Aurora's Blog

This was a little weird because I technically had two different first weeks as an editor.

There was basically the secret first week. (I was pretty much on a trial basis for the first three weeks.) And then there was the real official first week (when I got in the credits and all that jazz).

Technically, the first day I got in the editing chair was February 22. And basically every day just got better.

On Monday, the 22nd, I got up early and went to the gym.

While I was working out, I was going over in my head how many frames of fade go on the date, how much padding to give the control room, what my options are when there’s a shot change in the pad, etc.

I put on my favorite pink dress, got to work a bit early, and got cracking. I was a little afraid to even leave my desk. I just wanted to be there perfecting things all the time.

This was also the day I got a glimpse into what I talked about here yesterday – the whole super being part of the show. People were in and out of my bay all day, and it just opened my eyes to, “oh, this is what being an editor on this type of show is like. There are 4 different people in here right now who need something from me right now.” You gotta think fast and prioritize. And it is so awesome and fun!

It was also very cute, because things weren’t super announced yet or anything, since I was technically in my trial. So I got all these soft quiet tiny congratulations as word sort of semi-spread. It was sort of an adorable fun way for it to happen – all these little spread out mini-celebrations instead of one cheer in a production meeting.

And this is where I’ll pick up next time.

Yesterday, my post ended with how proud I am to work on the show I do.

The Nightly Show says a lot of stuff that I think needs to be said.

We’ve done a couple of pieces on Hillary Clinton and the way the media treats her vs. the male candidates. (I even edited a montage of Chris Matthews yelling, and some male republican candidates yelling, that was helpful in showing hypocrisy about the way her voice was talked about.)

And I am honored that I get to be a part of that (of saying real and important things in a funny way that makes people listen) – and not just any part. Like, a biiig tangible part!

I didn’t even necessarily think I wanted to be an editor when I started on the show. (Big, huge, humongous props to my boss for allowing me to kind of find my way and go from not super being on the editor track to that being what I wanted to do. Have I mentioned she’s one of the greatest people I’ve ever met?)

I love producing. And I like to feel like I’m part of the action. And I love to work with people.

To me, (at least in reality TV, which is where I was before), sometimes editing doesn’t super feel like part of the action, because you’re alone in your bay working on the final product – some days you could not even see another human being.

There’s of course still tons of creativity, and you do still have people you work with. But I didn’t know if staring at a screen alone all day was really the way to go for me…

But working as an editor on The Nightly Show is different than any other editing gig I’ve ever seen.

I get to work with practically everyone here! The graphics department comes in to ask for freezes. Producers come in to watch down montages and things that have been asked for. I talk to the control room as I send them rolls.

I even export things for the legal team to watch, so I get to kind of understand more of that side as well.

I’m also literally watching the script be written and re-written by the writers all morning (as I can see it in real time on the computer, as I’m editing the rolls the writers need).

I get to work with practically every department in the building. I get to really see how the show gets made, and how it changes throughout the day. I like such a huge part of the show, and I love it!

I also love that when I watch the taping, I get to see, “Hey, I made that montage!” Obviously, it’s a huge team effort with writers and producers and me. But to see something go from my hands to the television – and to hear the audience laugh… It feels sooooo good.

Every single person in the building matters a ton. And in all my other jobs before this one, I always knew I was part of a show.

But it feels different to me to not just know it, and know how you helped it come to be, but to see tangibly, with immediacy, something that you made put on television. It’s just an incredible feeling.

And I love it. I just adore it.

Oh my goodness! (Ahhhhh!)

After being in the edit chair for 3 weeks (and dying to tell you all about it), everything has officially gone through, and I can now talk here about being an editor! (Eeee!)

I loooooove my job. I love it. I love it so much.

I do the headlines editing at the show, which means that I edit the clips that roll in. You see something about Hillary Clinton, or Fox News, or any of that jazz on our show? Most likely, I was the one who edited that!

And I love it. I love everything about my job.

It’s the perfect mix of everything.

