Spotlight is ComingSoon’s interview series with below-the-line and/or up-and-coming talent in the world of television and film. Our aim is to shine a spotlight on the varied positions that make the entertainment you love possible rather than focusing purely on actors and directors.
ComingSoon’s Jeff Ames was given the opportunity to interview the editing team of A Black Lady Sketch Show, namely Steph Filo, Taylor Mason, Bradinn French, and Robyn Wilson.
“Seeking to address the failures of the comedy landscape and entertainment industry to include vital voices, this narrative series set in a limitless magical reality full of dynamic, hilarious characters is notable for its numerous firsts: the first all-black women writer’s room (led by Lauren Ashley Smith), the first black woman sketch director (Dime Davis, Boomerang), and the first sketch series cast composed entirely of black women,” says the synopsis for the HBO Max series. “Touching on such culturally relevant themes as social norms, anxiety, religion, sex, dating and relationships, each episode consists of five to six sketches and features guest stars such as Angela Bassett, Laverne Cox, Tia Mowry, Loretta Devine, Kelly Rowland and David Alan Grier.”
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Jeff Ames: What brought you all together to become editors on A Black Lady Sketch Show?
Steph Filo: I had watched Season 1 of the show religiously, and when I got the call in 2019 to interview for Season 2 I think I might have screamed a little bit. I interviewed with Robin Thede and Lauren Ashley Smith, we had a fun conversation and hit it off and shortly afterwards I got the call that I had booked the job. Season 2 was such an incredible and unique experience, and coming into Season 3, I was thrilled because it was a chance to work with Taylor and Bradinn again who I’ve been lucky enough to edit a few projects in the past with, and Robyn who I was so excited to meet and work with as well!
Taylor Mason: I fell in love with A Black Lady Sketch show the moment I saw the season 1 premiere. I was assisting at the time and watching that first season motivated my leap to “the chair”. The idea of contributing to a comedy specifically for Black women was a dream, and to work alongside talents like Stephanie, Bradinn, and my AFI colleague, Robyn was the cherry on top *chef’s kiss*. When I received an opportunity to interview for an editing position at ABLSS, I made sure to let Robin Thede know that this was a show I would take great care of because it did just that for me.
Bradinn French: A good friend and colleague, Daysha Broadway, had worked on and been telling me about Season 1, and when it came out I was blown away at what they were doing both as a show itself and editorially. Steph Filo, who I had also worked with on several projects joined for Season 2 and similarly sung the show’s praises—especially for how much Robin Thede was an advocate for post and how collaborative the environment was. I believe both of them had been sneaking my name into some ears over there, so when I got a call to interview for Season 3 I was humbled and excited to join.
Robyn Wilson: I had just come off of my first editing gig, Blindspotting and was interviewing for multiple shows and feeling very unsure about the next steps in my career. So when Gwyn Martin-Morris, Post Producer for the show reached out, I tried to play it cool, but I was really, really excited. No, really… I honestly don’t remember much of my interview with Robin Thede, except that I made her laugh, which was all I wanted to do. I was such a fan at that point, I just wanted to give back, if I could. Come to find out, my friend Taylor, who is bomb for multiple reasons was already signed up. As for Stephanie, she’s really the heart of our editing team and made coming aboard this show amazing. And Bradinn is just there to show out. Kidding – Bradinn’s editing chops are awesome, you only need to watch Product Purge to know that.
What was it about A Black Lady Sketch Show that made you want to work on it?
Steph Filo: I had never seen a project quite like this one. From top to bottom it’s a cast and crew of black women and really diverse voices, and I was excited to see a show that showcases every possible side of that. I jumped at the chance to be a part of a project that celebrates Black women and Black joy.
Taylor Mason: Honestly, the show had ‘the audacity’ and I respected that. I had yet to see something created so intentionally and unapologetically for Black women. ABLSS provided some much-needed catharsis for its audience and I had to be a part of that.
