“Avid is the most intuitive way to edit. I'm not restricted in any way to tell the story. In fact, Avid makes me tell it even better.”

The Technical Hurdle of Editing Remotely

 

We work from home, and on a premiere episode like “Squirrel Games,” where there's so much going on, we're editing different things at once, and I don't know what the direct feedback is in the room.

Normally, if I play back something to my producer, I can hear them laugh, I can hear them not laugh, I can hear them look at their phone, I can feel them engaged, and that tells me how the edit's going outside of the notes. When you're at home, there's this big barrier of, ‘Are we on the right track?’ It makes it harder for premiere episodes because that track has got to go well otherwise, it slows up the rest of the episodes.  

We only have an hour to introduce 14 queens. What made it harder for season 17 was a Squid Games parody. Not only are we introducing the queens, we're introducing the show in a different light. There's 20 to 30 more queens, some past queens, some potential future queens. There's a lot of people in a small space. It was a challenge to say what our show is, do a parody, introduce our queens, and get everything in in three minutes before our show can start.  

 

 

Collaboration and Essential Tools  

 

The best part of editing Drag Race, is, there's a wealth of good ideas coming in all at once. Every episode has a clear vision when we start. Some episodes are cowboy themes, some  are a parody of another show.  

 

Whenever I attack a scene, the first thing I do is ask what is the reality in the contestants' minds of what they think is happening? Because if they think they did good, but they didn't, we need to let everyone know that, to let the other queens go, ‘Oh, really?’ It's a good way of telling the story where people are, what they think is happening and what's really happening. That creates drama, comedy, and conflict.  

 

Avid is the most intuitive way to edit. I'm not restricted in any way to tell the story. In fact, Avid makes me tell it even better. One tool that is essential is being able to make a D-Verb track. There are a lot of different sound effects. To be able to ring that out, find a sting quickly, throw it on a track, especially with comedy timing, to see if it works is such a help. I used to send a mono track out, put a D-Verb on it, it took so long. Now all editors have the same track functions. When I pass off my cut to an editor or they take on mine, all of our D-Verb tracks stay the same. That has saved so much time. If it was gone, I probably would quit.  

 

We have over 14 queens, four judges, guests sometimes. We have a lot of tracks in order. One of the best buttons I found was restore default patch. Any time I'm moving stuff, and I go, ‘Oh my gosh, why is this queen on track three now?’ Press that button, it goes back to normal and saves me. 

 

One thing I love about Media Composer is that we all share a project, our story team, our edit team, the producers. We all share bins. I know what everyone's doing, which is a really helpful way to make a show. If I'm done, I can see what other editors are doing. We can check in on each other and go, ‘Hello, what's going on? Can I help you?’ ‘Yeah, can you take that? 

 

 

Why Editing Matters 

 

Working on RuPaul's Drag Race, we know how special it is. Not only technically, it's a different episode each week, there's all these challenges, but as a beacon in the gay community. It is such an honor to tell these queens’ stories. The Emmy nomination means people are still receptive to these ideas, stories, and the craftsmanship we put into it.  

 

Anytime someone finds out I'm on Drag Race, they want to know how it's made, which is so cool. 

 

 

From the Storytelling Club to Emmy

 

I always loved telling stories. At a young age, I was in the Storytelling Club. I would watch movies, read books. But my biggest passion was point and click adventure games. 

 

There was something about touching and being able to manipulate the story. In some cases, I could choose what take, what line I wanted to use. That was my number one joy. I remember summers where that's all I would do. When I got into filmmaking I would write scripts. That was rough. Being on set had its pressures. But getting in that edit bay felt like I was a kid again, playing my favorite games, telling my favorite stories. 

 

As an editor, we're given material, a purpose and direction. But it's finding those little things that can make it seem like it was intended all along. One of my editing heroes is a former collaborator, Daysha Broadway, who finds those nuggets, and inspires me every day in my work.  

 

What I love about being an editor is the puzzle. You get all these pieces and sometimes there's a picture and you go, ‘I'm going to try to find the corners.’ 

 

 

Advice from the Bay 

 

No job is too small. Even once you become an editor, there are still tasks you're going to have to do that you might not want to do. You might want to do the sexy, fun stuff and you're stuck with a scene you don't want to touch. But you have to put your best foot forward. 

 

I'm always trying to learn from someone. What is working inside their brain that is making me envious, ‘Oh, I wish I could do that.’ And I'm always trying to teach someone because if that cycle is going, you can always be learning. When I'm teaching someone, I'm also teaching myself again. I'm remembering. I'm relearning things that made me love it.  

 

 

About the Editor

 

Paul Cross is an English-American television editor with over 20 years of editing experience.  He is a three-time Emmy Award winner for his work on RuPaul's Drag Race. He has worked on a wide variety of genres, including such shows as The Real World, Born This Way, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Total Divas and The Crystal Maze. Cross grew up in the United Kingdom, Afghanistan, Angola, and Indonesia before finally landing in New York City. This diverse path has led him to have a unique perspective on storytelling.  While his breadth of projects is diverse, Cross brings passion and knowledge for comedy with him. His aspirations are to continue to explore comedy editing throughout scripted, improv, and reality genres.