It’s the perfect mix of using the technical side of my brain with the creative side. In the montages, I have to try to get the comic timing right. (Well, I have to get the timing right with everything – not just montages.)

Sometimes I have to cover a shot with a different shot to make things flow better. There are all these little creative decisions.

And then there are all these technical elements – making sure I give the control room the correct amount of padding on both sides of the SOTs (that’s what we call the rolls – standing for Sound On Tape). I need to put the ticker and date in the correct place and have things fade off with the correct amount of time.

So, creativity + technical business = A+.

It’s also the perfect mix of working alone and working together.

In the morning, I sit with the (ever-changing) script and edit the rolls until the afternoon comes and a producer comes in to work with me. Then we all watch rehearsal and see how things play. And then we work on re-write. (Then I do some other while the show is happening and after. (We’ll get there soon.)

So, I get my alone focused time in the morning. I get my hands-on together time in the afternoon. It’s lovely!

Also, I hate to admit in writing that it’s actually sort of nice to have a work life balance – because I do love to live my job. (And goodness, I have in many ways done that haha.) But now as an editor, it’s actually a fairly normal schedule. And there comes a point where work is definitely over because the show airs that night. I feel like I get to go in in the morning, give the show my full heart and attention, and then leave it behind – because it’s going on the air. It’s a fantastic feeling (and indeed a pretty fabulous work/life balance).

I also love how every day brings something a little different.

I’ve had a day where I had to build two rolls. And I day where I had to build 19 – including some with special effects. There’ve been days with no re-write changes, and days where we build montages from scratch during re-write. You’re never exactly sure what you’re gonna get, and I just adore it.

I looove my job. I have found my perfect niche here, and I just love it. (Have I mentioned that part yet?)

(Note: This is kind of silly, because ultimately my immediate bosses are changing my life more than the man whom I don’t work with every day. But come along for the ride with me anyway?)

I watched The Daily Show for practically as long as I could remember.

Jon Stewart’s (and Colbert’s) show truly taught me a lot about our political system and current events (even if that’s perhaps a little silly that that’s how I was learning…or that I needed to learn so much – but how much did any of us (generally) know about Super PACs before Colbert? The shows are here for a reason – and they’re doing their job).

Jon Stewart’s shows also brought me oh so much joy (as things tend to do when laughter is being given to you each night).

When I first moved(-ish) to California and was subletting month-to-month, once the show I’d moved there for had ended, I desperately wanted to get back to the east coast.

When I heard Jon was doing the Rally to Restore Sanity, I thought, “that sounds amazing. I need to be there for that. I’m gonna go. Then I’ll bus up to New York, and I’m just gonna stay.”

And I did.

I used that rally as an excuse to take a flight across the country and just stay. I got a job on a cooking show (that I loved). And though I ultimately didn’t stay permanently (that time – I am back though!), I had a great time in New York.

And then – this is the real way in which he kind of changed my life (in less of a tangential kind of way)…

I have wanted for so long to be a part of a scripted show that makes people laugh – and preferably learn things, or be encouraged to see a new perspective or think about things differently… to work on a show that helps make a positive change in the world.

I have cold-submitted my resume more than once to The Daily Show… even applying as an intern (after I’d already joined the editors guild and everything) – which I realize is a little silly. I was just pretty ready to do practically anything to work there in any capacity. I wanted to be a part of it.

And finally (in a story you’ve already heard), I got a job at The Nightly Show.

It’s almost as though every time I get to come and live my little dream of living in New York, Jon Stewart is the one in the distance saying, “Come on over, Aurora. It’s great here.”

Now, I am finally in the Jon Stewart family(!). Making comedy every night. Living in New York City. Being proud that we’ve drawn attention on our show to some of the ridiculousness in this world (with the hopes of effecting some change).

I don’t think I’ve ever loved a job I’ve had more than I love this job in this moment. I am so happy. I am so content. And I love coming to work every single day.

It feels fantastic that my little fantasy has come true!

Eeeeee!

Tonight, my boss let me do the main editing for our show!

(And thank goodness my blog still posts on California time, ’cause there’s still time to tell you all about it!)

On Tuesday, she let me do kind of a dry run where she showed me how she makes choices and gets the show to time and everything. I was in the driver’s seat part of the way, and she was for the other part.

But this time – oh this time, she really let me do it!

I watched the show with her. I took notes in the way that I learned was helpful. I started making marks in Avid almost immediately after the act was over. Then she came back after the postmortem, filling me in on what the execs said to cut.

And then… she left me alone. She totally trusted me and left the bay.

(She is the *perfect* mix of helpful and letting you fly. My boss is the best – not just because this is a public blog, but because she really is. It’s so comforting to know that if she ever overhears any of us having a conversation about her, it’s all good stuff – always. I know, blah blah blah. Lame for strangers to read, probably. Still true!)

She came back in once the edits were done (before we cleaned them up – just to make sure I was indeed to time and that she liked what I’d done). Then I cleaned them up. She gave me some pointers and I fixed anything she wanted. (I also added in all the bleeps of swear words.)

Then she gave me the low-down on how to fill in the ticket bumper and act 4 and credits and all that jazz. Did all that. Put it together. Then we fed our acts to the control room downstairs.

There was a swear word that wasn’t marked on our cheat sheet. We all heard it as it transmitted downstairs. So, I even learned how to fix something and just re-lay that one part.

Then we headed on down to the control room to watch the whole show be transmitted to Comedy Central (since they’d be editing that night).

It was incredible! Work I’d done was seen on television (that night)! You can watch the episode on hulu. I took out whole minutes of conversation. There’s even a part where I took the beginning of one question Larry asked and put it with the end of a totally different question. Did you notice? 😉

I feel like such a super happy grown up (but obviously not too grown up ever). Yay!

We got to have a party at the top of the Empire Hotel!

It was fun and cool, of course. Cam’ron the rapper showed up… because why not?

I was a pretty super lame face!

I brought my friend’s sister… (I’m still meeting people in New York, so I kinda stole my great friend (from LA)’s sister to come with me.)

She doesn’t work in the entertainment industry. So, in my mind, I thought it was up to me to show her an industry-filled evening.

So, when Larry happened to get in the elevator with us, I tried to snap a picture since I saw him standing next to her – you know, just something cool and candid for her Facebook, or whatever.

…And my ringer was on! So my phone made that clicking noise in that tiny little elevator. It was soooo embarrassing. Hopefully Larry’s used to it-ish, being famous and all… Or maybe he thought I was taking a selfie. Or maybe he didn’t hear it. Who knows.

Anyway, later, I asked if he’d take a picture with her (and me, because come on, when else was I ever going to get one? At work?). And when I asked him… I built her up – as though I needed to.

I’m like, “Hey, would you mind taking a picture with my friend? She’s super nice. She’s not a TV person – she actually does super selfless work, even, with a mentoring program.” Larry’s a super nice guy who will take pictures with basically anyone. So, I don’t know why I thought I had to make a whole case for her. But I did. (Did I mention I was being a super lame face?)

Anyway, we got our pictures, and our free food, and our dance on.

Even if I was a liiiiittle lame, my friend said she had a great time. I had fun too. So, I’m gonna go ahead and call this party a success!

I happened to hear at work in my first week, that that weekend, there was a paintball event for Mike Yard’s birthday! (Woot!)

Again, not necessarily the smartest thing for me to do when maybe I should be sleeping or looking for an apartment. But no. I thought it was important to keep trying to bond with people and all of that jazz. So, I trekked out to Long Island early in the morning.

And there were only a handful of people there. I thought it was gonna be this big thing. ‘Twas not.

I was still pretty wildly unprepared (as I still hadn’t been home since my interview, and had been in NY a whole week). So, I went and bought some workout clothes at H&M in Times Square (which was still open when I’d gotten out of work that Friday night… it’s open laaaaate).

