… for Random Weirdness

Tip #1100: What is a Showrunner?

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

The showrunner is the lead producer of a show from concept to marketing.

This article, written by Jourdan Aldredge, first appeared in PremiumBeat.com. This is a summary.

Take a look at the day-to-day of the all-important television or streaming program showrunner. What can you can learn from this multifaceted role? The show-runner is the lead producer on a film or video project who oversees every element of the project’s creation, from the initial pitch to the final edits and marketing.

Jourdan divides the roles of a showrunner into five categories — development, pre-production, production, post-production, and marketing. Let’s take a look at each.

• Development: While not always the case, more often than not a showrunner is the one who comes up with the initial idea or inspiration for a program and begins the process of pitching it around and fleshing it out. Whether it’s to Hollywood producers, studio heads, or local television, the showrunner spends months — if not years — in development just trying to get the concept green-lit.
• Pre-Production: Once the project is tapped to move forward, the showrunner begins to put together a core crew — including writers, director(s), cast and crew, and a group of fellow producers that will oversee everything from budgets to contracts to scripts and shooting schedules.
• Production: Again, not every showrunner’s role will be the same. Some might be more hands off on the actual production, but there are plenty of examples of showrunners who also serve as directors or remain close to the day to day of production. With so much invested already, a showrunner makes sure production goes as smoothly — and correctly — as possible.
• Post-Production: Depending on how a program is being shot and released, the post-production process could overlap with production. This requires a steady hand, as the showrunner guides individual episodes along toward broadcast/release while still keeping an eye on the rest of the season. Additionally, a showrunner’s post-production duties involve managing specialists like narrative editors and color experts while keeping tabs on things like sound design and graphics/VFX.
• Marketing: Finally, the role of a showrunner doesn’t end once a program goes live. Instead, it takes on a new life of its own, as a showrunner would be highly invested in making sure the program is favorably reviewed and heavily marketed in order to finds its audience. From viral campaigns to television spots, a showrunner would work with their marketing team to do everything they can to help their show take off.

EXTRA CREDIT

The article, linked above has several videos with showrunners talking about their work, as well as a variety of links that go deeper into this subject.

… for Random Weirdness

Tip #1036: Rough Cut Interviews in 6 Steps

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

These six steps keep the chaos at bay while editing interviews.

This article, written by Joe Frederick, first appeared in PremiumBeat.com. This is a summary.

Editors on interview projects face an overwhelming task: reducing hours of footage into just minutes for the final cut. Eliminate that stress with these six steps.

1. Transcription. Getting your interviews transcribed is the best piece of advice I have for anyone cutting these types of videos. There are many, many advantages to getting your interviews transcribed. If the director suddenly wants to find a particular soundbite from a particular interview, you can easily search the transcription for particular key words or phrases. You can also skim through the interviews when away from the edit suite. The benefits are endless.

Before the transcription, it’s worth forming your multicam clips first, if you’ve filmed from multiple angles, so you can drag the multicam clip into your timeline and export the audio from there. That way, the timecode on your transcription will match the timecode of your interview timeline. This is vital if you want to keep your process efficient.

2. Highlighting. Read all the transcripts from beginning to end, highlighting anything and everything that might possibly be used in the edit. I usually open the PDFs in Preview, which allows you to use different colors when highlighting.

3. Create “Good Content.” Back in your NLE, go through all your interviews, cutting out any of your highlighted segments from each interview into a new project/sequence. Essentially you are building an unorganized selects reel. Put a text slide before each clip with the content of the sound bite. By now, you should have a sense of the organizational structure you are aiming for.

4. Create “Good Content Ordered.” Rearrange the selected sound bites into an order that makes sense.

5. Create “Content Cut.” Duplicate your project and rename it “Content Cut.” Because your footage is now in order, you’ll be able to see when you have repetition in what’s being said and can quickly delete it. Then, get busy deleting and whittling down your cut until it’s the length you want your final piece to be.

6. Create “Refined Content Cut.” Duplicate your project file once again and rename it Refined Content Cut. This is where the final finessing takes place.

By taking your project in stages, it helps you feel more in control which allows you to focus more on your story.