Franky Guttman (‘Barry’ editor): ‘This show was like a military education’ in telling a story [Exclusive Video Interview]
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Editor Franky Guttman had to make everything work when he and fellow editor Ali Greer began cutting the series finale of HBO’s “Barry.” Clearly Guttman and Greer succeeded, with the pair earning an Emmy nomination this year for their work on the Emmy-winning dark comedy’s swan song. Check out more of our exclusive video interview above.
For Guttman, who has worked on “Barry” from the beginning, there was a singular pressure that he and Greer felt as they worked on the final episode, entitled “wow.” “We wanted it to be great,” he exclaims. “I think we all felt a lot of pressure, especially on the finale of a show that people love. They want to see it end in a satisfying way.”
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Guttman’s rapport with Greer is grounded in honesty and trust. He describes their different views and their ability to be completely honest about how a scene has been cut. “We’re always showing each other things and we can be very blunt in our opinions,” he says. “I just have that trust in her and I think she has that trust in me too, and we trust each other’s taste.”
That sense of trust extends to series creator and star Bill Hader, who directed all of the final season’s episodes. In presenting a cut to Hader, Guttman says he trusts his instincts while also having a sense of what Hader wants to see. “I started on the first season of the show as an assistant editor and have worked my way up to editor, and I’ve gotten to really know Bill’s style over the years,” explains Guttman. “So I kind of know what Bill likes and try to cater to that.”
In some instances, such the finale’s epic showdown between Noho Hank (Anthony Carrigan) and Fuchs (Stephen Root), the approach to editing is more technical. However in other cases, like the emotional dialogue between the two characters that precedes their shootout, Guttman relies on instinct to determine just how long to hold a shot. “I wish I could give a tip of have some kind of hard science to it, but I think it really is just feel,” he argues. “You’re always trying to imagine yourself as somebody who doesn’t know how the story is going to end and where it’s going to go and what you would want to see in that situation.”
Guttman considers his time on “Barry” as, above all, a learning experience. “I think this show was like a military education in [storytelling],” he says. “On this show specifically it was just really a story efficiency boot camp, and that’s the thing that I think I’ll take forward with me.”
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