I was not great at paintball. I didn’t come super prepared. People lightly (and lovingly) made fun of me for not having a coat or something to protect me. I also was bad at hiding. I just kind of walked in plain sight.

I won one round at the end ’cause all you had to do was be the last person standing – and if someone ran out of paintballs, they were out. So, I just basically hid and let everybody shoot out everybody else. Then I came out of hiding and walked to victory – which everyone laughed about and talked about for a while.

It was a cute day, and I loved it! And Mike Yard is a total sweetheart. Yay new friends at my new job! 🙂 (And yay trying something I’ve never tried before!)

As I was walking away from work (pretty late, when the building was basically closing (as I just kept trying to get more hours in and do more work)), I saw this big group of people get really (really, really, really super) excited about a bus stop ad for The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.

As I overheard them, I asked “Do you work on the Daily Show?” (The excitement + taking selfies with an ad + wearing a Daily Show sweatshirt kinda gave it away.)

They said yes(!). And I added “I work on The Nightly Show! Then they erupted with kind awesomeness, saying “Oh you’re like our cousin! Are you coming out with us? You are now!” (And I did!)

They were coming from a party celebrating Trevor Noah’s start as the host. And they were in the mood for fun.

We traversed around Times Square and went to a secret place. 😉 And I got to talk all night with these super interesting people.

Picking up from getting the job –

I got up early and trekked out from Newark to Macy’s Herald Square to buy a week’s worth of clothes.

(After all, all I’d brought with me (other than the interview outfit I wore) was a bookbag  containing a workout outfit with torn yoga pants for the plane ride home.)

I was going to take the subway up from Macy’s, but kind of ran out of time so I got an uber. (In NY, I think the subway may actually be faster.) I changed my clothes in the back of the uber, and tried to show up like someone who semi maybe kind of half has her life together.

Every time it was mentioned that it’s my first day, people are quick to mention “What a day to come! It’s salad day!”

I think about half of these exclamations were sarcastic, as some people think salad day is perhaps a little lame. But I think some were so legitimate – because salad day is awesome! Who would be against it?

So, I was pretty super excited to start on salad day (every Tuesday). We get free lunch catered in on all of our show days (Monday – Thursday). Like, what? How amazingly cool is that?

I was a little afraid that I’d be tempted with free food, but not necessarily always be able to eat it as a vegetarian (ugh, sorry – I hate mentioning that ’cause it makes me sound all hoighty toighty or whatever in print blegh). Anyway, it’s still cool to me that they have a vegan(!) option everyday. (Yay!)

Food aside, at 12:15 there was announcement of a production meeting – and I got to go! They allow the entire staff to go to the meeting so everyone sees everybody once a day to try to keep everyone on the same page and make everyone feel like a cohesive team. It’s pretty cool!

I got to explore around and meet everybody. One of our technicians even saw me taking a selfie in the studio. She was like, “Wanna sit at the desk?” I said I heard I wasn’t supposed to walk onstage and didn’t want to get in trouble. She was like, “The only person you’d get in trouble with is me. Come on over.” She took the cover off the desk, got the guy running the lights to turn up the stage lights, and she took some great shots for me!

Nice people? All the free food I can eat?

…I think I can get used to this!

Picking up from the interviewing story –

At the end of the interview, the line producer came in. She told me she’d email me with how much money they’d be offering.

Then it was kind of hard ’cause they were asking if I could start tomorrow, and it’s like, “Well, let’s make sure we can land on the same page money-wise. Like, heck yeah I want this job. But I need to be able to afford to live here.”

(That was my subtext. I didn’t actually say that. But we basically left it that we’d talk later in the day about money and official start date and such.)

After I left, I went up to see an apartment. (It was a total bust.)

I also called my high school theater teacher (of course), and I just thought about everything.

I had numbers in my head of kind of like, “I cannot take this job if it’s less than this,” and “I suppose I might take it if it’s this, but it wouldn’t be great.”

