First, a word on my professional background. I’m a video editor. Here are some of the kinds of work I’ve done:
Supplemental Documentaries
In which my role is to “make everyone look absolutely amazing, even if they’re awful”.
Cooking Shows
In which my role is to “make everyone hungry even if the recipe is inedible”.
Children’s Educational Shows
In which my role is to “make kids entertained even if the subject is boring”.
Documentaries
In which my role is to “make riveting stories out of facts and expert interviews”.
In the last couple years, I was introduced to two new types of work: development editing and casting editing.
These have nothing to do with new homes or fishing. They are two types of “preproduction editing” (which I only put in quotes because I’m not totally sure it’s a thing).
On paper, they didn’t sound very exciting to me when I first discovered them. But the roles basically exist because something doesn’t sound very exciting on paper. I actually found that I enjoyed the work, as unglamorous as it may be.
Allow me to explain the jobs. Or stop reading now.
Development editing is when you are trying to sell a show to a network or production company. Say you had an idea for a brand-new reality show about accountants. You’ve got an awesome title (“Spreadsheet Spinners”). You’ve got a log line (“By day they crunch the numbers, by night they rock the party. They’re DJ accountants!”).
First of all, I don’t see how this isn’t already a show, and I totally plan on pitching it myself now – so no stealsies. Secondly, you still may need to persuade a network that this will work on television. And that’s when you bring in the development editor.
If you had some money to put into this idea, perhaps you already shot some footage of DJ accountants. But since you just came up with this idea for an article, and you’re basically broke because January is always slow (which is why you have no work right now, freeing you up to write in the first place), more likely you’re going to rip some footage of accountants doing math and DJs pressing buttons on DJ machines (I’m not sure what DJs do). The development editor throws together a slick sizzle with graphics and music, and then everyone can clearly see that, yes, this is definitely a show.
DJ accountants! It just works.
Congratulations! You almost sold it to a network. Just one problem – They’re not quite sure DJ accountants exist. And if they do exist, are we sure they’re interesting? Of course they’re interesting! And now to prove it, we bring in a casting producer or casting director. I’m not sure what the difference is, but don’t tell me if you find out. The answer is probably really boring.
The casting producer/director has to find the country’s most interesting DJ accountants. They may or may hate your idea, but they’re pros, and they’re going to do their jobs. They interview dozens of people over Skype, and dump all that footage into the lap of a casting editor, which is just a regular editor who has to listen to hours of talking DJ accountants.
These interviews may be as short as 20 minutes, but they’re more likely 45-60 minutes. Some of these DJ accountants might be naturals. Funny and insightful. Some are going to seem like regular accountants. All of them have to end up looking like awesome possibilities for the network. It’s the casting editor’s job to make that happen. He’ll turn 45 minutes into 2 minutes, and make each person look like the next hot reality star.
If the development editor was able to prove that the idea was good, and the casting editor was able to show that there is a great cast just waiting to be used, then maybe you get a pilot for your show.
And guaranteed success! Because I’m pretty sure that nothing can go wrong once you get a pilot order.
Hopefully you can see how this is interesting. In the best case scenarios, you get to be a part of a brand-new show from the beginning. Often, it just doesn’t work out. But when a show you helped develop and cast gets a pilot order, it’s a bit of a thrill.
Do I want to retire as a development or casting editor? No.
I want to retire because it’s too uncomfortable for someone to hire an editor who is also a billionaire.
But in the meantime, I’m learning a lot about how a TV show starts life, and it’s pretty fun.
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