The Rough Cut cover image

The Rough Cut

Reservation Dogs

Oct 16, 2023
50:23
Editors - Varun Viswanath ACE and Patrick Tuck

The RESERVATION DOGS editing team of Varun Viswanath ACE and Patrick Tuck have spent the last two of the show's three seasons, working together to close the loop on multiple, multi-generational stories.  Considering that the focus was just on the four teens when Varun started the journey with the Season One pilot, this was no small feat. There was no roadmap as to how their lives and their stories would interconnect with the generations of "Rez Dogs" that came before.

RESERVATION DOGS follows the exploits of four Indigenous teenagers in rural Oklahoma who steal, rob and save in order to get to the exotic, mysterious and faraway land of California. To succeed, they will have to save enough money, outmaneuver the methheads at the junkyard on the edge of town and survive a turf war against a much tougher rival gang. 

VARUN VISWANATH ACE

Varun is a Film & TV Editor based in Los Angeles, CA.  He is a member of the American Cinema Editors and the Motion Pictures Editors Guild, and has an MFA in Film Editing from The American Film Institute Conservatory.  His work on What We Do In The Shadows was nominated for Best Edited Comedy Series at the 2021 ACE Eddie awards.

PATRICK TUCK

Patrick Tuck is a versatile editor who most recently edited FX’s Dave and Mo for Netflix. Getting his start in the commercial and documentary world, Patrick prides himself on his talent for balancing genres and styles to create unique tones and rhythms, as well as his ability to find solutions for the toughest creative puzzles.

Editing Reservation Dogs

In our discussion with the RESERVATION DOGS editing team, we talk about:

  • Overwriting the story by a half, so you can cut it down by a third
  • Taking tonal adventures
  • Stringing together "joke pods"
  • Drug tripping just enough to earn a visit from the aliens
  • The Quentin connection
The Credits

Visit ExtremeMusic for all your production audio needs

See what's new with Avid Media Composer

Hear Varun Viswanath ACE discuss editing the series BLINDSPOTTING

Subscribe to The Rough Cut podcast and never miss an episode

Visit The Rough Cut on YouTube

Get the Snipd
podcast app

Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
App store bannerPlay store banner

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode

Save any
moment

Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways

Share
& Export

Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode