AMC Producer/Editor
Josh Weiss http://joshweissedits.com
October 8th, 2014
Josh Weiss http://joshweissedits.com
October 8th, 2014
So, tell me if you've ever
heard this one before. (FADE UP ON
UNDEAD CLOSEUP) A frenzied zombie (CUT TO 3/4 SHOT). A womanizing advertising exec (HOLD ON
DISTANT STARE). And a megalomaniac meth
cooker (WIDE SHOT) walk into a sketchy lawyer's office and... (DISSOLVE TO
BLOATED HIPPO MAGAZINE)
Welcome to Josh Weiss's manic mashup world as an AMC channel editor and producer. His craft is to find the right mix of tease and tension in quick twitch clips that feed the insatiable fans of: The Walking Dead, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and the upcoming Better Call Saul.
Welcome to Josh Weiss's manic mashup world as an AMC channel editor and producer. His craft is to find the right mix of tease and tension in quick twitch clips that feed the insatiable fans of: The Walking Dead, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and the upcoming Better Call Saul.
BHM: How did you become an editor?
Josh: I started my career at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. Just kidding- I’m not that old. Although it was with ad agencies in NYC: first Deutsch Advertising (Foot Locker, Bank of America) and then Wieden & Kennedy (Nike, ESPN). I didn't care much for the day-to-day or the ladder climbing culture. For me, the most satisfying part of the job was the creative element: producing actual commercials. I was twenty-five, frustrated, and even though it meant restarting my career from scratch, I took a leap to work in a Post Production facility called The Image Group. It was one of the best decisions I have ever made. American society and culture have become hypermedia driven with screens for everything. The demand for editors only continues to grow, making it a pretty good job market.
But, it took a while to get there. At Image, I started in the mail room and once I had the opportunity, moved to the tape floor doing dubs, transfers, labels, and general support tasks. Then I worked my way to a position as a tape operator/assistant editor in the online edit room creating graphics on a Chyron as well as Photoshop & After Effects. Soon after, I became the media manager for the company's Avid Unity System- editing suites where multiple users can work off of the same footage simultaneously. I eventually began experimenting at home with edits: cutting sports to music, family videos, and anything I could get my hands on to. Once I started, really started, I became something of a workaholic.
I wasn’t alone in this passion. All of the great editors I’ve known in my career have had an incredible work ethic: a mix of staunch perfectionism with a dash of OCD. Like any creative work, the details are often what make your work standout. It also helps that I love television, film, and music, which makes my job less of a “job” and more of a chance to combine my interests with my technical skills. Being ego-free with regards to criticism, a problem solver, and having creative vision are keys to success. Oh yeah, and your job can include watching great television for a living, so hope you can handle that.
My first client as a full-blown editor at Image was a producer named Gus Gabriel, and we worked on promos for College Sports Television (CSTV). I'm a sports fanatic, so it was a great fit. Other clients at Image included Food Network, A&E, Comedy Central, ABC, and ESPN- doing one-hour documentaries. The first show I edited for ESPN made a splash and became nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Edited Program. Eventually, I left there for the freelance world where I enjoy being paid for a skill as opposed to the ad world where I was more of a liaison. After a great five-year run freelancing on promos, shows, and features, I accepted a staff editing job at AMC. Soon after I started a family and let my freelance career fade to black (along with the 70-hour work weeks).
I started working at AMC before they had a popular series. Way back when it was mostly John Wayne and Charles Bronson movies. In 2007, they hit mad gold with Mad Men. I was lucky enough to work on the first trailer with a super-talented producer, Cas Nozkowski. Cas decided to use the song "You Know You're No Good" by Amy Winehouse, and since she wasn't a household name yet, it was relatively affordable to use. No one could have predicted at that time what a cultural icon that song or the show would become.
BHM: What is a typical day like as an editor?
Josh: Editing is equal parts sales, creative, and technical.
The sales part means presenting yourself and your ideas in a professional, enthusiastic, and detailed manner. Much like the ad pitches in Mad Men, you need to know how to set up the scene, write copy, and woo the audience. It's also a team effort, so having other members of your team respect each other and share the same enthusiasm and vision will only enhance the end-product.
The creative element is mostly about being open-minded and willing to do whatever is best for the cut. “What is best,” of course, is subjective, but you have to be willing to take risks and see where they go. If you go into a project with a preconceived notion of what it should look like, then you're restricting yourself and creating unnecessary boundaries right from the start. Sometimes an idea looks great on paper but doesn't work well once executed (and vice versa).
