Ep. 22 – Building Trust, Cutting Comedy, and the Editing of “Ted Lasso” with editors Melissa McCoy, ACE and A.J. Catoline, ACE

August 31, 2021

This is episode 22 of the Hollywood Editing Mentor podcast and it’s for all those Ted Lasso fans out there. Emmy-nominated editors Melissa McCoy, ACE and A.J. Catoline, ACE are here to talk about the hit Apple TV+ show and we’re gonna get a behind-the-scenes look at the editing of this awesome series.

We’re also gonna talk about their approach to cutting comedy and discuss ways how to properly network and build trust with people in the post production industry.

A.J. Catoline, ACE, Jason Sudeikis, and Melissa McCoy, ACE at the premiere of season 2 of Ted Lasso.

Melissa McCoy, ACE first fell in love with filmmaking, and editing specifically, while a student at Western Michigan University. She then made her way to California and earned a Master’s in Editing from Chapman University Dodge College of Film & Media Arts. In 2007 she earned a coveted internship with ACE, which jump-started her career. Melissa has edited Life Sentence for the CW and the action-comedy series, Whiskey Cavalier on ABC. Her work on Ted Lasso earned her an ACE Eddie Award and an Emmy nomination this year. 

A.J. Catoline, ACE is from Cape Cod, Massachusetts and is a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and USC’s Master of Professional Writing Program. He serves on the Board of Directors of The Motion Picture Editors Guild and is a regular contributor to CineMontage Magazine. In addition to Ted Lasso, his picture editing credits include Speechless (ABC), Brockmire (IFC) and Black Jesus (Adult Swim).

Melissa, A.J., and I will be discussing the importance of building trust with people in order to find opportunities in the post production industry, the one skill that helped them stand out as assistant editors, how Ted Lasso is a show about mentorship, working on the edit with Jason Sudeikis, how they balanced the comedic and dramatic moments in the show, working with improv in comedy, and more great insight into the editing of season 2 of Ted Lasso!

Other topics discussed in episode 22:

  • Not knowing when a show will be a hit and giving it your best 
  • Learning something new on every job
  • How Melissa and A.J. made their way to the editing chair
  • Practical networking advice from Melissa and A.J.
  • Adapting to working from home and using new technology
  • The importance of taking breaks from work
  • How the Ted Lasso post production team communicates while working remotely
  • How Jason Sudeikis embraced the use of iPhones in Ted Lasso
  • The approach Melissa and A.J. took to editing season 2 of Ted Lasso
  • Determining what’s funny and if a joke is going to work or not
  • Using ScriptSync in comedy
  • How Melissa put together the “She’s a Rainbow” sequence in episode 205

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