Finely Sliced: Letting Laughter Guide the Editing with Pratik Panda
Pratik Panda is a partner, post production lead and chief financial officer of The Goondocks, a full service comedy production company.
LBB> How would you describe your style as an editor? How do you approach a project?
Pratik> At The Goondocks, we specialise in comedy. So I try and let my own laughter guide the editing process as much as possible. Unlike most editors, who are receiving a hard drive, a script and story boards, I get to spend time during pre-production working side-by-side with the director and creatives to develop a deep understanding of the story, the tone, cadence, and humor we’re shooting for. Maintaining excellent alignment between creative and post-production is something we take pride in. Plus I think it ultimately makes our work funnier.
LBB> What editor’s inspire you? Who have you learned from?
Pratik> The Goondocks have been fortunate enough to partner with some of comedy’s top editors and post-production experts from Saturday Night Live. We collaborate closely with Chris Salerno, Paul Del Gesso and Elias Nousiopoulos on all things post production. These guys are wizards at their craft in comedy post production and have taught me tricks of the trade. The added pressure of having to edit fast to hit their Saturday Night Live showings is something I admire and translates well into the advertising fields.
LBB> What is your process for making edit decisions? Can you describe your process?
Pratik> We believe that advertising and production should be a fun (and funny) experience - from start to finish. We develop meaningful relationships with agencies and they trust us with big, bold creative ideas. We love to laugh and have fun on set. It helps everyone relax and lets the comedy emerge organically. I take the same approach to an edit. I like to trust my comedic gut. If I laugh, I show Cody (Director) and Nick E (Creative Partner) - and if they laugh - we‘re usually onto something. Editing should be fun. Post production should be fun. The whole production process should be fun.
Goons just wanna have fun.