It's often a process of trial and error and in many cases accidents can yield surprise discoveries. A promotional editor's goal is to make a piece attractive and provocative; to get people talking; to make the audience feel something. So, learning to how to challenge perceptions is important.
The technical side improves like muscle memory with training and experience. When I was an assistant editor learning the ropes, my mentor Joe Baron taught me the phrase "speed is accuracy." It means: you need to be fast in order to get it right. Let's say, you only have five minutes to add something to a cut. If you're fast, you can try half a dozen things. If you're slow or over-think it, you limit yourself to only two or three options. So, the faster you are, the more options you have, and the more you can try to do something interesting.
BHM: What’s your creative process?
Josh: Depends on the show. The tricky balance is to provide some teasing exposition but also leave the audience begging for more. On Mad Men, we give fans a taste of the next episode. Our style has become a bit of a cultural phenomenon (see vulture.com's article). In Turn: Washington's Spies, we may show crucial scenes from the following week's episode as well as add lines of copy to the mix.
Writing is a skill/talent that is invaluable to have. I have a huge amount of respect for writers and admire their ability to create from nothing. For anyone interested in getting involved in any creative aspect of media, my advice would be to hone your writing skills early in your career. It's what I've worked the hardest to improve over the past few years.
Currently, my style tends more towards visually showcasing the shows and characters over clever copy. If the copy is truly clever and works well with the footage, then that’s great. But, if it’s predictable or cliché’, I think the audience would prefer a great sound bite from Don Draper or a shocking moment from The Walking Dead. Admittedly, as an editor, my instinct is to make something cool or provocative. I probably worry less about "on-brand" than the marketing teams who need to accomplish a certain strategic goal with a promo. Ideally, we can work together to make something we can all be proud of showing the audience. I believe that people watch us for our shows & characters, but I also understand the need to have a concise brand.
BHM: How does a show change once it becomes successful?
Josh: As a show develops and becomes more successful, such as the AMC trifecta of Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and The Walking Dead, the promotional logic can change as well. In the beginning, the focus is to lure the target audience in and later becomes how to expand the audience and keep people tuned in. In this "Golden Age" of television, audiences are more sophisticated than ever and can get their content from any number of outlets. The challenge now given the expanse of media outlets and series binge watching culture is to appeal to a DVR and Netflix mentality. Sports and finales are some of the only remaining “DVR Busters” that attract live viewers with commercials being seen more often.
For successful shows that try to go toe to toe with big dogs like HBO, creative directions can change through the course of the series. The best shows stay the course and change little in their creative process while still driving extremely compelling, unpredictable content. Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould are pros at this. They are making the Breaking Bad spinoff, Better Call Saul, its very own complex, dark, dramatic, and funny series. They're also sticking with what they know- what got them there. According to Peter, there's "more drama and more life and death than we ever would have expected from a show starring Saul Goodman." Adding, "it's the story of how one guy becomes another guy." The anticipation for February is building at an exponential rate.
BHM: What shows and networks inspire you?
Josh: FX is killing it right now in the promo department! Fresh programming selections like Louie, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Archer, and Sons of Anarchy give them a captive young audience that they know how to get talking with teasy promos. There are so many outlets for promotional opportunities that a divide and conquer strategy has evolved. You can explain details through press releases while doing moody, enigmatic work on-air and in print while doing viral web videos, etc. Today's TV audience is very sophisticated and FX with their apropos tagline “Fearless” has their finger on the pulse and recently cleaned up at Promax, the annual award show for television promotion.
I am inspired by HBO and Showtime promos that play it cool and showcase the programming in quality shows like True Detective, Veep, Game of Thrones, Masters of Sex, Homeland, and Ray Donovan. As a network, they have a good reputation for providing creative freedom and support to their staff and casts. Also, I'm loving the Netflix spot with Ricky Gervais as well as the God Only Knows video promotion BBC Music.
Alas, though, my heart is where home is at AMC. I always am reminded of the impact those shows make on people, especially when I wear my Pollos Hermanos shirt out in public, and I'm grateful I could contribute in a small part to that experience. It's great to be working for a channel with shows that people are so passionate about. They've set incredibly high bars with their original series, especially Breaking Bad and Mad Men, which are considered two of the greatest dramas of all time. The Walking Dead certainly has a cult following. The newbies like Halt and Catch Fire and Turn: Washington's Spies are building their audience. Next is Better Call Saul, which I am excited to be working on, and reminds me of why I took a big chance at twenty-five to change my career path to become an editor. It's that same spirit of risk taking that I can now apply every day to my creative work.