The film follows Maron through the ups and downs that led to his career at 60, from when the pandemic halted his thriving stand-up career to the sudden loss of his partner and brilliant filmmaker, Lynn Shelton. Directed by Steven Feinartz, the film strikes a balance of humor and melancholy to highlight Maron as one of the most compelling and complicated voices in comedy.
We sat down with editors Derek Boonsta, Natalie Ancona, and Jenn Harper for an inside look at their creative processes and how they used Productions in Adobe Premiere Pro to collaborate on this project over the course of three years.
How and where did you first learn to edit?
Derek Boonstra: My first editing experience was in high school in the late 90s, when me and my buddies would film skateboard videos of ourselves on Hi-8 cameras, which we would then edit with two VHS decks hardwired together. Eventually, we evolved to using early versions of Premiere (before the “Pro” was added). I later went to USC Film School’s MFA program, but if we count mediocre skateboarding content cut to punk music, I’ve been at it for almost 30 years.
Natalie Ancona: I started editing when I was 13 years old, making spoofs of MTV’s Made and Aphex Twin music videos with my friends. But I’d say I truly learned to edit when I started working in film and found some very important mentors. It was the incredibly talented Katrina Taylor who really took me under her wing, gave me notes on my work, discussed her works-in-progress with me, and taught me to do scene breakdowns of films. I still rely on those lessons from her daily.
Jenn Harper: I learned to edit when I was taking an experimental video class in college. Although I went to school for music and aspired to be a recording engineer, I fell in love with filmmaking. In my last year, I had a final thesis concert and decided to incorporate short films into my performance. I spent many late nights cutting and was totally obsessed with editing from that point on.
How do you begin a project/set up your workspace?
Boonstra: In an ideal world where I get to design the layout of the project from day one, I have a system for how footage should be organized and will work with the assistant editor to dial it into the particular project. I use Premiere Pro whenever I get to choose at the outset.
Ancona: I came up as an assistant editor, where I learned the importance of an extremely organized project. I love Productions in Premiere Pro because I can be incredibly detailed with the option to simplify. I like having many projects and timelines open at once, but eventually need to close them when my brain is craving cleanliness.
Tell us about a favorite scene or moment from this project and why it stands out to you.
Boonsta: I really like the cold open – it was one of the first scenes I cut, and one that remained where it was through the entire year of the editing process. Beginnings can be tough, but this one worked so well that we never really considered other scenes to live there.
Ancona: I really loved editing some of the early archival sections. Specifically around the time Marc started his podcast and was in the throes of struggling with addiction. You can really see the pain he’s going through at that time, and it’s always engaging to me when archival can function as verité.
Harper: I really love the hiking scene at the end of the film. It’s this rare quiet moment when we have a little bit of breath and reflection.
What Adobe tools did you use on this project, and why did you originally choose them?
Boonstra: This project lived in Premiere Pro the entire time. We started off with just swapping project files initially, and used Premiere’s “Consolidate Duplicates” function with great results. We eventually migrated to Productions to accommodate a computer with less processing power in the chain. We used a proxy workflow, and Speech to Text/Text-Based Editing was leaned on heavily.
Ancona: I love Productions! It was tricky to convert to it once the edit had already begun, but it’s one of my favorite features in Premiere Pro. I also use the Enhance Speech tool often, which is great for temp dialogue clean-up.
If you could share one tip about Premiere Pro, what would it be?
Boonstra: I think the most unique and clutch functionality that I use every day that people might not know about is the ability to stack multiple timelines in one pane, and drag-and-drop clips from one to the other. It makes doing selects and then implementing them so much more fluid to me than other NLEs.
Harper: The biggest thing for me, especially when working on longform projects, is to keep the project files at a manageable size. I really do prefer to work in Productions for features because you can treat project files almost like bins, and it can make the overall workflow so much more stable.
Who is your creative inspiration and why?
The editorial team of “Are We Good?” Image Source: Derek Boonsta
Boonstra: I really get inspired often by people who are new to editing, who may be AE’ing or interning on projects that I’m editing. You can get set in your ways when you’ve done something for decades, and so whenever I’m able, I like to give newer collaborators a problem to solve in the timeline and see how they go about it. Sometimes it doesn’t work out, but when it does work out and you see someone put their stamp on a film for the first time, even if in even a small way, that's probably when I feel most inspired.
Ancona: There are so many incredible doc editors who have influenced me over the years. Now that I’m also working in Berlin, I’ve come across artists who inspire me to think outside of the film genres I’m used to seeing and making. It’s pushed me to think differently about aesthetics and structure and to step away from the formulas I’ve spent so long trying to master.