Bradinn French: I think what the show is doing in front of and behind the cameras is incredible. You almost never see this level of commitment to representing and celebrating Black women anywhere in the industry, and this show is doing it in production, in post-production, and in the product on the screen. And on top of that, the show is just funny as hell and so carefully and thoughtfully crafted. I was worried that I might come in and mess up the chemistry of what had been an Emmy-winning all-women of color team in Season 2, but it’s been such an amazing and rewarding experience working with so many talented women who are all at the top of their game, and I’m just trying to keep up.
Robyn Wilson: I first saw Angela Bassett Is The Baddest Bitch years ago on YouTube, because I was poor and didn’t have HBOMax. And I was hooked. I think I spent an entire 36 hours watching every sketch. It was such a paramount sketch for me. I’ve always been a fan of sketch comedy. I am a product of In Living Color. I didn’t think there was anything out there that had the same kind of comedic variety, especially lead by a black woman and starring multiple black women.
What was the most challenging aspect of A Black Lady Sketch Show and how did you overcome that?
Steph Filo: I think a challenge with this show can be that every sketch is a completely different genre and style, but I actually think that speaks more to the strength of our team as a whole – we have all worked on a variety of vastly different projects and genres and so with that, we all are able to bring different styles and techniques into the edit that really make the sketches sing.
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Bradinn French: I think Steph said it all here. It’s one of the most challenging shows I’ve personally ever worked on because every sketch is like a complete short film, living in its own genre, tone, music palette, look, and rhythm. And we really have to tap into each individual sketch’s “language” in order to make it work, plus maximizing the comedy while still hitting the genre notes. And then you move to the next sketch and start it all over again. Fortunately this was such a collaborative process, not just with Robin Thede who is so sharply in tune with every sketch and what makes them work and what’s going to be the funniest possible ways to cut them; but we were also very collaborative with each other among the editors, and often passed cuts around amongst ourselves and offered feedback and bounced ideas off of each other to really get them where they needed to be.
Taylor Mason: Deciding which jokes to lift for time’s sake was probably the most challenging aspect for me. Every sketch dealt us improvisational gold and occasionally, it was hard to part with lines that often had me cackling for days on end. Thank goodness for outtakes!
Robyn Wilson: Music is the biggest challenge. I think this gets overlooked in most shows, but it really is something that can make or break a sketch. Because each sketch is a sendoff of a specific genre, whether it’s a spy drama, or a horror flick, the music has to support the feeling or it just doesn’t sell the genre. There was a lot of effort, between the entire post-production group, to make sure the music was supporting the sketch.
Do you have any fun, behind-the-scenes stories about editing A Black Lady Sketch Show?
Steph Filo: Sometimes as editors, it can be fun doing a very specific edit that you know will make one specific person laugh. Dr. Hadassah Career Day, for example, was a sketch that was supposed to be shot during Season 2, but due to Covid we weren’t able to shoot in a classroom with lots of kids. But, ever since the first time I read the script for that sketch, I knew that I HAD to use the song by Ladysmith Black Mambazo when the Supreme Rahmeek character (played by Michael Ealy) is introduced. It’s so over-the-top, and I assumed we would never be able to clear it, but essentially I just really wanted to see Robin’s expression when she watched it. We worked remotely this season so I sadly didn’t get to see her face, but she definitely texted me the second she watched it, laughing. That’s maybe the most fun thing about working on this show – we all get to spend the whole day trying to make each other laugh.
Taylor Mason: I thoroughly enjoyed our Evercast episode watch-downs with Robin. We were tasked with putting forward episode titles after each watch-down and found ourselves submitting the most ridiculous names just to make each other laugh, knowing they would not and could not be seriously considered. Those sessions often ran long because we were too busy laughing while brainstorming.
