'Nobody Wants This' Editor Maura Corey Explains Cutting For Comedic Timing

Balancing tone in any story can be incredibly complicated. But when you've already shot your movie or TV show, and are trying to do it in post, you need a great editor.

That's where Maura Corey comes in.

Maura received three Emmy nominations for her work at The Oscars and one Eddy nomination for her work on the documentary series Beyond Scared Straight and has had the pleasure to edit projects for Warner Brothers, ABC, and Netflix. Her current projects include Gen VonAmazon and Acapulco on Apple.

We sat down with her to discuss her work on the hilarious Netflix sensational hit, Nobody Wants This.

Let's dive into the interview.

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Editor's note: the following interview is edited for length and clarity.

No Film School: What’s your favorite part about editing a genre-bending comedy like Nobody Wants This?

Maura Corey: I absolutely love editing comedy. Especially comedy that has heart. A show like this has a very delicately balanced tone. The characters are funny, but real. Our heroes Joanne and Noah are falling in love but have the world set against them. There is so much nuance to the pacing, shaping performance, and structure. That makes it especially fun when there are a multitude of emotions that go into one episode.

I love when I can make someone laugh and cry and say “awe” in 30 minutes or less.

NFS: How closely did you work with the director and writers to shape the series’ comedic timing?

Corey: I was so lucky to work with Greg Mottola on the pilot. He is such a genius at comedy. And this was our first time working together. Oftentimes in television, the director and the editor get paired up out of luck. Which happened here. We’d never met before he got my first cut. Which was weird because each day when I got the dailies I was so excited because the footage was so great. I could see where he was going.

So my first cut was really close to what he had in his head, too. We did explore timing and pacing in the bay. Which was a lot of fun. And then I got to work closely with Erin Foster who wrote the pilot and she was great. We really worked on making sure the characters came off as authentic but funny people. Erin is super funny and she really knew what she wanted. It was great to collaborate with funny smart people.

NFS: Which episode in the series was the most challenging for you, and what made it so?

Corey: The most challenging episode is most definitely the pilot. Time is always a factor and all eyes are on the pilot so there is a lot of pressure to make it good. Because of course there should be. Those are the challenges I love because pressure makes diamonds, right? Also making sure the first impression is the best impression is important.

That’s a challenge I love taking on.

NFS: Episode three has a major shift in tone—how did you balance comedy with the show's emotional moments?

Corey: In a show like this, a shift in tone works because the characters feel real. A lot has to do with the amazing performances we get with the actors. Kristen Bell and Adam Brody are great with the funny lines, but also with the emotional scenes. They play the scenes as real people. And real people can go through emotional shifts. So having the material to really shape the characters’ journeys is a huge first step.

Second, making sure to honor the gravity of the emotional scenes. Dramatic moments are edited very differently than comedic moments. So switching gears is very important to make the story flow. The balance comes with making sure you don’t get emotional whip last when going back into the comedy. That can be a moment of improv, a moment of quiet or that perfect cutaway that brings the view back to the funny moments. In Episode three those two things were her phone call with Kyle (Ryan Hansen) and the dog. That dog is so cute.

NFS: How did you go about enhancing the chemistry between the cast members in the edit room?

Corey: The best way to enhance chemistry is finding the perfect looks. For romance, you want to find just the right cutaway between Noah and Joanne to have them stare deeply into each other’s eyes. Combing through the footage to cheat that perfect look is huge. And finding the right reaction shots. It could be the raise of an eyebrow, a squint of an eye, or a perfect smile.

Then timing those looks to be just right. Chemistry really does get created in the editing bay. And when you have a fabulous cast like this one, well, it makes my job so much easier. The footage on this show was an embarrassment of riches.

NFS: Can you tell us about a specific scene that went through many iterations before landing on the final cut?

In episode nine, “My Girl Bina”, the scene at the dining room table went through a lot of iterations to land on the perfect balance of tension to get Bina to stand up and into the kitchen. There was a balance on what the tension should be, how to get Noah to stand up to Bina, and how she would exit. It was very important that we maintained a family dynamic and Joanne’s winning over of Bina. Sort of.

NFS: How do you decide what scenes to cut or trim in a series that balances humor with emotional depth?

Corey: The decision to trim or cut scenes completely is a very collaborative process. During the notes process I work with directors, producers, and the network to find the balance to bring an episode home. That’s what makes television and film so much fun. Collaborating to tell a great story. While I will have ideas on what to cut or how to restructure, the director might have a brilliant idea under their belt and the producers might as well. It’s really the fun part of the whole thing.

Maura Corey

NFS: Episode nine is often praised by fans—can you talk about any specific choices you made for that episode?

Corey: Episode nine was such a treat to edit. It was important to honor the family dynamic and really see the world through Joanne’s point of view. The goal was to make viewers feel she really won over Bina in the end only for the rug to get ripped out at the very end.

As far as choices, I wanted the reveal of Bina eating the prosciutto to be very precise. And the timing of Joanne knowing she had the leverage to be very clear. So when Joanne walks back into the dining room and covers for Bina, the viewers think she’s won Bina over. Also, this episode has my favorite delivery from Kristen Bell. When Sasha comes out and announces someone ate the prosciutto and she say it was her then he says “But it was in the garbage” and Joanne says “Yes and I ate, like a raccoon” and then looks to Bina with a deadpan look and Bina reacts with sheepish face.

Oh man, I laugh every time with that read. And fought to keep it in. She just slayed that performance.

NFS: How do you manage the pacing of a scene with multiple actors to ensure each character’s presence shines?

Corey: Every actor has their own cadence—it’s really about finding their best moments and sculpting their performances.

This cast is so great so there was a lot to choose from, but being on the lookout for those little moments where the actor has the perfect look or making sure their best read is timed right makes them shine. It could be as simple as in episode one when Sasha (Timothy Simons) is asleep in the pew at the temple and Ester (Jackie Tohn) wakes him up—which was improv by the way—and we leaned into the improv. The meet cute where Noah tries to open up Joanne’s wine bottle was not in the script. Adam Brody really couldn’t get the bottle open. And they leaned into it and kept the scene alive. And it worked. It is really cute and really happened.

Little gems like that make the show shine.