he’s responsible for that hilarious Loctite Super Bowl commercial from 2014 and in his own words he “rubber stamped” the Nike “Write the Future” commercial. And this is just the surface of all of the insane spots he’s worked on or created.

A good post-producer is hard to find. They have such a difficult job of managing budgets and clients, scheduling, finding talent for jobs and keeping everyone involved happy, fed, on track to finish and doing their best work. And to us editors they can and should be our main line of defense against clients overreaching, to deliver more than they agreed to or work more hours or whatever it may be.  My guest, Kate Aspel,l is one of these great producers who has the ability to stay on top of a project and clients while also protecting those of us in post. I’ve had the pleasure of working with her a number of times before when she was at Artclass; she’s currently Executive Producer at Scholar, and before both she was a commercial sales rep. She’s also able to talk at length about 90s New Jersey pop punk, which is equally as important as her illustrious career, to me at least.  She’d mentioned in passing to me a few things she wished editors knew and so I thought what a great opportunity for freelance editors to hear from the person that does the hiring- some tips and tricks for getting work.

Hey everybody, welcome to the Bonus Round of Season 1 of Cutting Class. As I mentioned at the end of Jen Dean’s episode I’m doing something a little different with these bonus episodes and I’m hoping it proves to be interesting and of value to you: I’m speaking with non-editors about editing. People who work closely with editors and likely have never really expressed out loud some of their feelings about editing and editors. And first up is really top notch: Crystal Moselle is the celebrated director of The Wolfpack, Sophia, The Skate Kitchen and HBO’s Betty. And though she is a director she does have some editing experience. Also since we talk a good amount about it, a little refresher: The Wolfpack is the 2015 documentary about the Angulo family, whose seven children were confined to their lower east side apartment by their overbearing father. They learned about the outside world through watching films. On one of their few breakaways from they home Crystal ran into them and struck up a friendship then began filming them for many years. The result was Crystal’s debut film which ended up winning the Grand Jury prize at Sundance and was bought by Magnolia Pictures and the rest is history.  Stay tuned for more of these bonus episodes. HMU @cuttingclassediting on IG

Jen Dean is a NY-based commercial editor and mother with a sharp eye, a quick wit and a love for Texan psych rock. After studying under Stan Brakhage she got her start at Lost Planet as Hank Corwin’s assistant, eventually moving on to cut her own award-winning projects from fashion to comedy to docu style and everything in between. She’s an editor’s editor and has been in this edit world for long enough to be known and respected by anyone and everyone who’s also been around long enough to know anything.  When I began this podcast and the accompanying instagram I reposted an image of Thelma Schoonmaker on the IG and multiple people, including former guest Kimmy Dubé, quickly responded that the woman Thelma was with was also a legend herself, Jen Dean. So I swiftly got Jen’s contact and tried and failed to land an interview for many months and then the conversation drifted away; so Jen was my white whale for this season and I couldn’t close it out without her. And I’m so glad she was finally able to make time for me because we had a great chat.  For more information and supplemental video clips visit cuttingclass.fm Connect with us on IG @cuttingclassediting Questions, Comments, Criticism: [email protected] Cutting Class is produced, hosted & edited by John McSwain

Paul Rogers is an LA-based editor best known for his astonishing work on the breakout hit film Everything Everywhere All at Once. His wild resume also includes The Eric Andre Show, You Cannot Kill David Arquette, The Death of Dick Long, Dream Corp LLC, and a number of great music videos notably including DJ Snake & Lil Jon’s extremely viral “Turn Down For What”, Haim ft A$ap Ferg’s “My Song 5” and Lauv ft. Julia Michaels “There’s No Way.” He, along with his partners at Parallax Post, co-edited Sampha’s beautiful album film “Process” as well as “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A Bad Boy Story.” (As we get into later, who from Parallax worked on what is not entirely clear for me and I’m going off IMDB and I know there’s way more than what’s listed there so my apologies if any of that isn’t fully correct but it’s an interesting story to stay tuned). In this episode we discuss: -a life changing viewing of Flying Lotus' Until the Quiet Comes -Editing with "The Swarm" -Why all editors should be in therapy -Premiere Gang -The Rocks ************ For more information and supplemental video clips visit cuttingclass.fm  Connect with us on IG @cuttingclassediting Questions, Comments, Criticism: [email protected] Cutting Class is produced, hosted & edited by John McSwain

Andre “Dre” Jones is a Los Angeles-based editor with a flair for dynamic, stylish music videos, commercials and films. Notably among these is “Pop Star” by DJ Khaled ft. Drake (which was nominated for a VMA video of the year), Rosalia’s “A Palé,” Rosalia and The Weekend’s “La Fama,” Ariana Grande’s “34+35,” Summer Walker, Cardi B and SZA’s “No Love,’ and Bella Poarch’s viral video for “Build a B.” There’s more actually. Like Beam - “Planet Beam”, Nicky Minaj ft. Lil Baby - “Do We Have a Problem?”, Orville Peck - “No Glory in the Wild,” Megan Thee Stallion ft. Norman - “Diamonds,” Rick Ross ft. Young Jeezy - “War Ready,” Swizz Beats ft. Asap Rocky - “Street Knock,” Pusha T - “Feeling Myself,” Wale’s “Lotus Flower Bomb” and many many others. We get into those last three a bit in this episode. Also in this episode: -Cutting for Cool -Basketball and Editing -Directors who know their VFX -Letting Cuts Breathe For more information and supplemental video clips visit cuttingclass.fm . Connect with us on IG @cuttingclassediting Questions, Comments, Criticism: [email protected] To Support this podcast visit anchor.fm/cuttingclass/support Cutting Class is produced, hosted & edited by John McSwain

Aaron I. Butler, ACE is a Los Angeles-based multi-disciplinary editor best known for his work on the second season of HBO’s wildly popular TV show Euphoria. He’s responsible for the most intense hour of television I’ve seen in a very long time, Season 2 Episode 5 “Stand Still Like the Hummingbird,” also known as the Rue running for her life episode. He’s also previously cut Kanye’s “Jesus is King” Imax film, the films JT Leroy and I Am Michael, a number of documentaries including HBO’s Cries From Syria and then there’s the juicy stuff, Laguna Beach and Taxi Cab Confessions.