And then I had a number in my head that I thought was really fair (not overshooting it for me, and not low-balling it for them – just what seemed like the really fair amount). It was what I’d try to negotiate to…

And when I heard from the line producer, it was exactly what she offered me.

I know that technically you’re always supposed to ask for a little more, no matter what you’re offered. (After all, it’s your only chance to negotiate for a pretty long while.) But I was like, “Dude, they offered me what’s fair. They’re letting me leave early every Monday for BMI. It’s a job in the Jon Stewart family in NYC. Just take this job and be thankful and quiet.” And that’s exactly what I did.

I felt so wildly terrible when I called my boss in LA and was like, “I am so very sorry. I’m not coming in tomorrow or ever again.” (Eesh.) (Also, of course I didn’t actually phrase it that way.)

She is such a super nice person who’s always been wildly supportive of me. She’s given me lots of autonomy so I can still take classes and do things. She was actually the person who gave me my very first assistant editor job. She has done so much for me and my career. So it killed me to quit like that with no notice at all.

Everything just happened so much faster than I thought it would. And I really needed a job in NY. I couldn’t pass this up. (Sorry!)

I extended my hotel stay, went to Macys as I didn’t bring enough clothes to stay. And boom. I was staying in New York.

And we’ll pick up here next time.

Picking up from last time –

When I went into the office, I knew even harder that I really wanted this job. The head security guard greeted me so nicely. He asked if I wanted to use the bathroom. I didn’t realize, “Yeah, I think I do.” (Sometimes you gotta pee those nerves out, right?)

On my way to the bathroom, I almost ran into someone carrying a large plate of food. “I’m so sorry!” I said. That person stopped and looked at me and said, “Don’t be so sorry! It was my fault for roaming around here not paying attention.”

Everyone just seemed so super nice and sweet.

After I came back up from the bathroom, I went upstairs and interviewed. (The lead editor is the nicest person.) I tried to be honest while playing up whatever strengths I had. I did let her know I hadn’t been an assistant all alone before. Even if I’ve worked alone during my shift, there’s always been a day person I tag-team with. So, I was a little nervous to be the sole AE – excited and ready – but nervous.

Ultimately, it seemed the interview went pretty fine because in the interview she was like, “We love you. We need you to start tomorrow.” (TOMORROW)

She also said this was technically just a two-week trial. She told me it was more for me to see if I liked it here and working in a different environment (late night vs reality, and to some extent NY vs LA). I’m sure it was also for her to see if she liked me.

(But later, another editor laughed with us at lunch when she remembered my boss even telling her she wanted to make sure I wanted to stick around. Like, what? You’re worried I’m not gonna like working in NY in the Jon Stewart family? How silly!)

Even though it was a two-week trial, I just went all in. I committed to an apartment. (We’ll get to that part.) I got my stuff out of LA. I was like, “This is my job, holmes!”

And this is where I’ll pick up next time.

Picking up from last time –

I got an email back! She said she actually was looking for an assistant editor and asked if I could come in to interview.

I emailed her back right away and asked if I could come on Monday. (I had a Tuesday – Saturday work schedule in LA, not that I couldn’t have taken off work for this, but I asked if Monday was good.)

When I didn’t hear within 24 hours, I wrote again saying if it wasn’t soon enough, I’d come earlier.

I’m pretty sure I even wrote a 3rd time when I hadn’t heard by Friday – basically begging to be interviewed. (Here we go again with the line between persistence and annoying. Thankfully in this situation, it worked.)

She told me Monday was fine. And I went in Monday late afternoon.

When I got to NY that morning, I did a little apartment searching – just in case I got the job. I figured I was there, might as well look at some stuff.

I got to the neighborhood with plenty of time to spare. I didn’t want to be late. In fact, I was way too wildly early. So, I went to this Europan food/bakery place on 57th and 9th. I had the most unhealthy lunch I’ve had in a long time – pizza and a cannoli. I’m not really sure why. I thought I was being New York-y or something. Probably should’ve wanted to feel better and lighter with a clearer brain before a big interview. But you know, whatever.