Bradinn French: We have all been working remotely for the entire show, so we’re all doing screenings and edit sessions in Evercast all the time which is normally a total drag for me because you just don’t get the same energy as you do in a room. But let me tell you, these Evercast sessions would go long but they were some of the most fun and hilarious moments I’ve ever had in an edit bay. We would be watching cuts and outtakes and just rolling on the floor together at the most ridiculous stuff, and then half the time they would just become inside jokes within the team that we’d just keep sneaking in every session. There’s an outtake where Robin is laying on a mat clicking her heels together that just killed me every time. Killed the whole team. And it got to the point where someone would just start quoting parts of that moment randomly and we’d all fall out. Those kinds of things were all over the place and after a while we all kind of learned which quotes and which parts of sketches would make a specific person crack up, and we’d just try to get each other to laugh constantly. It really forged a bond between us all that is very unique to this show.
Robyn Wilson: The entire Season 3 cast are just these amazingly talented individuals that can come up with wild stuff on the fly. Quite often the improv footage doesn’t make it into the final cut. I’m really glad there’s an outtakes section during the credits, so some of that footage can be seen. However, I think the best moments for the entire team are when we get together with Robin to screen the episodes and decide what the title of the episode will be. It’s always something from a sketch that makes everyone’s belly hurt from laughing. There’s votes cast, challenges, objections; it’s just hilarious.
What were some of the things you learned while working on A Black Lady Sketch Show that you’re excited to apply to future endeavors?
Steph Filo: As editors, our job is to turn the story on the page into what you see on screen with visuals, pacing, music, sound, etc., and this show really pushes us to keep every single one of our editing tools sharp. Sometimes you might use a horror technique in a comedic scene, a dramatic cue to enhance an action moment, etc. and knowing the way these different techniques affect the viewer really helps to push us as editors in every single project we work on.
Bradinn French: I definitely pick up new techniques and new approaches in every project–especially working one-on-one with talented creators like Robin who are hands-on in the edit. On this show, I’ve picked up so much with comedic timing and editorial choices that are not just informative to comedy, but also work across other genres. For example, I had a scene in which this massive mob of women are running en masse through a neighborhood to a store selling hair products, and there’s a moment of calm and peaceful quiet in the store before they come rushing in. I initially cut it so that you could hear almost a stampede getting louder and louder approaching the store, but Robin had me just hard slam from the serenity of this shop straight to this chaotic sequence of this mob and it was absolutely hilarious and effective. I laugh at that moment every time I see it. And it’s a simple enough concept with the hard juxtaposition, but one I hadn’t necessarily used in that way to fuse comedy with kind of an action/horror element. And there’s all kinds of genre-fusing techniques I learned or reinforced doing this show that I will be taking with me.
Taylor Mason: I echo Bradinn and Stephanie’s sentiment when I say juxtaposition in comedy is a superpower. I often found, while working on the show, that subverting a genre within a sketch emphasizes those existing comedic moments and makes some punchlines really sing. Bradinn’s cut of Product Purge (one of my absolute favorite sketches) is the perfect example of this and this is a device that I most certainly plan to use on future titles.
Robyn Wilson: The nature of sketch comedy is speed and delivery. I, for sure, ramped up the speed of getting to the joke. A Black Lady Sketch Show is also a nod to so many different genres that it was like working on multiple different shows all at once. It’s a really elegant way of working on your favorite types of content. In one Episode you could mix SciFi and Drama with a quirky black comedy and a cooking show. The best thing about working on this show with Robin is that the editing team makes the dream work. The collaboration to create the perfect Episode from our combined sketches is what makes the show great. I know that doesn’t always happen, but it’d be great if it did.
Do you have any other projects coming up that you can share with us?
Steph Filo: I have a couple of projects coming soon that I’m really excited for the world to see: Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story which will be coming to Netflix soon, and Mel Brooks’ History of the World Part 2 will be coming to Hulu later this year!
Taylor Mason: I have a few projects in progress that will be coming out later this year. Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story which will be coming to Netflix and a Freeform comedy based on comedian Phoebe Robinson’s book, Everything’s Trash is ramping up. I’m also gearing up for some feature work in the Fall!
Bradinn French: I have an incredible feature documentary project, Ferguson Rises, doing a festival circuit right now and actually won the Tribeca Film Festival Audience Award recently. And I’m currently working on a Hulu limited series called Washington Black, which will be released next year.