Finally, the time came for me to walk over there.

And this is where I’ll pick up next time.

Picking up from last time –

I didn’t get the job. But I tried to stay in touch with the lead editor. She was the only even semi-connection I had into the Jon Stewart world. We did get along nicely in the phone interview. So, I tried.

I emailed her after the premiere episode to tell her how I enjoyed it. And I emailed her a couple of other times – maybe once every few months just to say I liked a piece or something.

She never wrote me back.

Side note: Actually, before all this happened, I have a drafted post on like “how hard is trying too hard,” and that type of thing because I’m always a little on the intense side. Sometimes it works and sometimes it turns people off… And I’m not great at just picking up on cues. (Oof.)

During this time, I just think, “Oh, she’s probably just busy.”
Of course there’s a part of me that’s like, “Oh, I’m annoying, and she doesn’t care about me.” But that part is often quiet until someone explicitly says, “You’re being too intense for me.” [*takes a minute to pause and reflect on if I’m a socially adept human being. Decides not to worry about that for now.*]

Aaaaaanyway, I was actually pretty much giving up on the idea of her wanting to talk to me anymore since I never got a response (to my very sparse emails – I am kind of normal. ;))

But I decided to try one last time – and this is where I’ll pick up next time.

Picking up from last time –

I had a phone interview, which ultimately went pretty well…I just wasn’t the person for that job.

I like to believe that I can do anything all the time… So, I hate to admit that this job was a little out of the range of kind of where my skills were.

It was a junior editor job (which would’ve been the next step up for me) – but not just any junior editor job.

My understanding of most junior editor jobs I’d seen around reality TV is that you edit things (but not huge things) by yourself. Editors usually take over things you do in the last steps to smooth them out and make them better. You learn along the way from their changes until one day you become a full-fledged editor.

Sometimes you still have to do some assist tasks. But all the juniors I’ve seen have really mainly been editing – only needing to be called in to do assist duties if people are sick, or something goes wrong, etc.

I believe I could handle that sort of junior editor job. I’m not a super fast editor, but junior editors I’ve seen usually get a little extra time to do things. And I could always stay late ’til I get faster, ’cause usually the junior editor is not up against a super tight deadline (as they generally take the things that are a little lower on the priority list).

(Granted, this is all my understanding of junior editor jobs I’ve seen. You may be reading this as a junior who’s editing a ton and keeping your place afloat. And more power to you! I know every place is different.)

This job required a superstar – basically, it seemed to sort of need the queen supreme assistant editor. (There was no assistant editor slated to work on the show. So the junior would be doing any and all AE work.)

This junior editor would be in charge of creating projects, keeping them clean and organized (and figuring out that organization from the ground up, basically, since it’s a new show), doing any normal assistant editor work – and they’d also be editing.

And not just editing, but editing pieces of the show – the nightly show (where there’s a pretty big deadline and all that jazz – being that it’s gotta air *that night*)!

I’d never even been an assistant editor all by myself before. So, to be the queen supreme AE – to be in charge of all the organization elements (on a type of show I’ve never worked on) without another assist to fall back on for questions or help – and to do a good deal of editing on top of that… It would’ve been extremely tough. Not impossible, but tough.

And in a world where I have all day every day and can live at work, maybe I could’ve figured it out. But in a world where we have a nightly show happening and there are deadlines galore… it would’ve been quite rough (for me).

And with a show already just starting out, and having its own challenges with that – why hire a girl who doesn’t super know what she’s doing, as well as someone else would? (I like to believe I’m amazing. This isn’t me not leaning in, or something. This is just being realistic in where my strengths and weaknesses lie in my day job.)

So, they didn’t hire me. They hired someone who’d been an editor (and a media manager). She was willing to take the little step down from editor to junior, for such a fantastic opportunity to get on a show like this. (Now she’s a full-fledged editor on the show. (And she’s awesome.))

And this is where I’ll pick up next time.